Autumn Equinox

Happy Autumn Equinox everybody! I know here in Edmonton, and a few places across Canada, have felt like they skipped this season all together and headed straight for Winter... I'm glad to hear that the weather voodooists are forecasting Autumn like weather! Yesterday it was 13ish degrees Celsius, today it's supposed to get to 16... By the weekend, 20 degrees =0)

Until the age of about 13-14, I thought I was an Autumn Baby. After looking at a calendar, then asking what the Autumn Equinox was - I figured out that technically, I was a summer baby... Granted it was always literally the last day or two of summer, but I still had a summer birthday. (Even though I still had to go to school when I was at that age, unlike real summer birthdays!)

I wasn't sure why Summer and Winter had a Solstice where as Spring and Fall had an Equinox... What was the difference? According to http://www.athropolis.com/sunrise/def-sol2.htm, the difference is that in Spring and Fall, day and night are roughly the same length. In the Northern Hemisphere, Summer has more day light than dark night and in Winter, the opposite, there is more dark than daylight.... No kidding, right? So I checked Dictionary.com for their definition. Solstice came back as "Either of the two times a year when the sun is at it's greatest distance from the celestial equator." And Equinox is defined, also by Dictionary.com, as "the time when the sun crosses the plane of the Earth's equator, making night and day of approximatelly equal length all over the world." (In Latin, Equinox literally means "equal light.") So basically, the only difference is the amount of light and dark during the day...

I also wondered if there were any celebrations relating to the Autumn Equinox. I googled it of course and came back with Mabon. On, or around September 21st (My birthday!), Pagans & Wiccans take time to honor the changing season and celebrate the second harvest and give thanks for their crops and other blessings. (Sounds like Thanksgiving to me.) Some Pagan/Wiccans are also drawn to Stonehenge for this festival. It's a place to meditate/reflect, perform an energy cleanse, and to celebrate the equal light and dark prior to the winter when darkness looms.

I really couldn't find anything else out about the Autumn Equinox. To sum things up, this time of year is when the harvesting takes place and day and night are becoming more equal, it's a time to reflect and to give thanks.

Happy Autumn Equinox to all! It's not always about me, and when it comes to Seasonal change - it definatelly not revolving around me!

Autumn & Reset Clocks

The wind is picking up and has lost it's warmth. Trees begin to dance and sway as they change colour from green to red, orange, and yellow. Garden ornaments are taken in for the season and replaced with rakes to pile high the multi-coloured leaves of Autumn. This is honestly my favorite time of year.

Back at home in the Okanagan, it's apple season. You can walk orchard side and smell the aroma of ripened apples waiting for it to be time for the pickers to make their way through. These apples will soon be apple pies and tarts and other delicious treats, even if it stays in it's original form of "just an apple".

School is back in session and most are back to their routines. Call me NuTs, but I miss school. Maybe not elementary and definitely not high school, but I do miss formal "book learnin'" and college. This time, twelve years ago(1998), I was grade 12 student at Kalamalka Secondary School partaking in the making of Grad Apple pies. The high school is situated across the street from an orchard - not to imply that we stole the apples, they were legitimately donated or bought - and the making of the pies were for a fund raiser to go towards our grad fees which included the rental of grad gowns and hall, dinner, and everything else that a grad ceremony entails.

Back in high school, a group of girlfriends and I would go watch the high school football team play their games. We weren't hardcore enough, or close enough friends with any of the players, to go to practices or the occasional out of town games. We were just bored enough to enjoy the local games, including the games played at other Vernon high schools. (I have a cousin who is the same age going to a "rival" school, so it was cool to hook up and watch the occasional game, even if it was from opposing side lines.) To be honest, even though we seemed to finish last, these were the only football games I've enjoyed. I've lived in Edmonton for about 7, almost 7 and a half, years now and have gone to one Eskimos game in that whole time.......... And that was within the first 6 months of living here and because I won a couple've free tickets from work, otherwise that record would have a goose egg instead've a 1. (With the Eskimo's train wreck of a record this year - what is it? 3 and 7 or something? - and constantly getting SPANKED score wise who could blame me? {Embarrassing numbers like 55 - 3. Sick, if you're gonna play like that, why even bother showing up??}) But I've gotta be honest, even if the Eskimos won the Grey Cup every season since I moved here, I wouldn't give any more of a crap then I do now. (I'd say my Give-A-Crap-O-Meter is at about -4. I just don't care, sorry to all you fans.) Much to the chagrin of my roommate who LOVES him some NFL (more specifically Eli Manning and the NY Giants.) I won't watch football on the TV either. Luckily this season we have two TVs hooked up to the cable.... I am no longer tortured by Sunday and Monday Night Football.

Anyhow, I digress. Football aside, I love this time of year. I don't know if it's because my year is winding down and a new one is about to start or what the story is. Your year is ending you say? You got it, my clock is about to reset. I was born September 21st, some calendars have that date as the last day of Summer and others have it as the Autumn Solstice, or the first day of Autumn. Either way you cut it, every year around this time I get all reflective and think about the year that has come and gone. I also think about the things that I haven't accomplished the year past and what I would like to accomplish the following year. I'll be entering into my last year as a 20-something... {After next Tuesday Dad, it'll be OK for you to tell me I'm pushing 30! Not a second before that though!!! =0-) }

So as the summer winds down into Fall, it's not always about me at all! Get outside while you can. No winter boots or scarves etc are required just yet, though Mother Nature is leaning towards it. As she does, she's putting on quite the show for you. Enjoy it! =0)

All the leaves are brown.... and I'm a little grey!

Well, if good ol' mother nature doesn't get you coming (Spring/Summer allergies), the hag'll get ya going (Fall/Winter colds&flus). It is the season for colds and flu's and I've contracted my first "scurge" aka a Cold of this glorious season..... Time to stock up on every pharmacutical out there... Bring on the Neo-Citran, Buckley's, Royale tissues (not a pharmacutical I realize), Halls, Vitamin C, Cold FX, Echinacea, and plenty of fluids. DON'T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS! (We know who you are, and so do you!)

It's not always about me.... and right now, the snotty, sneezy, spewy mess that I am, I'm glad it isn't..... I want my Mummy! =0(