I’m almost adjusted to the annual switcheroo, although that shock and surprise of darkness descending at 4:30 pm and waking up at 6 am and thinking it must be the middle of the night because it is so depressingly dark never has become something I’ve grown used to over my lifetime of turning the clocks back one hour in the fall.
Whew-a paragraph of quiet rant. Thank you for allowing that. I do feel better.
With time on my mind, I thought I would dedicate this month’s Word Nerd post to words that reflect time. Ready?
At least one full page!
How are you coping with the time change. You are excused if you are from Hawaii or Arizona.
Then again I tend to celebrate bees everyday. We keep a bee-friendly yard by planting lots of flowers that bees favor, such as a huge mound of lavender.
I will often go out and search for bees once the lavender comes into bloom. My favorites are the big black bumblebees. They remind me of little bears as they flit around gathering pollen.
Reading about bees is also a favorite. Here are few recommendations:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Bees by Laline Paull
The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin
He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox
Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eager
The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Porter-Stratton
And I definitely tune into nature shows about bees. One of my favorites is found on PBS’ Nature called “My Garden of a Thousand Bees.” A wildlife filmmaker is stuck at home in Bristol, England during the pandemic lockdown and decides to film the busy bees in his backyard. I’m on my third rewatch. Here is the preview.
What are your thought about bees?
P.S. Don’t forget to nudge your congressperson to support PBS. Public broadcasting benefits everybody!
Although the temperature read 80 degrees the other day my trees are shedding their leaves like a toddler peeling her clothes off in order to be unfettered and free. It’s fall. That time of year when we pull on a sweater leaving the house and pull it off by midafternoon. The nights are cooler, the days are warmish. The weather is fickle. September remains my favorite seasonal month for all those reasons–it’s an unexpected month.
But is it Fall or is it fall? A quick trip to Dictionary.com is needed.
When applied as a title or is being personified, like in the poem below seasonal words are capitalized, otherwise use lower case.
Autumn Thoughts by John Greenleaf Whittier
Gone hath the Spring, with all its flowers, And gone the Summer’s pomp and show, And Autumn, in his leafless bowers, Is waiting for the Winter’s snow.
I said to Earth, so cold and gray, ‘An emblem of myself thou art.’ ‘Not so,’ the Earth did seem to say, ‘For Spring shall warm my frozen heart.’ I soothe my wintry sleep with dreams Of warmer sun and softer rain, And wait to hear the sound of streams And songs of merry birds again….
Wait, Mr. Whittier used Autumn instead of Fall. Is there a difference? Actually the terms are interchangeable; however, there are slight nuances.
The word “autumn” is French, being derived from autompne and is traced back to the late 1300s. Chaucer and Shakespeare applied the word in their works. Brits tend to use “autumn” while Americans refer to “fall” which came into use around the 1800s.
Fall being the third season is recorded in use in the 1500s, with thoughts that it referred to “leaf fall,” which makes sense since leaves are falling right and left come September. In some cases “fall” is more useful than “autumn.” For instance, “Spring forward, autumn back,” just doesn’t have the same mnemonic ring.
I tend to say “fall” as “autumn” is much more serious sounding and I think more of how November leads into winter rather than September’s stretch of sunny days. Although I can see why Miss Emily D. chose “Autumn” for her poem instead of “Fall.”
Enjoy those crisp mornings, warmish afternoons, and chilly nights whether you “fall” into the season or apply “autumn” to your wordscape.
Autumn
by Emily Dickinson
The morns are meeker than they were, The nuts are getting brown; The berry’s cheek is plumper, The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf, The field a scarlet gown. Lest I should be old-fashioned, I’ll put a trinket on.
Spring supposedly began March 19th. Words fail me when it comes to describing the fickleness of the weather. Shakespeare knows just what to say.
As sun and showers
There had made a lasting Spring.
– Henry VIII Act III, Scene i
The spring is near when green geese are a-breeding.
– Love’s Labour’s Lost Act I, Scene i
Unruly blasts wait on the tender spring;
– Lucrece (Poem)
Yes, last week crocus flowers heralded the arrival of sunny days and I basked in spring’s warmth while reading. Today it’s stoking the fire and watching the grey skies dribble out its watery lament.
Old Punxsutawney Phil’s record of correct predictions is not impressive. According to the Stormfax Weather Almanac Phil prediction percentage is a mere 39%. He’s seen his shadow more often than not which means a longer winter, with stats showing 84%.
Here are his stats since 1887 when the tradition began:
Saw shadow (six more weeks of winter): 107
No shadow (early spring): 19
Partial shadow: 1
No record: 10
Did not appear: 1
On the other hand, when I spot a robin, the first appearance goes on the calendar. The robin knows when to appear and is not going to have a calendar date decide when spring shows up. Robins have a savvy that doesn’t need a whooping crowd and cameras. Robins just know.
After weeks of gloomy gray skies, intermittent snow flurries, dribbly rain, and cold weather, we woke up to blue skies. Honest to goodness cerulean blue, no clouds, some chilly breezes, yet blue sky and sun makes for a great day. The birds and squirrels were frolicking in the yard, merrymaking about the birdfeeders and there in the corner of my eye I spied my first robin of the year. Calendar time!
November weather is doing it’s usual thing of a stretch of rainy days followed by freezy nights and shivery days.
The birds and squirrels are coming in thick and fast stocking up before the snow flies. We keep the feeders going year round but having second thoughts about the birdbath. The birds appreciate the solar fountain, yet that was stored away due to lack of solar power. The best it could muster was an anemic dribble effect.
The birds still gather for a quick sip. No baths lately. One reason is because the water is freezing up. I have taken up the chore of pouring warm water in the birdbaths to loosen up the ice. The fun part is the monocle I pull out.
Backyard Science
I think of Woodstock running his Zamboni on his birdbath ice rink. And I did watch a starling skate around on the ice before I managed to do my defrosting chore. It was one puzzled bird.
There is an unspoken rule that winter is not allowed to happen while autumn is still working on dropping leaves. And winter should hold off until November, preferably until after Thanksgiving. December is acceptable.
We all know winter doesn’t play by the rules.
Waking up to this while it’s still October set back my cheery outlook:
Insult to injury were the winds of 14+ mph all through the day. A few birds attempted to visit the feeder, like this persevering mourning dove.
Not being a winter fan (I don’t ski, walking is curtailed, and hammocking is postponed) snow is definitely a four-letter word in my realm.
Trying to recoup the day I tried to find some positives. A cozy fire was made, a cup of cocoa while I edited a manuscript, fave Pandora station in the background, a new jigsaw puzzle, and a stack of books from the library. Oh, leaf raking is on hold and the yard looks tidier with the leaves hidden by that fresh snow topping.
Okay, not so bad after all, especially since it all melted by 1 pm.
I can’t fight winter🥶
I can find ways of coping, and this winter preview made me realize that snow doesn’t have to ruin my outlook. Keep the cocoa coming and always have a few books on the ready and it will be April before I know it.
One absolutely appreciated bonus of retirement is enjoying the mellow fall sunshine. I call September weather my Goldilock Days: not too hot, not too cold—just right.
Previous to retirement (this is my second September!) I would look out of my classroom window and long to be outside. That was one commonality I shared with my students. Although I would try to tie up loose ends and get home to enjoy the remaining afternoon, I usually arrived home only to enjoy a sliver of sun before it slipped behind the mountain. My Verilux light is a poor substitute for that warm, comforting kiss of sunlight.
And so, in these fall days, these post-summer days, these halcyon days of retirement I am found sunning like a marmot on my morning patio, napping on my hammock early afternoon, and lounging on my other hammock in the late afternoon.
Lest you think all I do is lounge around, I am landscaping, cleaning, writing, reading, and stacking wood throughout the day.
Unfortunately my Goldilocks time is ending. I used to go for my morning walk by 7 am. Lately it’s 49 degrees at that time and the sun is barely up. By 9 am it’s 60 degrees which is acceptable. Just as the perfect temps of mid-seventies arrive the cold nights appear. By 6 pm there is a chill that sends me inside.
Nothing says summer is ending more than the delivery of our winter wood supply. I feel the calendar days tick down when those wood chunks fill the bins.
Two cords strong
One aspect of full wood bins is knowing I will be cozy warm by the fire reading books and sipping cocoa. For now I’m still reveling in late summer before I fall into winter.
I do so like the moon in all its phases. And the twinkly stars. And the shining planets. And all those flashy meteor showers. Oh, and I do like a good old eclipse, be it sun or lunar.
This summer I have diligently tried my best often a couple of times to venture in the wee hours to catch celestial wonder action.
I am more determined to catch a full moon, especially super moons, being that are usually breathtaking and enter the night stage with much aplomb. The past couple of years has seen a ratchet in my moon madness. My dedication is just short concern. Werewolves frighten the socks off me, so that is not an issue. I just really, like the moon.
The hubs ever happy to find a gift that brings delight (I’m not huge on stuff, being a minimalist) gave me a moon calendar this year for Christmas (not knowing I had picked one up from the Dollar Store). I was, over the moon, with his present. Especially when I heard what lengths he went to purchase it. He went on line. This from a man who owns a shirt that says “I hate cyberspace.” This is a love of true depth and devotion.
My backyard moon scape is not as profound, but still worth a watch
I have even subscribed to The Farmer’s Almanac web version to make sure I don’t miss any cool moon and planet action.
Like the planet alignment. You caught that, didn’t you? Wow! Right? I convinced the hubs to sit with on lawn chairs on our driveway and peer up into the night sky at about 4 am to catch this once in a lifetime event. Well, the next time it happens I might be too old to even care about celestial happenings, so I wanted this sighting to count.
There is nothing like getting up what seems like the middle of the night to sit outside bundled up and slightly cold and definitely sleepy, to wait for something that might show up or then again might not. I hear elk hunters experience this. No shooting is involved in star gazing unless it’s a star that took a wrong turn.
I followed the BBC Science Focus, suggested best time to see the 2022 alignment of between 3:39 a.m. and sunrise at 4:43 a.m. on the morning of 24 June 2022. At 4:30 a.m. the show began. An hour of stargazing in the early morn is one thing, but having the neighbor catch us at it is another. When we pointed to the sky at the planets queing as if waiting for their early Starbucks, he nodded and acknowledged the event with a “Cool” before going off wherever he goes at 4:30 in the morning.
Planetary alignment. Check it out:
Couldn’t quite see Mercury, yet I hear it’s a shy planet
July’s sky sponsored a super moon—the Buck Moon, the largest moon of 2022. Another required early morn venture. At 2:30ish of the a.m. that moon did rise up out the southeast as splendid as a Banksy rendering. Super, yes. More like superlative. The fact that super moons are more than once in a lifetime do not lessen their appeal.
Hey, it’s not all about you
Here it is August. What’s on the menu? The Pleiades Meteor Showers, of course. And of course they are best seen at “you want me to get up at 3 a.m.?” This time the hubs said give him the details later like after the sun and he was up.
The first night I struggled up at 2:30 a.m. Just in case the show started early. Not sure how to watch for meteors, and being sleepy, I stood up and leaned my back against the truck and watched. Nothing but a crick in the neck and an overpowering desire to go back to bed. The hubs was not impressed by my meager details.
What I hoped for…
Three nights later I found myself awake at 4 a.m. and this time I had a plan. I bundled up and went to the backyard and climbed into my faithful hammock. This is the best way to watch for anything in the night sky because if there is a starry night no show I can take a comfortable nap. A minute or three goes by. Wait—yes, a falling star. Or maybe that was a star taking a dive off of Venus, since it seemed to ever so slowly dribble downwards. Not too impressive. I’ll wait some more. Ooh—what’s that zipping across the sky with such purpose? Suddenly I feel like an extra from October Sky watching Sputnik threaten my American democracy. Okay, that was entertaining. Another minute or two. The hammock is dampish. I’m sleepy. Hungry, too. Wait—up in in the sky…Is it a falling star? Is it a satellite? A zipping vertical flash—it’s a meteor!
Fulfilled checklist. One lone meteor does not constitute the dizzying scurry of meteors I envisioned, but I’m hungry and the hammock is dampish.
and what I pretty much viewed.
This time the hubs met me at the door as I returned. What must he think about this nocturnal sojourning of mine? He’s happy that I’m happy. We read and go back to bed. I forgot to eat something. So glad for bananas on the counter.
The last super moon of the year will be Thursday, August 11th. The Sturgeon Moon will appear at the very acceptable hour of 6:30 p.m. Thank you. Consider this as my RSVP.
Nothing fishy about appreciating a full moon
And here it is September and the famous Harvest Moon is scheduled for Saturday the 10th. All this week we have watched fill in from a glowing crescent to a radiant cheese ball in the sky. It already is impressive. I am looking forward to its full prominence Saturday night.
Are you over the moon about celestial night viewing? What’s your favorite night sky item?
Neil Young helps to usher out the summer with its moon glorious adventures:
Pam Webb 