Good-Bye Summer! Hallo, Autumn! The Autumnal Equinox is at 4:21am EDT
Photos by VT*Grand!!!
The autumnal equinox arrives precisely at 4:21 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23. People celebrate this moment across the world because that is exactly the time when the sun passes directly over the equator. As you may recall, this happens twice a year — both in the spring and fall.
In Latin, the word “equinox” means “equal night” – “equi” meaning “equal” and “nox” meaning “night.” This signifies the equal parts of daylight and darkness. However, this is not always the case.
The sun will rise at 6:56 a.m. on Wednesday and will set at 7:04 p.m. This isn’t exactly equal. In fact, you will have to wait until Saturday, Sept. 26 to get the full equal light, equal night. The sunrise on Saturday is at 6:59 a.m. and the sunset will be at 6:59 p.m. EDT.
Howard, being a very equable fellow, suits the season well, no?
ReplyDeleteLong day yesterday, with testimony in Hayward (3.5 hrs away). This time called by the prosecution; the public defender did a very good (and super thorough) job plowing stony ground. The experienced public defenders can be damned good at their jobs--better than many private attorneys. I came back home to find that two public defenders wanted me in San Diego simultaneously next week! I think we will make that work--Wednesday for one case, Thursday for the other. And today a third public defender wanted me down there! That's too much--that one will have to be continued. Thank goodness we have something closer to adequate staffing at work now.
I told in a previous thread, as memory serves me, about finding a slight change of grip that made it easier to hold a fountain pen in a good position--a grip more often used by calligraphers than writers. Yesterday (while waiting in the witness holding room), I was looking at a penmanship book printed in 1874, and darned if it didn't show the pen being held in that same way--the back end of the pen a little forwards of the first (proximal) knuckle of the index finger, rather than in the web between the thumb and forefinger. The book didn't mention that--it carefully described the positions of the ends of the thumb and fingers--but the illustration shows it clear as anything. It sure does seem to give better control, and pulls the hand around so that the fingernails rather than the sides of the fourth and fifth fingers (and maybe the third as well) are touching the paper and keeping the hand aligned. Well, I will work on that and see how it goes. I also got my Xmas present today--a Pilot fountain pen with a retractable nib, rather like a ballpoint pen. I will have to earn it by practicing with very inexpensive pens. (There really are some pretty good fountain pens in the three to five dollar range.)
And now to the Land of Nod.
--Alan
Very interesting hand position, Alan. Can you send me a photo I could post here?
DeleteI just tried it and can see how it could be lighter on the hand. I also tried something I haven't attempted before. I tried writing cursive backwards, so that my left-handed grip could effectively pull the pen across the page instead of push it, as left-handers must do. Try it. Try to write backwards with your right hand and see how quickly tiring it can be to have to push the pen along instead of pull it. That has been my lot all my life. Handwriting was designed for right-handed people. Bah.
Alan, you do seem to be in high demand for testimony. Is it kind of fun to bring facts into a courtroom and help things along?
DeleteCourtesy of politicalwire.com:
ReplyDelete“This year is different, and what is happening now is leaving a searing impression. This is toxic for the Republican Party — potentially lethal for it.”
— Ex-Bush official Peter Wehner, quoted by the Washington Post, on the “shrill rhetoric” of GOP presidential candidates.
Boy, ain't it the truth...
--Alan
I agree that this year is different. But looking back on almost 80 years of history, I can't begin to believe it will be lethal for any party.
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