Equinox, Termination Dust, and Temple Bells

Rain Monday. Wind gusts all night. On the mountains the rain was white. The equinox was Tuesday morning according to National Geographic. If you go to the link, you'll see that they have someone who disputes the idea that on the equinox everyone on earth has the same amount of day and dark.

But don't be fooled by the notion that on the autumnal equinox the length of day is exactly equal to the length of night. The true days of day-night equality always fall after the autumnal equinox and before the vernal, or spring, equinox, according to Geoff Chester, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.

In any case, as of Tuesday every place south of Anchorage gets more light than we do until next spring.



Their video doesn't mention this though. They too found the magic music source that showed up on Dennis Zaki's moose film. But it also has the omniscient voiced narrator who tells us "The Truth." (This sort of music and this sort of narrator are so ubiquitous in nature movies and documentaries that we take them for granted. But once you start to hear them for what they is - a totally human artifice added to movies to give them the ring of 'truth' and authority - you can't help but smile. Ah, you think, another cliche movie soundtrack trying to sneak its message into my consciousness.)





Our backyard is changing colors. The chaise lounge, barbecue, and sweet peas are still out, but fall is on the way in.

















Birch (and a few red mountain ash) leaves cluster on the edge of the driveway.










While the pansies act as if nothing has changed.











After my Thai lesson I listened as the wind rang the bells at the Wat.

(I used YouTube today because Viddler took so long, YouTube was up first even though I uploaded at Viddler much earlier.)




In the afternoon the termination dust was easier to see. It's a bit late for the first powder on the mountains, but no one is complaining.