It was spectacularly nice out, a really, really nice fall day. What made today and makes nice September Mondays at the Falls especially nice is that today I shared the park with, oh, maybe about a dozen and a half of my fellow citizens instead of the, oh, maybe about a thousand and half of my fellow citizens who were there three weeks ago.
School has started.
Which leads to . . .
I have no problem labeling today as a fall day even though the morning newspaper is still reporting 12 hours and 6 minutes between sunrise and sunset. I am also not swayed by the high temperature reaching into the 70s on a day when that same newspaper reports average high for the date (although they do call it NORMAL?) of 69.
I am not a planet position in relation to the sun kool-aid drinker who insists that fall begins on the autumnal equinox. I am more I have lived here my whole life I know what feels like fall, I know what feels like winter, and even without much in the way of reinforcement this particular calendar year I know what feels like spring, and yes, I even know what feels like summer.
Fall begins on Labor Day.
Come on, those days in the early part of the month when daylight is rapidly disappearing, those aren't summer any more. Those are fall.
Winter begins usually on Thanksgiving weekend. Many, many years the first significant snow, the one that doesn't go away occurs that weekend. And if the snow doesn't do it for you, it is cold enough by the end of November that who wouldn't admit that it is winter?
Spring? Tough one from here. Spring can and often is more an illusion that a reality. The beginning of daylight savings time WAS pretty good there for a while but moving DST earlier kinda skews the usefulness of that particular measuring date. Easter kinda works, the first day where no matter how awful the weather has been we are all REALLY determined to start acting like it is spring. Spring.
Summer obviously begins when school is out. Come on, that's so obvious I just don't believe that it is even open for discussion.
If there is any confusion it is because the modern school calendar exhibits a tendency to go ahead and have a last day some time in the middle of June, somewhere near the solstice.. Summer really begins in Minnesota though about that first day when we are all REALLY determined to start acting like it is summer, Memorial Day.
So those are my dates, today was a beautiful fall day.
We rode yesterday but I didn't get an opportunity to blog. I had a Guest Rider and it was her first ride since an incident which shall remain unreported by me. We got her all the way down to the big building designed by Cass Gilbert which is the seat of our state government.
GRider at the State Capitol.
Partly we went there because of the wind conditions (a strong, almost punitive wind from the southeast). Partly we went there because I thought she would be interested in the "temporary" parking lot being constructed on the FRONT LAWN OF THE STATE so that the people who have been granted by the voters of the various legislative districts of the state the authority to decide such things have decided that it is more important that they be able to park near that building than that the FRONT LAWN OF THE STATE not be a parking lot.
Nice day today, I rode to the Falls.
3 comments:
I like seasons, however you define their start and end points. But this far north they don't seem to be balanced properly. Winter is just so long.
Sounds like a near death experience. They're disconcerting.
It was not near death, but did involve falling and sliding a bit on loose gravel, band aids galore, and many bruises. It was SO nice to ride again yesterday, and yes, what a sky!
And how deplorable to tear up the FRONT LAWN OF THE STATE capital for a parking lot. Reminds me of Joni Mitchel's "They paved paradise And put up a parking lot."
BDE -- Falling and sliding, and loose gravel, all of those make me cringe. Glad you're OK and back on the "horse."
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