Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Equinox Tomorrow





A little astronomy today. The autumnal equinox happens a little after 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night in California, thus marking the beginning of autumn. It'll be a little ofter 11:00 p.m. on the East Coast, so September 22 marks the first day of fall from coast to coast. If you sailed eastward from Boston and got to a point one hour later than Boston, it would be September 23. So, in all of Europe, fall begins on the 23rd. On the 23rd, we in California will see a full moon which is the Harvest Moon. Anyone doing any harvesting?
Today's photos are random attractive sights in my neighborhood at this time of year. The maples, especially the popular row in front of Quincy High, are just beginning to turn red. It's mostly non-native maples that turn red. Our native Big Leaf Maple, turns various shades of yellow-orange-brown. I find them most appealing when just a few leaves turn yellow and the rest are still green. Contrast is exciting. Same with the oaks. A few of the California Black Oak on my driveway are at that stage and I always find myself searching for the perfect leaf. Also looking forward to those two young oaks in front of Papa's Donuts which turn flame red when they're ready. There are a few transplanted Quaking Aspens in town, but their native habitat is mostly above 6,000' in this region. Their leaves look nice when they turn yellow and are seen against a backdrop of evergreens. But I'm mostly a fan of their bark. One of my neighborhood favorites is the Mountain Ash, also transplanted from higher elevations. One of the best trees in town is the one on the east side of the courthouse. Finally, milkweed pods bursting will preoccupy me on my daily commute for another couple of weeks. Beauty, for me, is in the details. Just noticed my photo of Aspen got rotated 90 degrees. Can't fix it. Hope you don't get a stiff neck viewing it!

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