This isn’t a moan about the weather—which has been pretty good, actually. Instead, it’s about the start of summer. To most Kiwis, summer starts on December 1, not on the Solstice (which, for the record, is tomorrow, December 22, at 6:47am). The December solstice marks the point when the sun is the furthest south, from the earth’s perspective, making it the Southern Hemisphere’s longest day and the Northern Hemisphere’s shortest. Like they say: Axial tilt is the reason for the season.
Yeah, well, whatever: Hardly anyone takes any more notice of the Solstice than they do the March and September Equinoxes, or whatever the plural is (I talked about the March Equinox earlier this year). That’s because the summer weather doesn’t wait for the December Solstice any more than winter weather waits up north.
Whenever it starts, and whenever it ends, summer is by far my favourite season. And that was true even in Chicago, which had summers far more severe than Auckland.
Happy summer!
2 comments:
hey, I ALWAYS note the solstices and the equinox...equinox...well, whatever the heck they're called.
My quick search of the Interwebs suggests that "equinoxes" is correct. Whatever they're called, I often know when they happen, even if they mean nothing to me.
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