First day of autumn 2016

This morning when I checked Facebook, I was greeted with the above graphic. I said on there, “See? Even Facebook knows what March 1 is in this part of the world! Solstice? Shmolstice!” Because that’s how it is in this part of the world: Autumn starts March 1, not on the equinox (as I do know it actually is—but “shmequinox” just sounded weird, not funny). Disappointingly, no one corrected me.

At any rate, both New Zealand and Australia recognise seasons this way. This confuses my American friends quite a lot, particularly because I no longer take much notice of equinoxes or solstices.

As that wasn’t enough for Americans to bear, there’s also the fact that we don’t ever use the word “Fall”—it’s never anything but “autumn”, though I have no idea why. After all, it’s not exactly easy to find out why a word isn’t used.

At any rate, our summery weather will likely continue most of the month, which could mean the seasonal start date may be a tad early. Our clocks go back to New Zealand Standard Time on Sunday, April 3, and no, we don’t “Autumn Back”: We just complain about having to change the clocks and how bad it makes us feel, pretty much like people every other country do.

So, it’s now autumn downunder. We know that, even if our North American friends aren’t willing to accept it.

But, even Facebook knows.