Falling for Autumn

Welcome to Fall! Or, as some call it, Autumn! Or, if you live in the southern hemisphere, Spring!

I love Fall.

The start of Fall, called the Vernal Equinox, is the time when the sun appears directly over the equator. It does this twice a year (beginning of Fall, and the beginning of Spring). The amount of daylight and darkness are basically equal during that day.

In many ancient cultures it signaled the start of harvest time. For people in Phoenix, it usually signals the start of the last month or so of summer; for, although Fall officially starts on 22 September, the weather here doesn't seem to catch up until sometime around All Hallow's Eve.

However, this year, Fall weather started a few days ago -- it was actually 62 degrees at our house Friday a.m. That's a big deal!

Although we have very few trees here with leaves that change colors, I still love Fall!

The illustration is by famed naturalist Charles Harper.