Tag Archives: autumnal equinox

environmental news, local news

Change of weather brings cheer

I want to take a moment or two away from politics and policy to extol the virtues of seasonal change.

It took a few days after the official arrival of the autumnal equinox, aka the arrival of fall, but I am feeling a bit more cheerful tonight.

The weather topped out here in North Texas at something a bit north of 80 degrees. It began to cool dramatically as the sun approached the western horizon.

I do look forward to the seasonal changes. From summer to autumn is particularly welcome this year. It was as if spring never really arrived. We froze for weeks on end during the winter of 2021-22. Then summer arrived … with a vengeance!

I joked this morning that I was “ready for summer” when I saw that the temperature was 47 degrees. I was just kidding, of course.

I am not kidding, though, in welcoming autumn’s arrival. Soon enough, autumn will give way to winter. There’s chatter out there about whether our electrical grid can withstand another killer freeze which paralyzed us in February 2021.

I won’t worry about that just yet. I just want to welcome the seasonal change. It’s always a good day when we can go from dawn to dusk without turning on the air conditioner.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

This day, and season, begin the right way

What a wonderful way to welcome a new day and a new season of the year.

We awoke today to say “hey” to the autumnal equinox, aka the “first day of fall.” Then we ventured outside.

What did we encounter? Sweater weather, man! The temperature dropped to the mid-50s overnight, which given the searing heat we’ve experienced in North Texas this summer was a welcome respite.

Moreover, it all occurred right on time, on cue, as if — well — it’s supposed to happen on autumn’s first day!

So, it did.

I think I’m going to have a good day.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

It’s the onset of spring, baby!

I’ve heard it a bazillion times: Oh, I love the fall season.

Not me, dear reader. My favorite season is about to arrive. The vernal equinox will occur in a little more than week and it will signal my favorite time of the year.

I noticed something quite welcoming Thursday while mowing my lawn: the Oklahoma redbud in our front yard is beginning to show its buds. Bring it, Okie tree!

I totally understand why many folks love the autumn in this part of the world. Our summers can get blistering on the Texas High Plains … although,  hey, it’s a dry heat. I also welcome the cooler temps that arrive about the time of the autumnal equinox.

The spring, though, presents an entirely different dynamic.

We turn quite barren around here in the winter months. Grass goes dormant, turning the fescue more brown than green. When you drive along the rural highways, you see even more of it; vast expanses of it, to be honest.

Rain? Sure, we get some. Snow? That, too. The cold, though, gets pretty damn bitter even without the precipitation.

My wife and I do appreciate the seasonal changes we get here. They are much more pronounced on the High Plains than where we used to live on the Texas Gulf Coast, in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Texas.

We saw snow one day during our nearly 11 years in Beaumont; it was gone by noon that day, if memory serves. It wasn’t until after we left Beaumont for Amarillo more than two decades ago that our former city of residence got pounded by a serious winter storm of snow, ice and assorted weather-related miseries.

Here? That kind of winter pummeling is a much more regular occurrence. Which brings me to my point.

It is that our lengthy winters make me long for spring, the time for renewal. It signals an emergence from the cold, the dark.

I totally understand that Mama Nature doesn’t always respect the calendar, which tells me that spring arrives officially on March 20. We well could get another winter-type blast; that’s happened too over the years. Indeed, today the temperature is about 30 degrees cooler than it was Thursday.

The redbud in the front yard, though, tells me that spring is at hand.

I shall welcome its arrival with great glee.