Is it fall yet? Depending on where you live you might have a different answer to the timing of changing seasons.
Welcome to the 78th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to changing seasons, this week’s edition looks at electric school buses, seasonal allergies, peat-free gardening, and decluttering paper files.
On my mind this week: Changing seasons
On Monday, we celebrated Labour Day in Canada. It’s a holiday associated with back to school and the unofficial end of summer. I’ve always understood that, based on the position of Earth in relation to the sun, summer doesn’t officially end until around the 21st of September. But I recently learned that some people have a different view of the timing of the changing seasons!
A few weeks ago, my daughter told me that, in Australia, they consider the seasons to change at the beginning of the month. That was strange to me, so I just dismissed it as an oddity from the land down under.
That’s just astronomical! Or is it meteorological?
Then, earlier this week I saw a reference to the meteorological calendar in this post from Mike Powell, so I did a little homework. I consulted the Farmer’s Almanac and learned there are two ways to look at changing seasons. If, like me, you prefer the astronomical method, fall officially starts on Sunday, September 22 at 8:43 a.m. Eastern Time. On the other, hand, if you use the meteorological method, fall arrived on September 1.
It’s interesting when something you have always believed to be true turns out not to be true, or at least not true for everyone.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which version you use. The crisp cool mornings and darker evenings mean an end to the lazy days of summer. Fall is on the way, or already here.
If you’re like me, cooler evenings and the return to a regular routine may be awakening your nesting tendencies. You might enjoy this week’s Sharing the Heart of the Matter podcast where Wynne and Vicki discuss the need to nest, and more!
Fall is my favourite season, so perhaps I will make it last a little longer by using the meteorological calendar for the arrival of fall. Then, I’ll stick with the astronomical calendar for the arrival of winter. That will give me an extra 21 days of my favourite season to enjoy!
Which side of the astronomical vs. meteorological calendar debate do you fall on? Is it fall yet in your world? Drop me a comment below to let me know.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- My daughter Colleen arrived home from Prince Edward Island on Sunday. It has been nice to have her home this week.
- On Tuesday, I went out for dinner with a group of former work friends. This group is special because we all worked together at two different companies, and our friendships span over 30 years.
- On one of my walks this week, I got an excellent view of the great blue heron at our local pond. I’m always amazed at how this majestic bird sits perfectly still, patiently stalking its prey.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Oakland’s school bus fleet goes electric
As school starts up again for another year, the Oakland Unified School district is the first in the United States to switch its fleet of school buses to electric.
In addition to reducing their reliance on fossil fuels, the buses send energy back to the grid when not in use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25,000 metric tonnes.
(Source: The Progress Playbook)
Climate change and seasonal allergies
Got the sniffles? So do a lot of people this time of year. If your symptoms seem worse than in the past, experts report that it could be down to climate change. Warmer temperatures cause some plants to produce more pollen, and a longer growing season has added about three weeks to allergy season.
Better load up on antihistamines!
(Source: Yale Climate Connections)
Wimbledon gardens go peat-free
If you’re a gardener in an area with sandy soil, you may use peat to increase the moisture-holding capacity of your soil.
Because peatlands are important carbon sinks, gardeners with a sustainability focus are looking for more sustainable alternatives to peat. In fact, the UK has proposed a law to ban the sale of peat for climate gardens.
Gardeners at Wimbledon have been testing peat-free compost alternatives in their famous gardens. That’s an ace!
(Source: Happy Eco News)
This week’s decluttering challenge – Paper files
In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was clearing out paper files, and I’m happy to report I decluttered 52 items. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.
If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
I am with you, meteorological fall, to last as long as possible!
Yes! Until March would be good. With a dusting of snow for Christmas, of course. 😂
I am a geographer and so go along with three full months for each season. Autumn is September, October and November. The weather man said it was Autumn last week but I also think seasons are merging. One day I bet England will only have two seasons, a cooler, rainy one and a hot, wet one. Basically all year rain.
Funny, I didn’t have you pegged as a meteoroligical type. I should have known better. 😂
I hear you on the blending of the seasons. We get very little spring weather. We seem to go from winters which are milder and wetter than before, to an early heat wave. That just wreaks havoc on farmers and gardeners.
Unfortunately Fall in Florida doesn’t exist. But I’ll see you in Nashville and hope they have some beautiful fall weather while we are there.
Thanks Ron. The long-term forecast looks like it will be hot in Nashville when we are there. It’s vey cool and fall-like here this weekend so it will be a nice change.
There is a marsh and open field area nearby with walking trails. The loop is about a mile, and one day I did it four times. Each time I passed the field area, there was a great blue heron seemingly frozen in place. On my last loop, I walked toward it a bit and it finally moved.
I’m always amazed at how the heron can sit still for so long waiting for the perfect moment.
🥰☀️🥰
Thanks for the Heart of the Matter podcast shoutout, Michelle…and for the pic of the majestic heron. xo! 🥰
My pleasure Vicki. I love it when I see the herons at the pond on my walks. Enjoy your Sunday! 🤗