…Autumn is a fine time for long talks in the evening, And having your friends and music handy. No use mourning about the summer’s leaving ‘Cause every season has her home and family… Casse Culver, “Good Old Dora”, 1976 |
Autumn Equinox, the time of equal light and darkness, came this year on September 22. Just as the moon waxes and wanes each month, so do our seasons. For the several million years we lived without calendars, people kept track of the seasons by watching the night sky and making note of plant and animal behavior, as well as changes in weather. They did not have our satellite-assisted weather predictors, but like our current day animal siblings, our ancestors rarely got caught completely by surprise.