Autumn Fluff-Tail Swirls

Uschi, what is up with your tail?

Leaves are falling on me,...

What a fluff-Tail.

Previous ----- Home ----- Next

Happy Autumnal Equinox

Leaf Pile

Happy Fall Equinox. Today at 9:51am GMT the earth was oriented, due to its tilt on its axis, in such a way that the sun appears directly over the equator. This orientation occurs on two days each year, resulting in an equal length day and night everywhere on earth. These days are known as the fall (autumnal, September, southward, Virgo, or first point of Libra) equinoxes (equal, night) and spring (vernal, March, northward, Pisces, or first point of Aries).

In the northern hemisphere we celebrate the September equinox as the first day of Fall and typically, experiencing shortening days, cooler temperatures, the southward migration of birds is well underway, and deciduous trees lose their leaves.

"fall foliage"

The sunflower patch is dying back.
(the birds have eaten all the seeds)

The boys went for their evening walk.

Tanji and Uschi set out on their own paths

Tanji likes to run and stalk the trails
(Lesley goes with him)

Uschi's a blur, on a crisp fall day
preferring to sit and watch vermin holes.

For Vladimir, it is all new, so he spends

some time running, and

watching.

Of course plenty of time showing off how

handsome he is.

I'm Cute !!!

I like to stare at the sun.

What is going on over there ?

Hiiiiiii !!

Tanji ! ? !

The sun is going down over the Coastal Mountains.

It is time to head back inside.


Previous ----- Home ----- Next

Happy Summer

Life's A Picnic

Happy first day of Summer! Today the earth is oriented, due to its tilt on its axis, such that the sun appears directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.44° (23° 27’) north at 1200h (12 noon). Looking at a global map showing the Tropic of Cancer, I was surprised to see that the sun never appears directly overhead in the continental United States and the Tropic of Cancer doesn't intersect any United States landmass, even missing all of the Hawaiian Islands. With the sun directly over the Tropic of Cancer, the northern hemisphere experiences its longest day light hours day of the year, approximately 14.5 hours. Solstice (Latin ≡ sun stands still) is the day when the movement of the sun, north or south, stops and reverses direction. This day is also known as the Summer Solstice, Northern Solstice, June Solstice, First Point of Cancer, and Taurus Solstice.

I also learned that the "meteorological" definition of "summer" is based on temperature, weather, and day length. In the northern hemisphere the months of June, July, August are considered summer. The meteorological start of the seasons occurs, on average, three weeks before the "astronomically" defined date, due to what is called seasonal lag. The lag is because of thermal mass of the earth, with regions near large bodies of water having a greater lag time than those in drier regions.

Contrary to popular belief, the earth is actually at its furthest point from the sun at this time of the year. The reason for the warmer weather in the summer is all due to the tilt of the earth and the fact that the suns rays are more directly reaching the surface of the northern hemisphere.

Happy Summer,... I'm hot.

Woooo Hoooo, it is summer.

Tanji enjoys his manicured Cul-de-sac,

then watches birds

from the patch of growing sun flowers,

before

heading to the pond.

Where Uschi is staying cool,

watching the Koi.

Previous ----- Home ----- Next

Frosty Spring Sunrise

On the first day of spring, I woke early to the sounds of the Tanj-Uschi alarm clock. The boys were running around the house yelling and growling. I decided to take them for an early morning run, as the weather has been nice. The sun was just coming up over the Cascade mountains but it was still pretty dark. As we got outside, we all stopped in our tracks because the dew covered grass was instead frost covered. After some sniffing of the fresh crisp morning air we got moving and headed out into the field.

What is this ?

We are not sure,....

Its a bit cold out here.

Tanj looks to the sun for warmth,

while Uschi warms his back.

Hey Uschi,...

my head is in a hole.

Is it warmer over there ?

Nope.

That's enough out time !!
We're ready to go in, out of this 17 degree air.

Previous ----- Home ----- Next

Spring Equinox

"Spring Blossoms"
(Clockwise from top left: Shiro Plum,
Oregon Grape, Almond, Daisy, Violet)

Happy Spring Equinox. Today at 12:07am GMT the earth was oriented, due to its tilt on its axis, in such a way that the sun appears directly over the equator. This orientation occurs on two days each year, resulting in an equal length day and night everywhere on earth. These days are known as the spring (vernal, March, northward, Pisces, or first point of Aries) and fall (autumnal, September, southward, Virgo, or first point of Libra) equinoxes (equal, night).

In the northern hemisphere we celebrate the March equinox as the first day of spring and typically, enjoy lengthening days, warmer temperatures (although this morning we had frost), greening and blooming of plants, and the return of insects and birds.

The brothers enjoy the warm sun.

Uschi poses near a

Tall Oregon-Grape (Mahonia aquifolium).

Ferdinand sniffs

then investigates closer,

while Tanji poses near

a Shiro Plum (Prunus salicina 'Shiro' - yellow fruit).

Then,

Tanji stalks, and

Uschi poses in the tall green grass.

Before,

Uschi examines daisies (Erigeron decumbens) under

an "Asian Pear" tree (Pyrus pryifolia).

Spring has sprung!


Previous ----- Home ----- Next