Autumn Décor from Your Own Backyard by Nancy Shepard

 

With October’s cooler evenings and my garden slowly retreating, I cruised the hobby and craft stores looking for autumn decorations. My grandchildren live far away so pumpkins, ghouls and corn stalks didn’t interest me this year. “Just something that looks natural” I said to myself as I looked over all the fuax flowers and leaves with their neon bright oranges and yellows. The stores even have some made to look nearly dead to convince you it looks like real autumn. I left empty handed.

Why Leaves Change Colors and the Autumnal Equinox by Carol King

Photo by Carol King

The Autumnal Equinox in Denver is Tuesday, September 22, 2017 at 7:30 a.m. MDT.  So just what is the equinox? There are two equinoxes every year (September and March) when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal. It occurs the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from north to south. This happens either on September 22, 23, or 24 every year. 

Facts, Traditions and Folklore of the Autumnal Equinox

Photo courtesy bouldercast.com

Facts about the autumnal equinox: 

• This year's autumnal equinox is on Monday, September 23, 2019 at 1:50 am MDT in Colorado, marking the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

• The sun crosses the Earth's equator at the time of the equinox, from the Northern Hemisphere into the Southern Hemisphere.

• During the autumnal equinox, day and night are balanced to about 12 hours each all across the world.

• In the far north, the autumnal equinox signals peak viewing of the aurora borealis or northern lights.The celestial display of brilliantly colored lights happens when charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, causing them to light up. These light displays peak around the fall and spring equinox. That’s because disturbances in Earth’s atmosphere—known as geomagnetic storms—are strongest at these times.