1. There are certain things that interest me more than they probably should. I get excited about census surveys, so you may not be surprised to hear that I like the concept of a bonus day in the year once every four years.
One of the reasons I like leap years is that they highlight how subjective our sense of time is. Our modern day calendar is the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted in 1582 (so not so very modern, really). It is very close to the solar year: the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days to the solar year's 365.242199 days. The difference sounds too small to worry about, but the yearly difference of 27 seconds is part of what underpins our leap years. When I really think about it, I find it amazing that the calendar and time keeping systems that I take for granted, and which I think of as 'correct', are actually a creation made by society to try and explain solar patterns.
I suspect not everyone feels the same though, and that is why we are only having one paragraph on leap years.
2. I imagine that not everyone gets excited about autumn either, but I do, and thus we are acknowledging that today as well. Interestingly, the fact that Australia marks the change of season on the 1st March whereas the Northern Hemisphere introduces spring on the spring equinox, usually around the 20th March, serves to highlight the subjective nature of time yet again.
But we are moving on from that.
I enjoy the changing of seasons in general terms, but really have a particular affection for autumn. It brings relief from hot days and the opportunity to wear jeans and long sleeves, without needing scarves or thick jackets. The air smells different and the feel of it on my skin is delicious. It makes me very happy.
3. In addition to being the first day of Australian autumn, and the day after our once-in-4-years leap day, the 1st March is my Dad's birthday.
As you may recall, we have already had a number of bite-sized family birthdays so far this year. Mr Bite's family has also been well represented, so between the two of us we have birthdays coming thick and fast.
I still like them though. As I have gotten older, I've come to enjoy other people's birthdays more than my own and be genuinely excited to celebrate with them. This is especially true in my Dad's case, because I have also realised, with age, how much I have taken from him in my approach to life and work. We all owe our parents a lot, and it has become a pleasure to celebrate my parents' birthdays and honour their latest year of life and experience.
Unusually, I have no baking contributions for this occasion. My Dad has a savoury rather than sweet tooth, and as my Mum is making his cake I am simply providing a potato salad and a green salad to complement dinner this evening.
4. And that is why there is no point 4.
What is your favourite season? Do you care about leap years?
One of the reasons I like leap years is that they highlight how subjective our sense of time is. Our modern day calendar is the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted in 1582 (so not so very modern, really). It is very close to the solar year: the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days to the solar year's 365.242199 days. The difference sounds too small to worry about, but the yearly difference of 27 seconds is part of what underpins our leap years. When I really think about it, I find it amazing that the calendar and time keeping systems that I take for granted, and which I think of as 'correct', are actually a creation made by society to try and explain solar patterns.
I suspect not everyone feels the same though, and that is why we are only having one paragraph on leap years.
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| One of my favourite autumn photos; Dwellingup, Western Australia, April 2010 |
2. I imagine that not everyone gets excited about autumn either, but I do, and thus we are acknowledging that today as well. Interestingly, the fact that Australia marks the change of season on the 1st March whereas the Northern Hemisphere introduces spring on the spring equinox, usually around the 20th March, serves to highlight the subjective nature of time yet again.
But we are moving on from that.
I enjoy the changing of seasons in general terms, but really have a particular affection for autumn. It brings relief from hot days and the opportunity to wear jeans and long sleeves, without needing scarves or thick jackets. The air smells different and the feel of it on my skin is delicious. It makes me very happy.
 |
| Same forest in a different section and different year; April 2011 |
3. In addition to being the first day of Australian autumn, and the day after our once-in-4-years leap day, the 1st March is my Dad's birthday.
As you may recall, we have already had a number of bite-sized family birthdays so far this year. Mr Bite's family has also been well represented, so between the two of us we have birthdays coming thick and fast.
 |
| Also my Dad's birthday...but not this year. |
I still like them though. As I have gotten older, I've come to enjoy other people's birthdays more than my own and be genuinely excited to celebrate with them. This is especially true in my Dad's case, because I have also realised, with age, how much I have taken from him in my approach to life and work. We all owe our parents a lot, and it has become a pleasure to celebrate my parents' birthdays and honour their latest year of life and experience.
Unusually, I have no baking contributions for this occasion. My Dad has a savoury rather than sweet tooth, and as my Mum is making his cake I am simply providing a potato salad and a green salad to complement dinner this evening.
4. And that is why there is no point 4.
What is your favourite season? Do you care about leap years?
I regret to say that when I think of leap years I think of the pirate movie because the plot revolved around leap years and we watched it a lot as kids - must have had the video! Not terribly high culture at all!
ReplyDeleteI love autumn too - am so excited about apples - but I particularly love the change of season - odd because I don't like change but this change makes me very happy
I'm exactly the same - generally change and I are not great friends, but the changing of the seasons is something I really enjoy :) And better apples has to be a good thing - ditto pears!
DeleteInteresting paragraph about leap years! I like learning about things like that, but don't always take the time to research them. I completely forgot it was leap day until I looked at the calendar, I had even had a somewhat reflective, "Ah, it's March 1, the start of a insanely busy month..." moment upon waking up. Wrong! I got to redo that today.
ReplyDeleteI love fall, also. We're starting to get leaves on our trees over here for spring which is nice, but I'm not ready! I also like winter and the big coats and scarves and bundling up.
Having 2 days of waking up and thinking it's the start of the insanely busy month sounds a bit unfortunate!! I suppose you at least got a bonus day before the month really arrived.
DeleteI also like winter and big coats and scarves :) I pretty much like most seasons in some way I suppose, but the cooler ones are much more enjoyable than the very hot months. I hope you have a mild spring!
I am 100% a summer gal. And was most disappointed that this year's summer was rather lacklustre!
ReplyDeleteThen autumn is probably not something you are welcoming with open arms :/ Unless your autumn makes up for your non-summer summer...that might be rather a good outcome all around!
DeleteI love autumn, too. April is (almost) always Townsville's very best month. Also, happy birthday to your dad!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Leap Years the other day because I realised that, for those in salaried, rather than hourly waged, jobs, our employers get a free day of work from us! I think every four years our salary should go up that teensy bit to reflect the extra 8 hours we're putting in. (Though, in QLD this year we get an extra public holiday thanks to two(!!) Queen's Birthday's, so I can't complain too loudly).
That is so funny - I hadn't thought through the salary implications. But yes, I agree! Although I am also intrigued by your double Queen's Birthday celebrations, that sounds rather good but also rather excessive for the Queen?!
DeleteI'm so sad for the start of Autumn because it means Summer is over and winter's not far away and this year I feel like we've been robbed because the Summer in Sydney was a dismal failure - it just never arrived. And as for the rain! When will it stop! I hope your father has a lovely birthday. xx
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like your side of the country has been quite poor in the summer weather stakes. It sounds like this weekend has been equally bad (at least if the news is to be believed, so on reflection maybe not)...I hope you get some drier and warmer spells soon.
DeleteI do love autumn!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great? :)
DeleteI love autumn, it is so beautiful in Canberra but I do feel rather robbed of summer this year. I wish the damn rain would go away, stop making the traffic impossible (there are so many closed roads) and we could have some sun!
ReplyDeleteIt must be quite odd to completely skip a season like it sounds like you have done - it's fortunate you at least like autumn but agree that road closures due to excessive rain can not be a good thing!
DeleteI love all of the seasons apart from Winter because it's just too cold and dark and the days are way too short. I'm a bit sad that for the second year in a row we had a very mild summer, so I don't really feel like it should be Autumn yet.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you'll get your summer dose when you visit Perth...even in autumn W.A. might be hotter than your recent stretch. It is unfortunate you've had such a poor summer though, I wonder if I'd be less enthusiastic about autumn if we'd had cool weather for some time already.
DeleteI've never really paid attention to Lead Day's but I feel like I should have taken more advantage of it somehow after watching a Modern Family episode about it and seeing the Disneyland promotion for "one more day". I never thought about it as an "extra day". To four years from now!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of the Disneyland promotion - how funny! At least you'll be ready to take advantage of it next time :)
DeleteOne of the things I really enjoyed about teaching first year Sociology, back when I was doing that PhD thing briefly, was blowing kids' minds with pointing out how things like time are a complete social construction. And, of course, I love thinking about it and feeling all mind-jiggly and wavery too :)
ReplyDeleteI am SO UNHAPPY about Autumn this year. I know it's different for you, because you've had those ansty hot days, but we've barely had a summer here. It's been cold and raining almost the whole time, and Canberra welcomed Autumn with flooding the likes of which haven't been seen in 63 (or 83? something, anyway) years, a bursting dam, and more thunderstorms expected this weekend. I ABHOR GRRRRRRRR WANT MY SUN GRRRRR.
(I used to like Autumm best though.)
Blowing kids' minds sounds like a brilliant aspect of Sociology tutoring. There are some things that just blow you away to think about - making people think about them has to be a good thing!
DeleteI am so sorry about your summer :( From your comment and the ones above, and the news reports of flooding, I am gathering that it has not been very nice in Canberra or surrounds at all! It would be nice if we could swap for a few days and even things out.