Happy Autumnal Equinox.

Well, a couple days late... we were camping out in the summerlike heat and didn't even have water and flush toilets, much less a handy Wi-Fi. But we had lots of birds, fresh air, and the lovely almost full Harvest Moon to look at. It's lovely tonight, too, even through the hazy Nashville air. The above poster is by Nashville letterpress genius Bryce McCloud, whose shop we toured a few years ago. Super nice guy, so talented. Anyway, that's my favorite of his and I think of it on full moon days. The equinox is cool, only happens twice a year, and just has a sweet sound to it.

Origin: 1350–1400; ME <>equinoxium, for L aequinoctium the time of equal days and nights (aequi- equi- + noct- (s. of nox) night + -ium -ium)

The 2007 September equinox comes Sunday, September 23, at 4:51 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

Every year, on or near today’s date, the sun passes directly overhead at Earth’s equator. This is the September equinox, the day on which the sun rises due east and sets due west nearly everywhere around the globe.

That makes this day – the day of the equinox – a wonderful day for finding the directions east and west from your deck, yard or other favorite spot to observe the heavens.

On the day of the equinox, everyone receives approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

So anyhow, happy Aequinoctium. I wish we celebrated it!