Sarah Gibbard Cook
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact

Meteorological Spring 

3/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Happy spring! Before you insist spring doesn’t start officially for another two weeks, astronomical spring (starting on the equinox) isn’t the only game in town. The weather folk go by three-month chunks, with spring being March, April, and May. This results in “winters” and “summers” that more closely correspond to the coldest and hottest quarters of the year, and it makes year-to-year comparisons easier because the dates are always the same.

Changes of the seasons exist in nature, at least in the temperate zone. Defining them by calendar date is a human convenience. Is the compulsion to specify turning points universal or specific to our culture? Just as people don’t suddenly reach the maturity to drive, vote, or drink on a particular birthday, nature’s spring doesn’t arrive on one predictable date each year.

We know this intuitively. We speak of a long winter or an early fall. We know that summers in North Carolina last longer than summers in Alaska. Even the division of the year into quarters is arbitrary. My life holds a distinct harvest/hay-fever season from mid-August to mid-October.

I’m a late convert to the concept of meteorological seasons. They’re a good fit for the novel I’m writing. They match the school calendar of my childhood. And they allow me in early March to bid you a joyful spring.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed


      ​get updates

    Sign up
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact