Summer?
Posted Thu Aug 25, 2011 in
Ruminations
During the mostly-monthly staff meeting last week, one of my coworkers leaned over to me and said “Summer? That’s Memorial Day to Labor Day, right?”
“Nope… It’s from 21 June through 21 September (more or less); the Summer Solstice to the Autumnal Equinox.”
“Hmph…”
On reflection, I should probably have nodded and smiled. My coworkers call me “Doc” or “Professor” a lot, which is OK because they’re playing. I’m still one of those “damned know-it-all engineers” I guess.
The seasons are delineated by definite astronomical events. This isn’t because God suddenly flips the switch and things switch from spring to summer (please induct), but I suspect because this allows us to communicate across areas of widely varying climate. It’s much easier to mark a specific astronomical event than to reference a country-specific holiday.
I suppose most Americans think of the summer season as the end of school late in the spring and the beginning of school in the late summer. That artificial division of school season is an anachronism held over from a time when the primary industry in this country was agriculture and all hands were needed to plant, tend the fields, and harvest in the fall.
As a nation, we don’t generally think in terms of the science. It’s a shame.
The image is one of Markleeville Creek I made when I was in Markleeville for a meeting. Markleeville is a small town in the eastern Sierras. It’s an interesting place and attracts a few motorcyclists in the warm months (too much snow in the cold months) as a way-station on their way through the country backroads. It’s worth the visit.
That was a neat observation by the colleague (if it was not his/her own, I sure haven’t heard this before), but your response was neater because as you say, it was in terms of the science.
It was in August that I landed in US the first time. They said it was summer. I thought they were kidding as our typical summers run from April to June!
— Ajay 26 August 2011, 19:48 #He cited what is now a traditional definition of summer in the States. It’s the way most people think of the season now, at least in this country.
Me, being a scientist at heart, prefer the astronomical definition (it’s also the opposite in the southern hemisphere). Regardless, his definition is the operative definition, so it trumps science. :)
— ruminator 26 August 2011, 20:32 #