“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
A sincere wish from the Vintage ranch to you and yours: have a rooting, tooting Christmas and an ace-high New Year!
‘We are nearer to Spring
Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing
Than we were in September,’
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.”
The winter solstice arrives tonight at 20:27 (8:27 MST for you civilian types) here at the Vintage domicile. And while I am certainly no fan of winter, I am thrilled to welcome the winter solstice back. From this point on the days grow longer, and the sun claws its way further north in the sky until it reaches its apex when the summer solstice arrives on June 20th.
Why, tomorrow the daylength is one whole second longer than today! Huzzah!
As far as I am concerned, the winter solstice marks the start of the New Year. So Happy New Year everyone!
I’ve actually wondered for a very long time why the New Year doesn’t start on the solstice. To me it makes perfect sense: the seasons have completed their cycle from the darkest day to the darkest day. For the next 364 days the sun shines longer than it does today.
I suppose a case could be made that the spring equinox should be the start of the New Year. After all, that equinox marks the beginning of the new growing season. That was a big day for our ancestors. They were very much in tune with the seasons. They had to be if they wanted to survive.
But how did January 1st get the honor? There is nothing of note on that day. Even on the Christian calendar, the twelve days of Christmas end on January 5th. So why the 1st? It is a puzzle.
I heard about this new gizmo called the ‘internet”, where apparently you can look up all kinds of random information. So, I took it upon myself to look into it. And I immediately regretted my decision.
Apparently, once upon a time the calendar was tied to the lunar cycle. A full moon marked the start of a new month. Every 3 full moons marked a season. But the moon doesn’t move in sync with the earthly seasons, so that proved to be unworkable.
The Romans had a calendar of 10 months of 30 days each. They just ignored the 60+ days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox (understandable). But that too was unwieldy.
Julius Caesar ordered that a new calendar be created, but decisions were made based more on religious or political reasons than practical ones. Plus, the Romans apparently had a weird superstition about even numbers, which is why some of the months have 31 days.
The tale became quite convoluted and I quickly lost interest. If you’re really curious, here’s as good as an explanation as any: https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/01/02/why-doesnt-the-new-year-start-on-solstice/.
Be sure to get outside and enjoy your extra one second of daylight tomorrow.
Every year I try to document the fall colors around the Denver metro area. That is if I remember to do it. Or if I’m in town. Or if I feel like it. Ok, so I try to document the fall colors around the Denver metro area when the mood strikes me.
As an example, last year MrsVintage and I were visiting the Vintage grandchildren and got back just in time to watch a windstorm blow away all the colorful foliage before I could get any photos taken.
I did manage to make a post about it two years ago, as you can see here: Autumn splendor in Colorado’s Front Range part deux (mrvintageman.com)
Anyhoo, I figure if Mother Nature is going to put on such gorgeous display to close out the growing season, I feel that it behooves us to enjoy the spectacle if at all possible
Those who don’t live in Colorado are probably not aware that there a BIG difference of when peak foliage arrives around the state. In the northern mountains, the aspen start reaching their peak in mid-to-late September. The southern mountains reach their peak about two to three weeks later. The Western Slope usually doesn’t reach its peak in late October.
Here along the Front Range, we typical see the foliage crescendo arrive sometime around mid-October. This year was a little bit different. It was a warmer than usual autumn, so the color changes were spread out over a longer period of time. I saw cottonwoods around town already changing in late September, while the two honey-locusts in my yard didn’t start turning until the last week of October.
I should point out that trees and shrubs don’t base their color changes on temperature, but on the length of daylight. However, temperatures can cause variations to the duration and intensity of the color display. So, some trees decided that they didn’t care at all what the thermometer said and declared “peace, I’m out!” the first chance they could. While others, like my honey-locusts, apparently felt that as long as the weather was still warm they might just as well keep on photosynthesizing.
While the display may have lasted an unusually long time, its ending was decidedly rather abrupt. At the Vintage ranch, the weather on October 23rd was sunny with a high of 81 degrees. The weather gradually cooled off during the week, then went straight into winter over the weekend. The low on the morning of October 30th was 11 degrees, with six inches of snow on the ground. That lowered the boom on the fall foliage finale once and for all.
But it was quite a show while it lasted.
Way back in the late 90’s and early 2000s, HGTV (Home and Garden Televison) used to have actual gardening shows in their lineup. I no longer watch that channel, but it is my understanding that all they do anymore is home makeover shows. So the “G” in HGTV is misnomer, much like the “M” that once stood for “music” in Mtv.
With that out of the way, let’s return to the wayback machine. Paul James, The Gardener Guy, was the host of a show on HGTV called Gardening by the Yard. What a great show! Paul injected humor along with instructions into the show and was not afraid to show the mistakes he made or the flaws in his garden. I used to record the shows on VHS (later on TiVo), and we would watch them as a family.
Anyway, here he explains the science behind fall color: Color Changes Video | HGTV
If you’re interested, here he tells you how to put your veggie bed to sleep for the winter Veggie Garden Video | HGTV
As well as how to prep your flower borders: Flower Bed Prep Video | HGTV
Enjoy.
And now, on with the show!
I just want to point out, just in case it’s not abundantly clear, that I am not a photographer. I don’t know how to compose a scene or frame a shot. I’m just an old fart armed with a phone camera.
With that out of the way, I’ll start with some pics I took from around town.
I visited the Aurora Xeriscape Demonstration garden in mid-October. As you can see, low-water landscapes can have awesome fall color.
How was the autumn display in your area this year?
