and after winter folweth grene may.
-geoffrey chaucer
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image credit: zazzle.com
May2
Category Archives: seasons
Mar1
undecided.
march arrives and mother nature sits undecided
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“the seasons change their manner,
as the year had found some months asleep and leapt them over.”
-william shakespeare
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ann arbor, mi, usa – march 2023 – mlive photo credit
Feb2
groundhog theory.
happy groundhog day – at last it all makes sense!
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image credit: quotesgram
Jan18
daylight.
north manistee, michigan lighthouse pier
As days drag on and the sun still sets relatively early, you may be left wondering are the days truly getting longer? The short answer is, yes. But only by a few minutes. Each day in January we average an extra 2 minutes from the day prior.
By the end of February, we can expect an additional two hours and 30 minutes. February 28’s sunrise is at 7:20 A.M. And the sunset is at 6:30 P.M. The first 6 o’clock sunset of the year arrives on February 5.
As we ease closer to our longest day, June 21, we’ll gain an additional 6 hours and 41 minutes of daylight. The longest day of the year, the summer solstice on June 21, is 15 hours and 21 minutes long.
We’re on our way!
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“run for daylight.”
-vince lombardi
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credits: wxyz-tv detroit, isabella hulsizer, photo: john l. russell
Dec30
in the dark of december.
“i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.
a magical thing.
and sweet to remember.
we are nearer to spring than we were in september.
i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.”
-oliver herford
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art credit: “Winter Moon”, photograph by Ginette Brosseau
This dark winter landscape photo was taken not far from her home
along the shores of the St. Lawrence river in Quebec.
Dec21
essence of life.
picture from a past solstice celebration
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every year
one of my favorite things to teach and share with my class
is the story and traditions of the winter solstice
i get to play the sun
the children play the tilting earth and the seasons
who spin and dance and throw snow
as the season changes
the sun stays in the middle
offering extra light
to the other side of the earth now tilting toward it
knowing it will always return to them
even as our days grow shorter
they quietly rest on the ground
waiting, waiting
only to emerge
when the time is right
happy to dance once more
in the light of the warm spring sun.
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*notes: here is my recipe for the winter solstice, and many thanks to all for your low-tech special effects support of this performance: torn paper snowflakes made by the children, many smiles, a bit of dizziness, a sun doing an interpretive dance, a person to turn off and on the classroom lights at just the right moment, a flashlight, a yellow paper sun, a dj to play the music (‘carol of the bells’ by george winston, and ‘here comes the sun’ by the beatles) at just the right time, and a class full of kinder/whirling twirling planets throwing snow, lying down, and awakening as emerging new life in the spring when the sun returns. somehow it all falls into place, each year a bit differently, as is the way of the world.
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“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”
-agnivesh
Nov6
fall back.
“we must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact
that each moment is a miracle and mystery.”
-h.g. wells
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on daylight savings time day once again – fall back
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image credit: ‘fir forest’ painting by gustav klimt
Oct7
october slipped quietly in.
“Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of the air and the endless freshets of wind? And don’t you think the trees, especially those with mossy hollows, are beginning to look for the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleep inside their bodies? And don’t you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow? The pond stiffens and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its long blue shadows. The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way.”
~Mary Oliver, “Song for Autumn”
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art credit: willowday flower project by gina, stockholm
Sep12
changing.
signs of change are all around us.
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“the crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever.
even on the most beautiful days in the whole year –
the days when summer is changing into autumn –
the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.”
– E.B. White
Aug1
august of another summer.
“august of another summer,
and once again I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.”
-mary oliver
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gallup park, ann arbor, mi, usa – august 2022
I didn't have my glasses on.... 