Autumn Equinox

The autumnal equinox was on September 22, 2025, almost a week ago. On the autumnal equinox, the Sun is directly over the Earth’s equator, making nearly equal amounts of daylight and darkness for the entire globe. This event marks the official beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The Earth’s axis doesn’t tilt toward or away from the sun at this moment. 

What happens after the autumnal equinox, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where I am? Well, after the autumnal equinox, the sun sets earlier each day in the Pacific Northwest, with a loss of approximately three to four minutes of daylight per day in locations like Portland and Seattle, accelerating to around five minutes daily in areas further north. The reduction in sunlight brings cooler weather and a distinct chill in the air. 

I didn’t do very well with the cooler weather in the last two winters. I suffered a nonstop runny nose and squeezing for several months each winter, and it even happened in the summer this year. After seeing many allergy specialists, ENT doctors, and going through many tests, the results were that I was allergic to dust mites. Staying indoors most of the time during the winter isn’t helpful. Finally, I did something drastic six weeks ago: I bought 1) the bed bug-proof, zipped six-sided mattress encasement, 2) bed bug-proof zipped pillow protectors, 3) a 1,000 thread count sheet set, and 4) two air purifiers, one for the bedroom and one for the living room. It has worked so far. I haven’t had the symptoms mentioned. Fingers crossed for the winter.  I’ll try to bundle up and go to my garden often in the winter to get some fresh air.

Autumn showed us the game she wanted to play

School started a month ago. I signed up to volunteer in Autumn and Nora’s classrooms. Autumn’s teacher wants help with reading in the morning and math in the afternoon. Nora’s teacher is flexible. This will be my Monday schedule from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm with a lunch break, of course.

Nora was sorting sea creatures

After on and off searching for a choir, I finally found one and had an audition. My rehearsal will start tomorrow, September 28, in the evening. I’ll share more with you later.

Autumn is turning eight years old tomorrow, September 28th. The birthday party will be in the afternoon. There’ll be about 45 guests, with about 25 kids.

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