L&L Knight wrote:
G'day Wim
You are using the wrong definition of summer.
You should define it as days when the sun reaches more than [say] 40
degrees above the horizon and you have more than 6 hours of sunshine per
day. Alternatively, you can define it in terms of plants fruiting,
birds nesting/fledging or people sunbathing.
The Wikipedia entry on summer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer)
has an interesting discussion on the various dates attributed to it.
Somewhat arbitrarily, I choose to follow astronomical reckoning of
the seasons based on the solstices and equinoxes: it seems a better
fit for the unpleasant weather I associate with "summer", especially
hot, sweltering nights (ugh.) Similarly, "winter" by this reckoning
seems to fit the ski season in SE Australia e.g.:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/05/2295261.htm
Laurie's suggestion of basing the seasons on local natural events is
of course spot on, and more relevant to birdos than any idealised and
regulated calendar system. The Bureau of Meteorology website touches
on some local indigenous seasonal descriptions:
http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/climate_culture/Indig_seasons.shtml
Here in Canberra, the migrations of bogong moths, honeyeaters and
politicans are quite noticable, but I curious to find out how the
local Ngunnawal people's reckoned the seasons.
--
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Paul Taylor Veni, vidi, tici -
I came, I saw, I ticked.
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