high desert we keep us safe
nathanlovestreesfinally, the time of year when all the annoying “signs of spring” posts go away and everyone can finally admit that it is spring without modifiers, even though “signs of spring” means it IS spring because that’s what spring is. astronomical spring is unremarkable to those of us who observe ecological spring
not sure what term to use here. ecological spring felt right in the moment but there are others that would be better I’m sure
good thing we have human astronomers to tell us when spring begins otherwise the plants and birds and insects would all be so confused!
one of the subtle (or maybe not so subtle) totalizing effects of blindly accepting astronomical seasons is that is makes a specific temperate seasonal model a global norm—spring, or any season, doesn’t happen at the same time everywhere. some places don’t even have the same seasons you do! learn what the seasons are and how to recognize them *where you are*
Corey Snipes 🌱@nathanlovestrees God, thank you. I feel this very strongly. I've been calling it "biological spring" but ecological spring is better, IMO. Most of my family would rather listen to the calendar, than step outside and listen to the world. Ah well.
@coreysnipes I almost typed biological spring! then I changed my mind haha… there are many kinds of springs! The skunk cabbages are a great indicator
Sarah dreams of beans@nathanlovestrees @adelinej I really love the proliferation of memes about the "actual" seasons in the pacific northwest, that have winter, false spring, second winter, etc. Junuary. "Spiders" as a season in the fall.
BrambleBearSnoring
Thomas@nathanlovestrees I've seen charts comparing Celtic, astronomical, and meteorological seasons. That doesn't seem like a bad term
@nathanlovestrees (auto-complete wanted to say astrological seasons which is hilarious)
@tfb (a bit of snow in March) looks like spring is in retrograde again!
B's wild, wild world 🌱🐛🎼@nathanlovestrees can't we just enjoy something? 😝
@BsCreativeLife not on the fediverse!
cognitively accessible math@nathanlovestrees and hey, the sun's right in the middle of the eastern/western sky so be careful goin' those directions early and late in the day.
Nazo@nathanlovestrees We replaced "signs of spring" with "signs of summer" instead though...
NilaJonesSurprisingly, the tree leaves in my yard have just started to sprout, the last couple days. A rare conjunction of ecological and calendrical spring!
But really, spring is a long long season here. It starts, to my mind, the last week of January, when the first flowers start to bloom
Right after or before or in the middle of the 'winter vacation', the few weeks of warm sunshine we get in January or sometimes February (before we go back to cold sunshine, alternating with rain)
Spring used to go until the first week of July here, when the rain stops for good until September, and we go into the dry season
But in recent years we have a new, never before known season, which I am calling early summer, because I am super uncreative about these things
I'm not quite sure when it starts. April? But we suddenly have humid heat, which used to never be a phenomenon in this climate at all
It is warm or sometimes even hot, but it is also damp. How can this be?
We have always been a cold and damp, then hot and dry, mediterranean-style climate
Mark@nathanlovestrees get rid of clocks too and I’ll jump right on this bandwagon.