It’s that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, there is a crispness to the air, and pumpkin has somehow found its way into just about everything we eat or drink. Thursday September 22nd marks the official start of fall.
It’s the time of year we get excited to bring out those sweaters we buried deep in the closet months ago. Go to the apple orchards. And enjoy those spooky October nights that seem to bring out the kid in all of us. But beyond the ghost tales that lived through the ages, fall is filled with lore both based in truth and some that has even our most credible friends spreading blasphemy.
One of my personal favorites is the ol balancing egg act. Each year it seems my Facebook news feed is filled with friends and family balancing those little shelled embryos or sharing some click farm’s version of the same. I hate to burst your bubble, but this trick works every single day of the year.
If you believe me, feel free to skip this section and head on down to our next busted piece of lore.
Spring is traditionally a time of new beginnings– birth, leaves returning to the trees, and of course the days lasting longer than the cold nights of winter. Eggs are the perfect symbol of birth and new beginnings.
Many cite the Chinese as starting this whole balancing act on the equinox. The new births, blossoming plants, and longer days of spring symbolize a balance returning to the world. So the thought became, if the symbol of rebirth and fertility, an egg, could be balanced on the equinox– it would be a sign nature was in harmony. But somewhere along the way, that translated to eggs only being able to be balanced on the day of equal light and dark.
Moving on to what always stirs up emotion in the meteorological world, The Farmers Almanac. An old bit of almanac proverb says:
“Weather Lore: The Three Days of September (21, 23 and 24) rule the weather for October, November and December.”
What this means is that whatever the weather is like on September 21 the general pattern of October will follow; and so on with each month.
Now there is no scientific backing to this whatsoever, but still a fun thing to pay attention to in the coming days and even the coming months. Especially if you are in one of the many places in the country that will welcome a drastic change in the weather with the start of fall!
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Jeremy LaGoo