Autumn Equinox
An equinox marks the time when the length of the day equals the length of the
night. After the autumn equinox, the days begin to get shorter, and the temperatures
begin to fall. The reason for these changes is the earth’s 23.5-degree tilt. The tilt
places the northern hemisphere farther away from the sun in the winter months and
closer in the summer.
And boy! Am I glad we’ve arrived here! And isn’t it something that Mother Nature
is true to her nature? I was just wondering about the “constipated clouds” that
were rumbling overhead. Poor clouds, is what I thought; wish I could provide them
the relief they obviously need.
But Mother took care of that.
It took one whole night of rain to bring in the
relief and now I can breathe more comfortably.
I love it (shut my mouth).
And I kid you not, the *Asiatic toad you’ll meet further down was right there to teach me something…
[Because, did you know–In China, toads are regarded as lunar, “yin” and humid
symbols, used medicinally and bringers of much-needed rain.]
***
The featured photo is my true feeling about how I was feeling—posted it on
Instagram (where everyone posts their true feelings, amIright?) 😜
I wrote this post for Mark’s Naturalist Weekly Website, where I received a
wonderful lesson on what’s going on right now. Wowed me… Please take a look.
The Days Between The Seasons In the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumn Equinox is on September 23, 2023. That is 94 daypast the Summer Solstice (June 21, 2023), and only 91 days until the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2023). The Vernal Equinox (March 19, 2024) is now 178 days away, “Thunder Lowers Its Voice” “Thunder Lowers Its Voice” (Sep 22 -Sep 27) is a counter-season to “Thunder Raises Its Voice” (Mar 30 – Apr 03). These two micro-seasons highlight the distinct changes in climate brought about by the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. A Bit About Thunder Thunder is the sound that accompanies lightning. Thunder is most common in thunderstorms, which are created when warm moist air rises and comes in contact with colder air. These conditions exist when there is an “unstable” air mass. Unstable Air An “unstable air mass” is when a warm air settles under cold air. This is the opposite from a “stable” air mass where the cold air lies under the warm air. It is called “stable” because cold air is denser than warm air and will settle on the Earth’s surface.(2) Thunder Clouds When the warm moist air rises to meet the colder air (unstable air mass), the water vapor begins to condense and creates a cloud. As the warm air continues to rise, it creates a cloud formation that is known as a towering cumulus cloud. As the towering cumulus cloud continues to grow, it will eventually reach a high enough altitude that the warm air updrafts flatten out and create an anvil-like cloud that is known as cumulonimbus incus.(3) At this time, water vapor has frozen in the cloud’s upper reaches and begins to fall back to Earth. As the ice falls, it thaws and becomes rain. The falling rain then creates a downdraft. The rising and falling of water molecules in the cloud create a static electric charge within the cloud. When the cloud’s negative charge reaches its maximum limit, it looks for a place to discharge. The earth’s surface offers that discharge point. We see a lightning flash when the negatively charged clouds release their energy. When lightning is created, it rapidly heats the atmosphere which creates the initial crack of thunder. The rumble that follows the initial crack is created by the atmosphere cooling back down.(4) Why Does The Thunder Lower Its Voice? Once we reach autumn, the likelihood of thunderstorms decreases. Part of the reason for this is that unstable air masses are less likely to develop in the cooler months. The opposite is true in the micro-season of “Thunder Raises its Voice”. At this time the earth is beginning to warm up and there is more opportunity for unstable air masses and more moisture in the air. Seasonal Haiku Thunder and lightning have the potential to be multi-season kigo according to the World Kigo Database. However, “thunder” without another seasonal descriptor is considered a summer kigo, and “lightning” without a specific seasonal descriptor is an autumn kigo.(5) The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto list “lightning” and “autumn’s voice”, which is described as “the sounds of autumn: wind in dry leaves, insects, etc.”, are related Autumn kigo. In A Dictionary of Haiku, Jane Reichhold lists “clouds”, “dark rain”, and “equinox” as other autumn kigo With this in mind, let’s read a few haiku! Basho lightning— into the darkness a night-heron's cry. (translated by David Landis Barnhill) a flash of lightning your hand takes in darkness a paper candle (translated by Jane Reichhold) a flash of lightning - where there were faces plumes of pampas grass (translated by Makoto Ueda) Issa in cool air slicing the falling rain... lightning! (translated by David Lanoue) lightning flash-- no way to hide the wrinkles (translated by David Lanoue) in the lightning how he laughs... Buddha! (translated by David Lanoue) Jane Reichhold in the dark of night who would have thought rain was round Jack Kerouac Drunk as a hoot owl writing letters By thunderstorm ~ Mark's Naturalist Weekly Website
Mark’s Haiku Invitation
This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu
that references autumn storms.
***
The photo is for those not on Instagram;
the link below is for those who are.
And so, now I’ll share a haiga. The photo was taken by me, and retouched on
Canva: An Asiatic Toad.
*The Asiatic toad or Chusan Island toad (Bufo gargarizans) is a species of toad
endemic to East Asia. The species was previously classified as Bufo bufo gargarizans,
a subspecies of the common toad.
>>Foto of one such the toad in my yard<<
(I checked on Google and got this confirmed)
Impatient I cuss
at cumulonimbus clouds
serene, toad looks on
*
THANKS for this fantastic lesson, dear Mark.
And THANKS to everyone for reading.
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a flash of lightning
your hand takes in darkness
a paper candle
(translated by Jane Reichhold)! Very nice interested haiku. Beautiful pictures. Very nice you sharing Micro Season. Now started winter. By by.. summer.
Thanks you sharing, Selma!
Constipated clouds, great line. As usual, your poems are always well written.
A very informative post. Love your poem Selma. Congratulations on being the poet of the week at W3.
The post at Naturalist Weekly was a goldmine of information. I really enjoyed it. And so I wanted to share my enjoyment here too. Glad you liked. It was a very long post.
W3. What an honor. I was really surprised AND happy. Thanks, Sadje. I’m confident you’ll participate. Xoxo bless you.
You’re most welcome! Is this ode – does it have a specific form or could be free verse?
Free to choose the form, dear Sadje.
Thanks 🙏🏼
Hi Selma, This is great! I really like the information about Bufo gargarizans and then the haiga. I am glad that you enjoyed this week’s post and were able to join in! I hope you have a good rest of your week.
The post got too long. Sort of like the enthusiasm I soaked in from your informative post. Thanks so much for that. The toad— 😜 Google told me all I wanted to know. So happy you thought that of value. Bless you for all you do.
Have a fantastic rest of the week.
Are you gonnna mention the final supermoon of the year on Friday? (Tsukimi in Japan 😉) I’ll be serenading her 🌝
Whatever you do, I know I’ll love it. Xoxo thanks.
Hi Selma, I hadn’t thought about writing about the super moon. I think I might tuck that idea away for the future. There are so many good haiku that reference the moon!
Mark always inspired and you took the ball and ran with it. Great sharing . I love your haiga! Nicely done💗
Aww 💗
❤️💗
I remember the constipated clouds. 😀 that was hilarious. You also wished you can provide a tonic. Happy Autumn! Enjoy 🎉
You remember well. Thanks so very much. Bless you. Happy autumn 🍂 indeed!
(Heart)
I love your poems, Selma, and the toad that reminds me of my childhood. 🙂 And Congrats to you! So well deserved, my friend. Wishing you a Fab Friday and weekend! xoxoxo
Hi Selma,
I love your poems: “…Been fixing to rain for days but it doesn’t rain…” and ” …the Mother Nature…” Poem. They are wonderful and refreshingly delightful and make me smile:). I love the image of the asiatic “serene frog” who lives in your backyard!
Hi Selma,
I love your poems: “…Been fixing to rain for days but it doesn’t rain…” and “…the Mother Nature Poem…” They are both wonderful & refreshingly delightful. I love the image of the asiatic “serene frog”, too:).