A yellow-orange maple leaf, caught in a wire fence, is back-lit by autumn light. Upstate New York, In the vicinity of Town of Wallkill. Circa 1998.

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Today is the first day of Autumn. It’s  one of two days of the year when the amount of daylight and darkness are approximately equal (1). After today, darkness will occupy most  of our 24 hour day until after the first day of spring when daylight will once again fill the majority of our trip around our planets tilted axis.

Admittedly, I get a bit saddened at the thought of shortened days and longer nights but there are  other things that  happen during this time of year that  negate my depressing view. Because of our planets axial tilt and revolution around