Autumnal Equinox and Hobbit Day

It is the first day of autumn
and the wind is blowing
15 to 25 mph.

No birds fly past my window,
the neighbors' dogs are silent,
the neighbors' cats are indoors
no one is walking
or driving down my street.

It is the autumnal equinox,
it is Hobbit Day,
my inner child wants
to go to the park today
and walk barefoot through the grass,
but my outer adult
wants to see a movie
about Hobbits.

Haibun-Haiku: Autumnal Equinox

Clouds hide morning's sky
Birds singing in oak and pine
Sun cast pale shadows

The sun crossed the celestial equator at 7:49 A.M. Pacific Time. It is now officially fall. In Las Vegas, the cool morning is passing into a warm day. The temperature is supposed to be in the middle 90s, but it could as easily get into the triple digits. On the first day of fall, 100 degrees is not an unusual temperature in Las Vegas.

Late Summer in Las Vegas

Shorter cooler days
A light breezes caresses trees
The changing season

It is late summer in Las Vegas. The days grow shorter. The weather cools off with fewer triple digit days. The first day of Autumnal Equinox occurs on September 23 at 09:04 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This is when daylight and night are almost equal.

On the first day of Autumn 2009

Autumn begins at 5:18 PM EDT, which is 2:18 PM PDT. The web site Equinoxes and Solstices 2000-2010 gives the time the seasons begin and then you translate the time to your individual time zone.

The leaves haven't started changing color yet. My next-door neighbor has an oak tree and the leaves are still green. The leaves won't begin to change color until later in the year. That tree usually begins losing its leaves between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Las Vegas autumn
trees wear holiday colors
Thanksgiving Christmas