Autumn Calendar

- Autumn Calendar -

In Autumn, Nature seems to uncover its most dazzling colours in a dramatic display of gold, mahogany, rust and browns. It's almost like this spectacular folly was only destined to make us forget that Winter will soon be there with its cold colourless, stripped landscapes. Fruitful Autumn is time for harvest and the collecting of fruits.

-September-

At the start of September, the sun rises around 5:55am and sets around 7:30pm. The days get 1 minute shorter each morning, and 2 minutes shorter in the evening.

September is time for the harvest of fruit before the first frosts.

-October-

In October, the sun rises around 6:45 am and sets around 6:20pm. We lose 1 minute of day each morning and 2 every evening.

In anglo-saxon countries, on the night if the 31rd of October is Halloween. During this night, spirits of the dead are supposed to wander freely among the living. Pumpkins are carved like scary faces and lit in order to represent the spirits of the dead.

-November-

In November, the sun rises at 7:35am and sets around 5:20pm. The days shorten of about 1:45 minute each morning and 1:20 each night.

The 1st of November is All Saints' Day and the 2nd celebrates the dead, people visit the cemetaries and put flowers on their beloved's tombs in remembrance of their love and show they are not forgotten.
Around the 11th of November, the days often seem to get warmer for a short period. This phenomenon is due to a stardust cloud that spins around the sun and reflects its rays on the Earth, giving us a little extra mildness before the first Winter chills.

-December-

In December, the sun rises at 7:20am and sets around 3:50pm. The days get 1 minute shorter every morning and every evening. From the 21st of December on, they will slowly grow longer : it's the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the solar year.

On the 6th of December is Saint Nicolas's Day (Santa Claus). Saint Nicolas is the Northern Countries' Father Christmas. He delivers presents in the shoes of little children.
In Sweden, the 13th of December is Saint Lucy's Day : young girls wear crowns of candles, it's the celebration of light.

-Autumn Equinox-

On this particular day, daytime and nigthtime both last 12 hours. The sun rises exactly in the East and sets exactly in the West. This day triggers the start of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North Pole, it's the start of a 6-month-night during which the sun will never rise. In the South Pole, it's the opposite : the sun will not set for the next 6 months. Only on the next Equinox will the sun rise in the North Pole and set in the South Pole.

'Les Très Riches Heures' du Duc de Berry

(early 1400s)

-September-

Wine harvest in the vines of the Castle of Saumur.

-October-

The peasants plough and sow in front of the Louvre Castle.

-November-

The peasants shake the oaks to make the acorns fall and feed them to the pigs.

-December-

In the Bois de Vincennes, a hunter and his dogs have caught a boar.