By: Blonde Two
As Mr B2 and I sat on the beach last night, we ate chips and drank red wine (we were celebrating); we also had an equinox-based discussion. We could tell we were not on the equator, because the incoming tide was drawing with it a rush of chilly air. We could also tell because at no point in the day, had the sun been directly overhead.
There is something a tad emotional about an equinox, the tipping of one season into another; this is particularly true when the tipping is towards darkness. The reason behind our celebration was maybe also a tipping point, although not (I hope) into darkness.
It was whilst I was thinking these deep thoughts, that I realised that last year I must have been equinoctially (well equinoctial is a word) confused, because instead of becoming emotionally involved in the coming of autumn, I was bang, smack in the middle of a rather exuberant New Zealand spring equinox.
People came down to the beach last night, with their open-top kayaks. They parked their cars on the slip, left the engines running and sat around talking to each other. Despite the tide rushing in, after about half an hour they got back into their cars and drove away again.
The equinoxes (I checked the plural) can have an effect on the tides. I had a look at the tide timetables, and it would appear that we can expect this year’s highest autumnal spring tide (oxymoronic maybe) on October 17th. As a child, on holiday on Guernsey, I loved watching the spring tides lap over the St Peter Port harbour edge. I must arrange to be on a boat on October 17th!
But the spring tides will come just as far up the boat as any other tides do! 😉
Hmm, will have to rethink the boat plan… maybe a lonely harbourside…