Daily Archives: November 16, 2010

Despite my distance from 5th grade, this is still really funny.
Jupiter is still close to Uranus, but the two are drifting farther apart for the next couple months before they will move back into close quarters in January 2011.

The point is that winter has nothing to do with the stars. Do any of us actually go outside and say ” Oh, I see Scorpio! It must be November.” Yes, a few of us still actually give credence to our horoscopes, but I doubt whether the same people are actually gazing at the stars, or even if they are, they couldn’t identify Scorpio if it stung them in the ass.

But I digress.

The point is that there is no “official” start to winter. This can be rather hard to swallow when one has been looking at American calendars all of one’s life. The truth is that, while perhaps interesting from a scientific point of view, the stellar schedule for the seasons isn’t all that useful.

Useful definitions of winter, Especially public health-wise

Winter is when it’s cold.

Winter is when it’s dark too much.

Winter is when we get more colds, influenza, and other maladies.

These definitions are useful because they don’t require us to drive out of the city and use sky maps to determine the seasons: they are about the way we live.

(This post is being updated continually. Check early and often.)