Silly astrologers (was Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Winter Solstsice)

[sistermagpie]

CJ:
> I think we're simply talking about different definitions, here. Of 
> course, any amateur astronomer can tell you about solstices, 
equinoxes, 
> polar tilts, and so forth -- and the astronomer that was linked to 
is 
> certainly correct, astronomically speaking -- but all that just 
brushes 
> right over the heads of your average layman, for whom it's all 
> pragmatically useless. How many of us notice, in a way that 
impacts our 
> lives, that December 15 had less daylight than December 1? Now, 
how many 
> of us noticed that December 15 was colder?

Magpie:
Actually, I notice the daylight issue far more than the coldness. I 
notice if a day is particularly cold or warm, but that can vary. I 
mark the seasons very much by how light it is when I am leaving 
work, or how the sun looks coming through my office window at 
different times of the year. So I actually do mark the year by the 
solstices and equinoxes--it's one of the things that makes me feel 
aware and connected to the natural seasons.

-m