We've reached the Solstice. It's a benchmark event for those that keep track of our Earth's wobbly gyrations. All that neat stuff happens. The sun rises and sets at the northern most points of its travels. Zenith observations of Polaris can give you a pretty direct reading of your latitude. And if you live in Miami, FL, ol' Sol is almost directly 90 degrees overhead at one point.
But if you're a surveyor like me, summer might mean something different entirely. With the sun directly overhead, shadows are at their shortest, meaning more solar exposure. Solar exposure hurts. It's the best time of year to get a nasty sunburn. Summer begins the grumblings of the hired hands we task with our fieldwork; field schedules begin changing to avoid the dreaded heat. And speaking of heat, it's hard on the equipment and vehicles. Somebody is going to leave me a sticky telling me which truck is at what shop. Some shop owner is going to call me and explain why he feels the need to eviscerate my wallet. And if you're a salaried employee, there are two months back to back just around the corner that both have 31 days...and your hourly equivalent just got smaller for those two months.
Now if you look at it objectively, summer doesn't look that bad. There is very little to no rain to disrupt field work. There is plenty of time and sunshine to get the work done. Like our agriculturally bound ancestors; we make hay while the sun shines. I sometimes wonder if it's worth it.
If I were a rich man, I'd live somewhere the climate seemed like spring or fall year round. But my life is here, where summer is king for the next 100 days. I don't want to give the impression I don't like summer, but....I don't like summer.
I come in two colors.....white and bright red. Very rarely does the skin tone resemble pink. Brown is not an option, except for the thousands of freckles that get overwhelmed by the bright red.
On the day length issue, I have been following the little notation at the bottom of the site I use to keep up with weather predictions on the internet. Saturday was four seconds longer than Friday. Sunday was one second longer than Saturday. Today is one second shorter than Sunday. Tomorrow will be five seconds shorter than today. We maxed out with 14 hours and 46 minutes of daylight and 15 hours and 48 minutes of visible light (whatever the distinction is).
FYI at 7:35 a.m. MDT in Gunnison, CO it was 48 with 20 mph winds.
"I come in two colors.....white and bright red. Very rarely does the skin tone resemble pink. Brown is not an option, except for the thousands of freckles that get overwhelmed by the bright red."
I too suffer from "northern European ancestral syndrome" with the fair skin. Genetics is a funny thing, however. My father had a lot of native American in him (grandmother was from the Delaware Tribe in Kansas) and looked it. Dark straight hair and deep skin color and brown eyes. My mother was red-headed and freckled. My sister popped out with my father's hair and skin...looks just like a injun. All the boys wound up with momma's fair complexion. You can't see my freckles anymore however...due to all the liver spots and discolorations I attribute to my career.
Things are starting/continuing to heat up here; good thing I have some drafting to do.
Music To Draft By:
[MEDIA=youtube]v2AC41dglnM[/MEDIA]
paden cash, post: 323723, member: 20 wrote: We've reached the Solstice. It's a benchmark event for those that keep track of our Earth's wobbly gyrations. All that neat stuff happens. The sun rises and sets at the northern most points of its travels. Zenith observations of Polaris can give you a pretty direct reading of your latitude. [. . .]
??? A zenith observation of Polaris gives you your Latitude +- 30 minutes anytime anywhere your can see it if your'e north of the Equator year round (never visible in the Southern Hemisphere south of Lat S23.5°, sometimes visible in early or late southern winter if you're close to the Equator down there). No tables or accurate time needed.
You may be confusing this with the fact that at the Equinoxes (not the Solstices), observation of the Sun at its highest point in the sky (local Noon) gives you your Latitude (+- 15 minutes or so) directly. This observation is interesting in that exact time (the date of the Equinox will do) , precise astronomical tables and location on the Earth need not be available. With fine tuning, like observe the day before and after the expected Equinox so you can deduce the right day, make several observations as the Sun approaches and departs LAN, graph it, do some averaging and you can determine your Latitude +- a few minutes. All without knowing where you are or what time it is. Amazing!
Longitude, as they say, is much harder. Precise time (ignoring the 17th century Lunar Distance method which was incredibly difficult) is required. All water under the bridge as GNSS has made celestial observations archaic; if you can see the sky, your receiver can see the birds and determine Latitude within a few seconds.
To stay on message, I always liked summer, long daylight hours, ground dried up for vehicle access, plenty of clients, big money. The downside was the bugs, critters, foliage growth and brutal heat in some locales. I was actually only a seasonal employee during the first few years of my career (worked Ski Patrol in the winter, or unemployment). Now, I'm more of a winter guy (fall and spring actually) where things are less hectic and comfortable.
These guys look like summertime surveyors on the weekend!
[MEDIA=youtube]zc9wIzi96_E[/MEDIA]
Snake boots?
A number of years ago (lets say about 12), during a particularly cold stretch one winter, our boss cautioned the field crews to stay close to the truck so we could get in and stay warm.
My instant response was to ask if the same sort of policy was to be in effect during the nasty heat of the summer. No, of course not.
One particularly nasty hot and humid day, we finished our field work a few minutes early. I requested the crew chief to take us to the nearest convenience store where I promptly walked into the walk in freezer to find a bit of relief.....
Cold is cold, yes, we all have to be careful, but I still find it easier to dress for cold than the heat. There are chemical heating pads, gloves, etc to help me stay warm. There are only so many cloths I can take off before I get arrested and I still am hot and bothered. No way to cool off unless I get into a/c.
Down here in S. LA summer does not officially start until a LSU football player gets arrested doing something stupid:
http://www.katc.com/story/29357701/lsu-quarterback-jennings-2-other-players-arrested
So summer started on June 12th...:-D