Wednesday 24 September 2014

stuff falls

As many of you know, up here in the northern hemisphere, yesterday was the autumnal equinox, otherwise known as the first day of autumn.

Equinoxes...  Hmmm... Equinoxi?  I had better check that out.

Equinoxes occur twice a year; once in March and once in September.  They occur when the length of the days and the nights are approximately of equal duration.

Did you know that an equinox is actually just a moment in time and not a whole day?  It's true. What's more, that moment in time is different for different places on Earth.

For example, even though the calender on my office wall says that the autumnal equinox was yesterday, it really wasn't.  Nope.  The autumnal equinox occurred at 11:29pm ADT the night before, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  I live to the north and west of Halifax so the autumnal equinox was actually a little different at my house.

Seville is currently workin' on the calculations of the exact time - to the nanosecond - of the recent autumnal equinox, at our location, as I type this.  The fur is flyin' over there where he's workin'. Apparently, the equinoxiatal time differential of the actual equinox and the date that is marked on the calendar has opened a microscopic time vortex on my office wall, right next to the calendar.  At least that's what Sivvers says.  Personally, I think he was messin' about with whisks again.  MOUSES!

The math is pretty complicated but I think my brother can figure it out.  If not, it's okay.  I actually know the exact moment the equinox occurred.  It was the moment my sister, Mason, knocked that book off the armoire, late Monday night.

Well...  Mason took the blame for the event but in fact, the fallin' book was beyond her control.  That book fell at the very instant when summer said, "See ya later!" and fall announced it's appearance. In other words, the autumnal equinox.

Good thing I recorded the timin' of the fallin' of that book.  If Seville can't calculate the timin' of the equinox himself, I'll give him my data.  He's gonna need it.  Stuff like this is very important when workin' on eggbeater-whisk time travellin'-teleportation technology, you see.  Plus, we've just gotta close that open time vortex.  If left unchecked, they grow and can cause real problems with all sorts of stuff.

But my post today isn't about math or time travellin' or even time for that matter.  Rather, my post is about fall.  Well about stuff fallin'.  I think that's why we call autumn, fall.  It's the time when stuff falls. MOUSES!

Ever notice how much stuff falls in the fall?  Tonnes of things fall.  Literally, tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of things fall.  If you gathered up all the leaves that fall right here in Nova Scotia, every fall, and weighed 'em, they'd weigh a whole lot of tonnes.  Or would that be their mass?  Hmmm... Doesn't really matter for the purpose of this post.

Point is, stuff falls.  Stuff falls in the fall. MOUSES!

The leaves on the trees haven't started fallin' here yet.  My pictures were taken in a previous year but I wanted to set the mood.  As of today, the leaves have barely begun colourin' up!  But before we know it, they'll be changin' to brilliant shades of orange, yellow and red and paintin' the landscape with their beauty. Then they'll fall.  Happens every year.

And it's not just leaves.  Acorns fall, too. More on that in a future post but suffice it to say, don't nap under oak trees in the fall.  Not a good idea.  Not a good idea at all.  Again I must say, MOUSES!

So we've got the leaves fallin' gently, never once producin' any sort of head injury, and then we've got the acorns fallin' like demented nutty weapons of maddening squirrels and...

I just thought of somethin'.  Thank goodness we don't have any horse chestnut trees growin' around here.  Imagine bein' conked on the ol' noggin' with conkers!  Interestin'...  Wonder if that's why they're called conkers in the first place.  Just glad we don't have 'em.  I suspect they'd be even worse than takin' an acorn to the top of the head.

Anywho...  We've got leaves and acorns fallin' outside but indoors, things fall, too.

I gave you the example of the book that fell from the armoire the other night.  That was the first item of many that will fall, this fall.  It's true.

With the onset of autumn, the days will get cooler and the nights sometimes downright chilly.  Those cooler temperatures tend to bring us cats indoors a lot more.  Oh sure, we'll still spend plenty of time frolickin' in the great outdoors.  There will be leaves to chase and acorns to bat around on the driveway and whatnot.  On sunny days, the sun will still warm our fur and heat up our favourite outdoor nappin' spots but as the ol' mercury dips lower, we cats will be inclined to spend more and more time inside.

The more time we cats spend indoors, the more likely a little indoor mischief makin' will occur.  For instance, things formerly put safely up out of reach in places like the tops of armoires will suddenly become within reach as the tops of the armoires become indoor nappin' spots.  They're great for bathin', too, by the way.

Now you get a cat up there on top of an armoire, havin' a full bath, when peeps have so carelessly left stuff on top of that very same armoire, and somethin' has gotta give.  Not gonna be the cat, either.  In other words, anythin' left on top of the armoire in the family room is now fair game for knockin' off said armoire.  Perhaps by accident; perhaps on purpose.  Doesn't really matter.  Fall is the time when stuff falls.  Therefore, stuff left on the tops of armoires is gonna fall.

And the fallin' of stuff in fall is certainly not restricted to things left on the tops of armoires.  It applies to tables of all sorts and sizes, as well.  Actually, any flat surface that looks suitable for a catnap is likely to have a cat, who is spendin' more time indoors due to the cooler weather, jump up upon it. After all, we have to have places to nap!

Any items carelessly left on the tops of these flat surfaces may end up fallin'.  Did I say may?  Any items carelessly left on the tops of these flat surfaces will end up fallin'.  They might be bumped into and accidentally knocked down or they may be pushed out of the way 'cause they're occupyin' prime nappin' space and therefore plummet to the earth...  ummm...  floor.  Point is, they're gonna fall.

So a little warnin' to all the peeps out there readin' this here post.  Fall has arrived and stuff is gonna start fallin'.  Likely already has.  Best you not leave breakables on flat surfaces durin' this season of fallin'.

And a little warnin' to all the cats out there readin' this here post.  Fall has arrived and stuff is gonna start fallin'.  Likely already has.  Best you not nap on the floor next to pieces of furniture with flat surfaces.  You never know what might end up fallin' and landin' on your head.  Take for example, a book that just happened to fall from the armoire, in my family room, at the exact moment in time when the autumnal equinox occurred, this year, at my house.

Hey Sivvers!  How are those calculations comin' along?  That bad, huh?  Nope, I can't publish that. Seriously dude, can't do it.  Nerissa's Life is a family-friendly blog and whatnot.  MOUSES!

28 comments:

  1. Wow Nissy dat's sumfin'. Weez hav those nasty oak twees wiff da acorns too, and yep they do make a mess when they fall. As fur da inside fing, weez be purretty gwacefull and don't send mush on flat surfaces to da gwound. But mommy on da udder hand be kinda clumsy and dwops lots of fings on da gwound........course dat can happen anytime of da year. MOL Stay safe and warn and hav a gweat day.

    Luv ya'

    Dezi and Lexi

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  2. I knew it was one moment at my sea. I'll make sure nothing falls on our stuff or little old me.

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  3. Well, it should be only fall and leaves falling, but whe had the stupid SNOW falling on us already last night! Even the leaves on the trees haven't been falling all that much around here, so the system is really mixed up. We don't like snow, we are glad it went away for now. But it will be back... I hope you get the calculations finished soon, you surely are smart!

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    1. MOUSES! I wonder if you had an equinoxiatal time differential, too. Check the walls holdin' calendars. You'll wanna look for microscopic time vortexes. Those things cause all sorts of trouble. purrs

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  4. The seasonal thing can sure be tricky, especially when the calendar says what it isn't. Oh well, we have a bunch of meteorologists here and not one of them has predicted a meteor.

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    1. They can do that? Really? 'Cause seriously, most of the time, they can't even predict the weather. MOUSES!

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  5. dood....we like de stuff that falls off shelves de best....coz we canna get out doorz ta help leeves a long...sew we help stuff a long INN side....sum times WHILE de food serviss purrson iz watchin N her says dont even.....

    sorree.....what ??

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  6. Fall around your parts sounds like fun!

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  7. Yup, the acorns are falling around here like crazy but not falling leaves yet. And things are always falling in the house with all these cats in here. They love to stay bizzy around here. Have a great Wednesday.

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  8. You have just totally clarified with clear cat logic the reasons we have been having so much fall, or dropsies, as our Dad says. He had the dropsies just yesterday but then that was our equi... equi... Fall time! Funny that you are North of us and we are South of you and yet we have more falling of trees and such stuff.
    Wonder if we should call it Drops Season just so there is no confusion?
    Timmy

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  9. We wish we had autumn now....we're heading into spring which for mum, means 'allergy season'... it's not so much fun.

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  10. We got stuff fallin' here too! I got hit on the head by an acorn the other day and Mum GIGGLED!!! The only things not fallin' are the stoopid squirrels. But on a positive note, the Autumn Equinox is when I start sleepin' on top of Mum again because it's cooled off enough to snuggle. I love Autumn. **sigh**

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  11. We saw some acorns dropping from the trees here, and made a mental note NOT to set up shop under them. The squirrels seem pleased, though.

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  12. Oh! I see! now I understand about Fall! There's always stuff falling here and we call it " Or Tum! the Staff says my Or Tum is falling so far it's practically hit the ground already!! Cheek!

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  13. We love fall! Things are falling over at our house year-round though. That's how it is with a house of 5 kitties - not that we are admitting to being responsible for anything falling or anything… but you know… things just fall…. right?!

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  14. Math... hmm, math.... is that anything like moth? 'Cause if so, we'd like to chase that, especially when it comes near our mouth. Don't need no catulations to figure that out, huh? Purrs...

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  15. I think you need a helmet to go outside Nerissa. They have kitty sized ones at American Girl, they are for dolls, but they fit kitties. http://15andmeowing.com

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    1. Ummm.... Exactly how do you know they fit kitties? purrs

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  16. The leaves haven't fallen here either, but they are turning those gorgeous colors though!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  17. the leaves are falling here too,next thing it will be christmas,xx Speedy

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  18. Yikes we will take cover for sure from theese fallin' things and we wish you good mischief! Thanks for checking in with us on the Human's margarita week :)

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  19. Over here is leaves falling and you better watch out for the acorn´s !

    XOXO

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  20. Leaves are falling here, and we got other stuff falling too (Dad's cup) ! Purrs

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  21. That's a pretty scientific report today pal. Did you know that on the Equinox day you can stand an eg straight up on a kitchen counter or floor without a prop and it will stay standing up! Tell your human to try it - it works. You have to get it balanced just right tho before you let go. That's a raw egg - not a cooked one.

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  22. What a great post! There was so much about the Equinox that we didn't know...


    Noodle and crew

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  23. The leaves have almost all fallen off our one tree Good thing the other one is evergreen, MOL But we've also had the furry hots, yesterday was 34C. Mom bean refused to turn the a/c back on so it was hots in the house too.

    Enjoy your fall Nerissa and Seville! Just be careful nothing falls on you.

    Sasha, Sami, & Saku

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  24. NIssy great post today! Hope Sivvers got that tome figured out so the vortex got closed. Mom was awwwing over your photos, something about handsome mancats.....
    Marty

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  25. Pierrot likes to make full glasses of water fall.You're right. Stuff has started falling outside already. Have fun with the falling stuff, just be sure it doesn't fall on you.

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I love hearin' from my pals. I really, REALLY do. PURRS.