Out of Step
If I describe to you some of my surroundings as I
sit writing this little piece, can you guess the date? I am in the
tatami room of my Tokyo 'mansion', with a portable fan standing on
the floor nearby, turning its head this way and that. Next to my
keyboard is a tall glass of 'mugi-cha', condensation dripping down
its sides. The thermometer on the wall indicates nearly 30C, and it
is so humid that it is difficult to remain interested in the work I
am supposed to be doing ... Is that enough information? I suppose you
would guess: high summer.
Well, no. Actually, it's the third week in
September, and just as every year by this time, I've had enough of
this kind of weather. I've had enough, not just because it has been a
long hot summer and I'm ready for a change, but because this muggy
weather is just not right for September, a month that indelibly in my
mind, is an autumn month.
How is it that our traditional calendar seasons so
poorly match the reality around us? Am I alone in having this image
of September, October and November as autumn; of December, January
and February as winter; of March, April and May as spring; and June,
July and August as summer? But the real seasons are different, aren't
they? Autumn is really October, November and December. The truly cold
hard months are January, February and March. April, May and June are
the time when the world is coming back to life again; and July,
August and September are the hot months.
I think the source of the confusion can be found
in astronomy, and the relative length of the days and nights. The
real seasons here on the ground are anywhere up to two months
'behind' the astronomical events that are their cause. June 21st may
well be the longest day, but it is far from the hottest, just as
December 21st is by no means the coldest. This earth is indeed a very
big object, and has an immense inertia that must be overcome to alter
things like ocean currents and jet streams, and whatever else affects
our weather patterns. Although the days actually start getting longer
way back in December, even before Christmas, it takes a long, long
time for the extra hours of sunlight and the stronger angle of the
radiation to have an effect.
I suppose also, that people living up in Hokkaido
and down in Okinawa have quite a different view of the seasons from
those of us living here in the Kanto, as of course do people living
in more varied parts of the world. So I guess there's not much we can
do about this misalignment between tradition and reality. Each of us
simply has to learn what local weather patterns are like, and adjust
accordingly.
After all, if Australians can learn to enjoy Xmas
while lying on the hot beaches of the Gold Coast, I'm sure I can
learn to start thinking of autumn while sitting in the breeze from my
fan, and drinking cool mugi-cha!