Letters from Josh
(A weekly update from Josh Urban’s adventures on the farm and in the city. #101)
Howdy, folks! Got a bit of this ‘n that for you today! This past Thursday was the Autumnal Equinox, which, in plain English, means it’s officially Fall. The west wind blew in with gusto, asking the oaks to dance, and running with delight through the broom sage grass up the back field. Tall stands of yellow flowers graced the edge where the field met the stream, and here and there, sparks of purple gave a zesty appearance to this autumn welcoming party. The sycamore and poplar leaves started to gather on the path, more from the dry than any cold nights, and the last orchestra of crickets played a mellow baroque movement, unseen in the grass. Welcome, Autumn!
It’s also time for Oktoberfest celebrations across the world. Gentlemen: do you have your leiderhosen ready? Ladies, your dirndl? (Shorts and dresses, that is.) I’ve got the oompah music cued up, and am hitting the road to DJ a few of these shows. Last year, I was “spinning” (the cool way to say DJing) at a fancy country club, dressed respectably in pants (a good start) and a blazer. Halfway through the show of many polka and brass band songs (and behaving), I complained that I wasn’t quite in the spirit. Ducking backstage, I emerged in leiderhosen and then we all did the YMCA. Surprisingly, they invited me back...and are expecting similar garb. One has to continually sharpen one’s reputation, though. The Internet blessed me with a pair of socks. They’re boldly patterned with a print of Abe Lincoln drinking beer, and the words “Drinkin’ Lincoln.” LEADERhosen. Get it? Do ya? I’ll be a walking pun. To think : it’s not even Halloween yet. Ein Prosit!
Up in the sky, you might have noticed a new “star” blazing in the east. That’s the mighty Jupiter, and it reaches opposition on Tuesday. This is when it’s directly opposite the Sun, with us in the middle. Notice how, unlike a star, it doesn’t twinkle. This is a clever way to identify a planet in the sky. The reason? A star appears as a single point of light, easily affected by atmospheric turbulence. A planet, being closer, looks like a small disc, so one or two beams of light will arrive at your eye steady as she goes. Be sure to take a glance outside, or even through an east-facing window to see this beautiful beacon of Autumn, the king of the planets, the son of Saturn, by Jove it’s Jupiter. “You’ll love it!” A fun fact for you: Jupiter is so big, all of the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it. Spiffing!
If you do happen to glance up wonderingly at this steady light in the night sky, beaming towards you from a distance a scoch under 400 million miles away, here’s something else to make your eyes twinkle. NASA is sending a space probe on a flyby of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, on Wednesday. They think it has a vast ocean buried under a crust of ice. Who knows what they’ll find!
Keep looking up, and pass the pumpkin spice. - Josh