Thanks again to Pon de Replay, a reader here, and occasional poster in the Catholic forums I’ve gotten to know over the years, for pointing out to me my mistake commenting on the change of seasons, going from winter to spring.
Here I had always ignorantly thought in my several decades of life on this planet that the reason the earth’s temperature changes from hot to cold, and vice versa, at least in certain parts of the world (vs. it being always cold in Antarctica, but always hot in the Philippines, for example), was because the distance of the earth from the sun changes.
Not sure if that was the impression I got in my 8th grade earth science class, but it always seemed intuitive that winter temps are due to the earth moving further away from the sun. However, as verified by the omniscient Google search engine, Pon (as I am want to call him) was in fact correct. The earth warms and cools on a twelve month cycle around the sun because, drum roll please, the earth tilts.
In fact, the earth is closest to the sun in January.
As it tilts on its axis away from the sun, it generally gets colder, and vice versa. Who woulda thunk. Blows my mind self-reflecting on what other false assumptions I may have made about all things pertaining to the weather and astronomy.
Note to self: brush up on your basic astronomy Okie Trad. Maybe watch a YT video one night over a bowl of popcorn (or in my case eating keto, over a freshly popped bowl of microwaved pork rinds) that explains the four seasons.
Thanks again Pon for your astute observation. You are a scholar and a gentleman.
Any constructive feedback or just want to drop a friendly hey, email me at:
JosephOstermeir@gmail.com.