Winter

June is not mid-winter, Christmas is not mid-summer (in New Zealand).

I was doing some research for a winter solstice theme today. I found the Dunedin Winter Carnival web site.

They call it mid-winter, but of course it isn’t. The Winter Solstice is really the beginning of the really cold weather. It’s all to do with sea temperature taking a while to catch up (or down), and keeping us warm longer.

My totally unscientific mind has come up with this explanation.

As the planet tilts into winter the sun gets lower and we get less solar heat. The land cools quickly, but the sea cools more slowly. Water takes longer to heat up and is slower to cool down. Fact. Those funny old winds blowing off the sea during the day keep the land a little bit warmer for longer.

So, just because June 21 is the shortest day of the year doesn’t mean it is the middle of the cold season. In fact it is just a little beyond the beginning. Say a week or three. We had snow two weeks ago for the first time this year. Of course in Dunedin we’ve had snow in April in previous years.

Feijoas, avocados, bananas, pineapples, tamarillos, oranges – all reasons to move to a warmer climate. I’d miss the cherries and apricots a bit but not as much as I miss having feijoa trees in my garden.