The days are definitely getting shorter up here on the 49th parallel. Sunrise today is at 7:23 am and sunset is at 7:03. That means that more than half of every day is dark. Back at the equinox, on September 22, day and night were nearly equal. We know shorter days are coming. By winter solstice we will have only slightly more than 8 hours with the sun above the horizon. We get our sunshine in the summer. At summer solstice our days are over 16 hours long.

The system of latitude and longitude is an ancient measuring system. Once early observers came to the conclusion that the earth was spherical, they imagined a system of grid lines to mark any location on the surface of the earth. Ancient Greet astronomers came up with a system of dividing the earth into 360 degrees. Hipparchus, who lived in the second century BC developed a system of longitude. His prime meridian passed through Alexandria. The modern system continues the system with a couple of adjustments. The prime meridian is imagined to pass through Greenwich, near London, England in the modern system.

For centuries before the development of Global Positioning Satellites, mariners determined their location on the globe using two primary instruments. A chronometer is a very accurate clock set to the time at the prime meridian. By observing the time at noon, when the sun is the highest in the sky, the distance from the prime meridian could be observed. Chronometers, sometimes called sea clocks, were in widespread use well into the 20th century. The technician who repairs and adjusts our antique clocks still works on sea clocks and tells us that they are the most complex devices he services. They are equipped with gimbals to keep them level and the mechanisms employ very tiny screws to set level.

Latitude was determined by measuring the angle of the sun above the horizon using a sextant, an instrument that uses internal mirrors to measure the angle between two objects. Charts were developed so mariners could use the measurement of the sun’s angle at noon or the angle of the north star at midnight when traveling in the northern hemisphere to determine their position on the globe.

The system used the units of time for precision, so longitude and latitude are divided into degrees, minutes, and seconds. That is probably much more detail than most people need to know. For the purposes of this journal entry, I am ignoring longitude and using only a few lines of latitude as reference points. I’ll start with the equator, where the length of days is the same all year round. Since I live in the northern hemisphere, I’ll consider just that half of the globe for this conversation. The North pole is 90 degrees, so halfway between the equator and the north pole is the 45th parallel, which runs close to where we lived in South Dakota. We’ve lived most of our lives near that line. The farthest south we’ve lived is Chicago at about 42 degrees north and our current home next to the 49th parallel is the farthest north we have lived. The difference in the length of days and in the rate of change is easy to observe when we compare where we not live with our home in South Dakota.

If we were to continue to travel north to the Arctic Circle, at approximately 66 degrees, we would be at the southern limit of the area where for at least one day each year the sun does not set and for one day the sun does not rise. In the summer at the Arctic Circle there is a season of perpetual sunrise or sunset. For reference, if we were to drive to the Arctic Circle in Canada, it would be a trip of over 2,000 miles one way.

Back here on the 49th parallel, we have reached the season of the year when we start to plan and think about our outdoor activities. My bike is equipped with a headlight and taillight, but it still is pretty risky riding it on streets where cars drive at night, so I plan my bike rides later in the morning this time of year. I no longer feel that I have time for an hour bike ride before church on Sundays, though such exercise is simple in the summer. Since I’m retired, I can ride my bike at nearly any time of the day, so these days I ride in the mornings some days and in the afternoons on other days. Because we live near the coast, we have the gift of mild weather, so I’ll be able to ride my bike year round, but there will be rainy days when I choose not to do so, especially in the period between November and February. Now in the in-between time of autumn, I have to adjust my thinking because I no longer can go for my bike ride as soon as I get up in the morning. I open the blinds on the sliding door in our kitchen and sit at the table eating my breakfast as I wait for the sunrise.

Waiting for the sunrise is a time for me to reflect and remember. I’ve waited for the sunrise a lot during my life. Growing up with my father’s work involving flying light aircraft in high mountains, we got ready and took off at first light if flying fire patrol over Yellowstone Park. We needed to complete our rounds before the day got hot and the air over the mountains unstable. Aircraft performance deteriorates with rising temperature.

I learned to drink coffee while waiting for first light to hunt as a teen. The game we hunted is most active near sunrise and sunset.

As a younger adult, I used to rise early for my daily prayers and preparation for my work as a pastor. In the summers, I would head for the lake in the dark so that I could wait for sunrise while paddling my canoe.

Here on the 49th parallel the wait is just a bit longer these days. It is a good thing I’m retired because now I have time to wait.