the New Year and its resolutions are fading… Now here is a system of resolutions, pledges, audit – and celebration – that will work. Equinoxes are uniquely well qualified to be the Earth Days they actually are, and help us ‘do our bit’ to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis. Here’s why, and how: Continue reading
A cycling map with helpful 6-mile orbital rings! It’s obvious why this was a treasured Christmas gift for me. It’s the date – 1887 – that makes the map really fascinating, for the 1880’s are the years when the modern bicycle was developed, with a bicycle boom following in the 1890’s. Not only that Continue reading
Thanks for clicking! Please read on for a bit more detail on EQ’s plans for the equinoxes. Feel free to add comments below.
THEN AND NOW
Fifty years ago the Vernal Equinox 1969 was mooted as the first Earth Day. But the next year it was moved to April 22nd, abandoning the natural advantages that attach to a planet event. Equinoxes have been hiding in plain sight ever since. But now, in 2019, we face a climate and biosphere crisis, and environmental calendar events have to step up to the plate.
BUSINESS PLAN
In preparing equinoxes as Earth Days, the limited company Equinoctial Days Ltd. has secured the globally usable letters EQ as a Registered Trade Mark, and the domain name equalunderthesun. Equal Under The Sun has a Shakespearean ring to it, yet curiously it is new-minted. EQ as an umbrella #tag and web portal could not be simpler, and should have great impact and reach in the English-speaking world and beyond.
EQ believes that by engaging with the Big Picture and Long View at equinox, planetary truths and our stewardship responsibilities will clarify. The logo encapsulates this: it is derived from spring and autumn Earth-circles drawn within a Golden Ratio (Phi, or Φ) rectangle, which means it will morph into Fibonacci-generated natural patterns (flowers, shells, etc), and can be home-made easily – a great educational add-on.
This is a mockup of a possible Resolution Card, for a UK individual/family
Our climate and biosphere are now universally recognised to be in crisis, as this chart* of 1000 years of ice core and 50 years of atmospheric data starkly shows.
The equinoxes in March and September are here to help. If they are adopted as official Earth Days, they can become action rallying points for us all. This is how it will work: Continue reading
Currently there’s usually one dry day a week, and I squeeze an autumnal ride in then if free. Today was a corker; everywhere drenched in vibrant russets and golds from West Drayton to Beaconsfield via Langley and Black Parks and Burnham Beeches. Previously, greener rides through the amazing giant conifers of Havering-Atte-Bower and the Kentish Weald Continue reading
26-10-19, 09.17 UTC (Earthtime). Many humanoids will “fall back”* to a logically correct time tonight, when they set their clocks to approximate to the solar noon of their slice of planet Earth’s surface. This is wise, for they have been getting up increasingly in the dark, Continue reading
Martin’s winning design in the Greater London Council’s competition to initiate 1000 miles of dedicated cycle routes. Evening Standard, February 1978
I may be the only customer at The Wine Society warehouse in Stevenage who rocks up after a thirty mile bike ride, usually muddy (more of this anon), to fill my panniers with a dozen bottles and pedal off. Continue reading
Project C25 has taken a back seat in 2019, though I have been checking on the condition of the routes, finding to my relief minor improvements in many places, and little evidence of degradation and thankfully no disrupted or closed paths. For instance, yesterday I learned that downstream of the Thames Barrier “the missing link” had been installed. Continue reading
The Tokyo megalapolitan area is home to thirty eight million people – substantially in excess of half the UK population and the world’s largest urban agglomeration. Having experienced it firsthand, here are some observations from a wide-eyed Londoner Continue reading
The Autumn equinox coincides with my last day with the Royal Opera on tour in Japan. We will have just performed the thrilling opening sequence of Verdi’s Otello in Tokyo at the moment of equinox – UK readers will be having breakfast (08.50 BST). Whatever, wherever, whenever… Happy Equinox! Continue reading
It is a beautiful May day, and no C25 rides for some while. Time to get the glamour bike out and give it a spin. This is what the C25 can conjure up in a short afternoon: a 15-miler from Elstree to Rickmansworth, home and back in two and half hours. How’s that possible? Continue reading