Pic(k) of the Week: Clouds on the hills

Autumn begins today in the Northern Hemisphere. On the U.S. East Coast, that'll be at 9:54 tonight.

The autumnal equinox—also called the September or fall equinox—is the astronomical start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

Why is it called an equinox? The word comes from the Latin aequus, meaning “equal” and nox, meaning “night.”

During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator.” Imagine a line that marks the equator on Earth extending up into the sky above the equator from north to south. Earth’s two hemispheres receive the Sun’s rays about equally. The Sun is overhead at noon as seen from the equator, so at this point, the amount of nighttime and daytime (sunlight) are roughly equal to each other.

— The Old Farmer's Almanac

As to the photo: late summer clouds were feeling the changing season, hanging low over the hills in Blue Ridge, Georgia, on 8 September 2018. I took the photo. panning from a moving car...but from the passenger side.

Summer ends; autumn begins; winter looms.

-----more-----

Two draught beers diverged in a pub; and the GABF.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two draught beers diverged in a pub, and I—
I took the one less commonly favored,
And that has made all the difference.

With apologies to Robert Frost, but which one did I choose? Either way, on to the news.

**************

Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival officially begins tomorrow (Thursday, 20 September 2018) in Denver, Colorado, and continues through Saturday (22 September). The GABF is both a festival and a competition, the latter in which judges putatively select the best beers in America in 102 (!?) 'style' categories. First held in 1982, this is the 37th annual GABF. Murk will be a big winner.

Not there this week? You can follow vicariously at:

• Website: greatamericanbeerfestival.com/
  
• Facebook: TheGreatAmericanBeerFestival
  
• Instagram: @greatamericanbeerfestival
  
• Twitter: @GABF
  
• Hashtag: #GABF
  

-----more-----

Pic(k) of the Week: Summer vegetable grilling.

Vegan grilling ... that is, grilling FOR (not OF) vegans. And some beer cookery.

• Foreground:
  Guinness-marinated vegetables, ready for the grill.
  
  
• 'Midground':
  Corn, ready to be grilled in-husk.
  
  
• Background:
  Mayo-free potato salad (not for the grill!).

For this Labor Day 2018 grill, there were also veggie frankfurters (Field Roast) and veggie burgers (Beyond Meat), both soy-free. Other folk brought fried chicken. Can't win 'em all.

***************

Hurricane Florence

Wishing good fortune to all in Hurricane Florence's path. For the rest of us, here are some ways in which we can help.

-----more-----

Pic(k) of the Week: Maggie reclines.

Not mine, but Maggie agreed to pose for a portrait, nonetheless. Was she, however, delivering an apophasistic gesture with her left paw?

31 August 2018.

-----more-----

Today, don't forget to thank your local brewster!

Today, don't forget to thank your local brewster or brewer.

☞ According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 59,000 people work in breweries across the United States.

☞ The [U.S.] Brewers Association —using different methodology— finds 135,072 brewsters and brewers (and brewery and brewpub employees) working at the 6,372 "small and independent" breweries across the country.

☞ And, according to the Beer Institute —compiling data that include everyone associated with the U.S. brewing industry, directly and indirectly— the beer industry employs nearly 2.23 million Americans ...

... many of whom are working today, Labor Day, to provide your daily beer. Yeast never sleeps.

-----more-----