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- It was already dark when the Maloneys drove up to the motel near Starved Rock on Friday evening.
- "It looks like it's night time, but it's only 6 o'clock," Mel said, disappointed that she and her brother wouldn't be able to explore the grounds with Rufus before dinner.
- "The days are much shorter in the winter than they are in the summer because the sun doesn't reach so high in the sky," Agnes began to explain.
- "Why is that?" Mal wanted to know.
- "Let's get settled in and then we can talk about it," Agnes suggested.
- When they got to their room, Agnes took out one of the oranges she had packed for the trip. "Let's go down to the motel's coffee shop to get something to eat. I'm starving. Mort, would you please bring the flashlight you always carry in the car?"
- A Coffee Shop's Mini-Astronomy Lesson
- "Sure," Mort answered, guessing how Agnes was planning on explaining to the twins about the different amounts of daylight during winter and summer.
- Agnes selected a big booth so they'd have plenty of room to talk and not disturb the few other people eating dinner.
- "Do you have a straw?" Agnes asked the waitress when she came to take their order.
- "What kind of soda will the children be having?" the waitress asked.
- "Milk, please, for the children and coffee for my wife and me, with our meals. But we'd much appreciate if you could bring the straw right away," Mort said.
- Then the waitress saw the orange. "Oh, are you with that orange juice company?"
- "No, but we ARE going to talk about the effects of the sun. You're welcome to join us when you're not taking care of your other customers," said Mort.
- When the waitress brought the straw, Agnes made two small holes in the orange's skin with a knife, one on the top and the other on the bottom of the orange. Then she slid the straw into the orange so both ends were even.
- "I'm turning on the sun," Mort announced as he held the flashlight to one side of the orange. "Lux esto -- let there be light!"
- Agnes positioned the straw on the table so that the orange tilted away from the flashlight. "See? The straw is the earth's imaginary axis. It's winter here because the top portion of our earth-orange is tilted away from the sun and gets less light. It's daytime for the part of the orange that is facing the sun."
- The waitress eyes brightened. "I've got an idea. Let me get some things from the kitchen," she said.
- "Is she getting our order already, Mom?" Mel asked.
- "I don't know, Hon," Agnes replied. Mort shrugged his shoulders as if to say he had no idea either.
- The waitress came back with a black marking pen, an oval serving plate and a little round candle. She lit the candle and placed it in the center of the oval plate.
- "Excellent!" Mort said as he turned off his flashlight.
- "Here, sir" she said to Mort as she handed him the marking pen. "Now that you don't have to hold the sun, you and your wife can show the children where to draw the equator and help them with the continents."
- The family learned that the waitress was working her way through college and was hoping to become a science teacher when she graduated.
- "Good for you and what great luck for us," Agnes said to the waitress. "Please help us out if we forget some of the details."
- "You never know who you will meet, even in a coffee shop," Mort said to the children as the waitress returned to the kitchen. Both Mal and Mel nodded, remembering how much they enjoyed the friendly owners of the inn at Door County.
- Mort gave the marking pen to Mal, showing him where to draw the equator around the middle of the orange and then circles for the north and south poles.
- "When is it time for me to draw?" Mel asked.
- "Right now," said Agnes. "You can draw North and South America on one side and then we can work our way to Europe, Asia and Australia."
- After the major continents were drawn, Agnes positioned the orange at one edge of the oval platter to show how the earth tilts slightly away from the sun in winter.
- "You know that the earth revovles on its own axis once a day. You see here, where Mel drew North and South Ameria? It's daytime when the continents face the candle -- er, sun -- and nighttime when it faces away."
- "So when it's day here, it's night over there," Mal said, pointing to the other side of the orange."
- "That's right," said Mort. "It's winter here now, since the earth is pointing away from the sun. What do you think about South America and Australia on the other side of the equator? Is it summer or winter there?"
- "Winter!" Mal said quickly.
- "Um, no, I think it's summer," Mel said a bit hesitently.
- "Why do you think it's summer?" Agnes asked.
- "Their side is closer to the sun, so it should be hotter, right?"
- "That's right," Mort said. "So when it's winter here, above the equator, it's summer below the equator."
- "But what about there, where it's close to the equator?" Mal asked, pointing to what might be Costa Rica.
- "That becomes a little more complex," the waitress said as she returned to their table with their food. "It's mostly summer, but it also depends on the amount of rain a place gets, so people talk about wet season and dry season rather than winter or summer."
- Agnes moved the 'sun' and 'earth' to the next table to make room for their dishes. "Let's continue after we eat," she said.
- The oval platter with the sun candle and the earth orange attracted the other diners in the coffee shop. Agnes noticed that no one left after they finished their meals; everyone instead was lingering over their coffee.
- The waitress cleared away the dishes when everyone was finished eating and returned the platter and the orange to the center of the table.
- "Would you like me to show how the earth orbits around the sun while you enjoy your dessert and drinks," she asked.
- "Yes, please do," both Mort and Agnes said.
- The other diners turned their chairs so they could also watch the demonstration. People forget some of what they learned in school and are usually glad to have an unplanned update of their memories.
- "Here we are now," said the waitress, as she moved the orange slightly to the left around the oval platter. "On December 21, the shortest day of year, we were here," she said, pointing to the farthest edge of the platter.
- "As the months progress, the earth moves around the sun in an oval orbit as it spins each day on its axis."
- The waitress turned the orange on its straw axis and moved it slowly toward the opposite edge of the platter.
- "Does the earth always spin in the same direction?" Mal asked.
- "Yes, and it also always orbits in the same direction, toward the left, or counterclockwise. Do you know what counterclockwise means?"
- "I guess it means backwards from the way a clock moves," Mel answered.
- "Right again. Do you notice anything else?" the waitress asked as the earth-orange arrived at the other end of the platter.
- "The plate isn't round," Mel observed.
- "That's right. The earth's orbit isn't quite as stretched out as this plate is, but it isn't quite a circle either. Do you notice anything else?" the waitress asked.
- "Why are you holding it crooked?" Mal asked.
- "Excellent question, Mal," Mort said. "I was trying to remember that myself."
- "The earth always stays tilted the same amount as it makes its way around the sun," the waitress answered. "In the northern hemisphere, its axis points to the North Star. Don't forget now, the axis is imaginary, not like a solid pole. Your Mom used the straw to help you understand."
- "If I tried to spin my top tilted like that, it would fall over," Mal said.
- "Now you're getting into deep territory," the waitress said. "It partly has to do with gravity, but I think that's the subject for another day."
- "Or another couple of years. Thank you for your astronomy lesson, Lucy," Agnes said, noting the waitress' name badge.
- "Yes, thank you very much," said Mort. "I think it's time to call it a day. We're hiking the canyons tomorrow and need to rest up. Plus, Rufus is waiting patiently for his dinner."
- "Time to call it a day, Dad? It's night!" Mal giggled. "But can I ask one more question?"
- "Certainly," Lucy said. "But better make it easy. As your Dad said, we haven't got all day -- um -- make that NIGHT."
- "So if the shortest day is THERE," Mal said, pointing to the far end of the platter where Lucy said represented the shortest day, "then THIS side is the longest day, right??
- "That's right. If you move the earth orange there and hold it at the same angle as it was on the shortest day, you'll see that the northern hemisphere now gets the most sunlight and it's winter in the southern hemisphere," Lucy said, with an approving nod of her head.
- "Yay!" Mal said, clapping for himself.
- Then the rest of the diners clapped too as they came over to Lucy. "Fine job you did there," said one of them.
- "Thank you, ma'am. I had a great audience," Lucy replied.
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