Zenith Day

Wednesday, August 26th is Zenith day in Monteverde. At 11:41 AM, the sun will pass directly overhead and I should not cast much of a shadow. Significance you ask? In the United States, we always think of the sun as being to the south, because it is there for most of each day throughout the year. Costa Rica is below the Tropic of Cancer, so the sun is in the northern sky for part of the year, from mid April to late August, and then travels lower in the southern sky until the Winter Solstice in December. So does that make the fallacy that moss only grows on the north side of a tree even more of a fallacy in Costa Rica?

I have usually felt confident with my navigational skills and using the sun as a daytime guide, could easily find the four cardinal directions: N,E,S &W. Navigating in Costa Rica has been somewhat more challenging because the sun is so high in the sky, it is difficult to find north, we are surrounded by trees, there are no straight streets set on a giant grid (Chicago) and there is no Lake Michigan to the east. (Chicago)

One other practical thing I observed about the sun’s position in the sky is the disproportionate time it takes for laundry to dry. On most mornings, we do have a few hours of sunlight. Despite the humidity, which really subsides on sunny days, why does it take so long for clothes hanging on the line to dry under this intense tropical sun? If you have an answer, please let us know your thoughts! Hint: Zenith Day might not be the best day for hanging laundry. Signed M