Last of the Jumpers
Far from the fire boat
To all who visit and view, and – especially – express support and satisfaction: you are much appreciated!
Nachdem Schwimmerinnen und Schwimmer sich in der nahegelegenen Feuerwache II geduscht und umgezogen hatten, ging es mittels Shuttleservice zurück zum Rathaus
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River Plunge – Album Description – Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31:
New Year's Eve I got a river view room, a real rarity for me! In the pre-dawn half-light I glanced out my room in our crew hotel, glimpsing steely glistening water glimmering five floors below.
In addition to ship traffic, I got to witness a traditional jump off the bow of the Branddirektor F. A. Schneider for the fire department's New Year's Eve swim: clad in wet suits, 180 police officers, rescue divers, and firemen plunged off the fire department boat into numbing cold waters, strong currents carrying them 2 kilometers downstream starting at 10:13 a.m.
This time of year a phenomenon in unvarying annual sequence for mid-northern latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere gives us the earliest sunset in early December, shortest day at the solstice about December 21, & latest sunrise in early January.
The December solstice brings the shortest day to the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day to the Southern Hemisphere; however, latest sunrise doesn’t coincide with the day of least daylight, also the latest sunset not the day of greatest daylight.
Why not? Earth’s rotational axis is tilted 23.5⁰ out of vertical to the plane of our not perfectly circular orbit around the sun.
Due to this eccentric orbit ('squashed', with the sun slightly off center), Earth travels fastest in January, slowest in July. Clock time gets a bit out of sync with sun time by about ½ minute per day for several weeks around the December solstice.
Because solar noon (midday) comes later by the clock now than on the solstice, so do the times of sunrise and sunset. For today in Mainz it was a 8:25 a.m. sunrise, a 4:34 p.m. sunset.
The best of 1121 photos on this layover are in a 7-album set:
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Rhine River
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – River Plunge
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Old Minster Church
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Shopping Centers
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – St. Quentin's Church
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Market
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – City Hall
Hope you enjoy this 11% of 409 River Plunge photos I took today!
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New Year's Eve – Album Description – Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31:
My New Year's Eve layover in Mainz!
We took off early (scheduled 1645/actual 1638) and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, early (scheduled 0115/actual 0044), for our 2720 layover, 20 minutes longer than our scheduled 27 hours.
At the crew hotel I got a river view room! Unusual! I ran a hot bath and hopped in the tub; suddenly hotel guests opened my door and came into my room! In the unexpected excitement of getting a rare river view, I forgot to lock and latch my door!
After my nap I eagerly headed up the hill past the "Sun" where Joe and I ate Christmas Eve dinner with 7 other crewmembers a week ago to the Old Minster Church for their New Year's Eve 5:00 p.m. service; I learned of it from their pastor, my friend Hendrik Maskus. Heartwarming! Flute teacher Katrin Schild played beautiful duets, accompanied by Makoto Mikawa. She said to bring my flute for us to play duets this coming year!
Meandering back to the crew hotel I paused to admire some lovely Christmas lights and decorations along the way.
My room faced the hotel elevators, just a mere few feet away: after loud fireworks, waves of late-night revelers spilled out of those elevators sharing volumes of celebratory experiences.
Several hours later our full flight took off, and we crossed the southern tip of Greenland, arriving 33 minutes early, at 1352; at home I greeted Joe, whom I saw last year (48 hours prior)!
When Joe got up the next morning at 7 here it was 7⁰F (-14⁰C).
Hope you enjoy this 9.7% of 1121 photos I took here this day!
Last of the Jumpers
Far from the fire boat
To all who visit and view, and – especially – express support and satisfaction: you are much appreciated!
Nachdem Schwimmerinnen und Schwimmer sich in der nahegelegenen Feuerwache II geduscht und umgezogen hatten, ging es mittels Shuttleservice zurück zum Rathaus
___________________________________________________
River Plunge – Album Description – Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31:
New Year's Eve I got a river view room, a real rarity for me! In the pre-dawn half-light I glanced out my room in our crew hotel, glimpsing steely glistening water glimmering five floors below.
In addition to ship traffic, I got to witness a traditional jump off the bow of the Branddirektor F. A. Schneider for the fire department's New Year's Eve swim: clad in wet suits, 180 police officers, rescue divers, and firemen plunged off the fire department boat into numbing cold waters, strong currents carrying them 2 kilometers downstream starting at 10:13 a.m.
This time of year a phenomenon in unvarying annual sequence for mid-northern latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere gives us the earliest sunset in early December, shortest day at the solstice about December 21, & latest sunrise in early January.
The December solstice brings the shortest day to the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day to the Southern Hemisphere; however, latest sunrise doesn’t coincide with the day of least daylight, also the latest sunset not the day of greatest daylight.
Why not? Earth’s rotational axis is tilted 23.5⁰ out of vertical to the plane of our not perfectly circular orbit around the sun.
Due to this eccentric orbit ('squashed', with the sun slightly off center), Earth travels fastest in January, slowest in July. Clock time gets a bit out of sync with sun time by about ½ minute per day for several weeks around the December solstice.
Because solar noon (midday) comes later by the clock now than on the solstice, so do the times of sunrise and sunset. For today in Mainz it was a 8:25 a.m. sunrise, a 4:34 p.m. sunset.
The best of 1121 photos on this layover are in a 7-album set:
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Rhine River
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – River Plunge
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Old Minster Church
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Shopping Centers
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – St. Quentin's Church
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – Market
• Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31 – City Hall
Hope you enjoy this 11% of 409 River Plunge photos I took today!
____________________________________________
New Year's Eve – Album Description – Mainz, Germany – 2017DEC31:
My New Year's Eve layover in Mainz!
We took off early (scheduled 1645/actual 1638) and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, early (scheduled 0115/actual 0044), for our 2720 layover, 20 minutes longer than our scheduled 27 hours.
At the crew hotel I got a river view room! Unusual! I ran a hot bath and hopped in the tub; suddenly hotel guests opened my door and came into my room! In the unexpected excitement of getting a rare river view, I forgot to lock and latch my door!
After my nap I eagerly headed up the hill past the "Sun" where Joe and I ate Christmas Eve dinner with 7 other crewmembers a week ago to the Old Minster Church for their New Year's Eve 5:00 p.m. service; I learned of it from their pastor, my friend Hendrik Maskus. Heartwarming! Flute teacher Katrin Schild played beautiful duets, accompanied by Makoto Mikawa. She said to bring my flute for us to play duets this coming year!
Meandering back to the crew hotel I paused to admire some lovely Christmas lights and decorations along the way.
My room faced the hotel elevators, just a mere few feet away: after loud fireworks, waves of late-night revelers spilled out of those elevators sharing volumes of celebratory experiences.
Several hours later our full flight took off, and we crossed the southern tip of Greenland, arriving 33 minutes early, at 1352; at home I greeted Joe, whom I saw last year (48 hours prior)!
When Joe got up the next morning at 7 here it was 7⁰F (-14⁰C).
Hope you enjoy this 9.7% of 1121 photos I took here this day!