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The reason we have seasons, and perhaps the reason we have life at all, is because the planet is tilted on its axis, at 23½ degrees. Fortunately, we inhabit a world that’s cockeyed, off center, more than slightly askew. Half of each year, we lean toward the sun; the other half, we’re tipped away . . . If the planet were vertically centered, straight up and down, there would be no change, no seasonal variation, no recurring dance between the blossom and the bee.
From Blessings of the Animals: Celebrating Our Kinship with All Creation, © 2012 Gary Kowalski (Lantern Books), an excerpt of which appears in this issue (“Metamorphoses,” page 16). This article appeared in the Spring issue of UU World (“The Last Word,” page 64).