Amidst our Holiday Celebrations, we have many things to be grateful for. We’ve lived through the Winter Solstice on December 21st and have enjoyed the Christmas and other religious celebrations this past week and month. It is a time of celebrations, times with friends and family or wonderful times to take time for each of us. We’ve taken time away from work, relaxed, and took time to reflect on our blessings and gifts.
According to the Mayan calendar, some believed the world would end on December 21st. People met at Chichen Itza, Mexico, and waited for the 5125 year calendar cycle to end. When there was no apocalypse, those believers began to live in the next Mayan calendar.
That same day the Sun reached the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. It had been heading south, making the southern hemisphere enjoy summer, and is now heading north to give us longer daylight hours and in 6 months the longest daylight day of the year. It is important to watch the suns’ patterns to see how the light will affect your heat in your living environment.
I suggest that my clients make note of the areas where the sun hits their windows and realize that it is the reverse of the sun patterns we have just experienced as the sun headed south before the Winter Solstice. It is like a mirror image. The suns position on November 21st, 2012 will be similar to the one that will happen on January 21st, 2013. It continues on in that fashion until June 21st and then starts it way from the Tropic of Cancer to go south to the southern hemisphere again. And so it continues… on this cycle.
The window covering industry is continually inventing new types of blinds and window shadings to optimize views, energy, privacy and beauty. One of my favorite window shadings is the Silhouette® blind from Hunter Douglas. There are shadings with other attributes that fall into similar effeciencies like Nantuckets™, Pirouettes®, Vignettes®, Luminettes®, Shangri – Las® and Illusions®. Some of these are from various other companies. They are so beautiful, with the light changing during the day, that they are very popular shadings in many homes.
The light changes, especially in the Silhouettes®, attract insects and bugs into the tubular openings. They often get stuck, not finding their way out. We have invented and patented a tool to remove the bugs and debris: CamilyWand Sticky Bug Removal Tool™. It’s sticky tip gently and safely grabs the offensive insects, so you can remove them from the opening of the shading. This protects your views and investment in the shadings. The bugs will “cook” in the shadings if not removed. Should they stain the shading, the problem is greatly multiplied. So it is a good idea to extract them as soon as you see them, rather than waiting. Permanently stained blinds require other more expensive removal systems, and may never become clean and looking like new again.
As we attack the problem, it is important to know the suns patterns, as well as plan ahead to your special celebrations and various holidays. For our present holiday time, the sun is further south, so there is less chance of doing major harm than when the sun is closer to us in the northern hemisphere. It would be best to tackle your bug removal, should you have an issue, when it is not as hot, to save your investment.
We hope these ideas that we’ve presented in our blog posts in 2012 will help you have increased joy in your living environment. We wish you a very Happy New Year and the Best of Everything in 2013!