Seasonal Adjustments

Epoch 370222 (2025.06.03)

For those of you subscribed to The Catnip Corner, a sincere apology for the tardiness again of this week's issue. However, the Editor has assured us they've finally got the cause of the problem figured out! It seems when the roaming MoonCat reporters said they'd turn in their stories "tomorrow", they weren't talking about earth days...

MoonCats having spent most of their time on the Moon, have grown accustomed to the slower light/dark cycles that happen there. While that's great for catching a few extra catnaps, it's not great for getting articles submitted on time! The ChainStation scientists busted out their sundials and got to measuring. They've now created several conversion algorithms to align the various chronometers on ChainStation to the MoonCat Seasons.

One light-to-dark-and-back-again cycle on the Moon has been labeled by earth-based Ethereans as a Lunar Phase Cycle, which takes about 29.5 Earth rotations (days) to complete.

The MoonCats have agreed to use "days" to mean Earth light-to-dark progressions, and "cycles" to mean Moon light-to-dark progressions, to avoid further confusions. But when ChainStation scientists attempted to explain timezones to the MoonCats, the MoonCats just fell asleep. It seems MoonCats take the practical approach that the Moon becomes "full" at the same moment, regardless of where the observer is. Without vegetation of their own on the Moon, there's not much that changes throughout the year. But, the MoonCats have for many eons tracked the changes of the seasons on Earth with great interest, and that influenced how they named the different seasons.

With the Editorial staff appeased, and the algorithms correctly keyed into the central computers, it fell to the ChainStation construction crews to make all that lovely data easy for visiting Ethereans to understand. You'll now find that the chronometers around the station (including that big one in the JumpPort lounge!) all now place the current Earth day within the MoonCat Season and Cycle, including countdowns to the next change of season.

P.S.A

Please be advised that the final report from the last ChainStation scientist to attempt to explain Daylight Saving Time to a MoonCat advises strongly against attempting it.