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Larchmerehenge |
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Stonehenge Most of us know a little about Stonehenge, the world-famous prehistoric monument (some parts date back to 3,000 BCE) in southern England. The image below is of a Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge. It is a time when as many as 20,000 people will gather to observe and some to pray. Learn more about Stonehenge
Manhattanhenge Few outside of New York City know
about Manhattanhenge - the Manhattan Solstice. It
occurs twice a year, when the setting sun aligns with the east–west
streets of the main street grid in the borough of Manhattan in New
York City.
Learn more about Manhattanhenge.
I'm sure you haven't heard of Larchmerehenge. I'm using that term for the first time on the web here. My first use of the term was in emails starting in late September 2012 with Clyde Simpson, Observatory Coordinator at our Cleveland Museum of Natural History [website], whose help I acknowledge here. It occurs twice a year, when the setting sun aligns with Larchmere Road in the east of the city of Cleveland and then on into Shaker Heights. Larchmere is an extension of Woodland Road which originates in downtown Cleveland. From around East 126th Street, on a clear day you can see all the way downtown to the Terminal Tower. I noticed Larchmerehenge for the first time early in September a few years ago when I was driving east on Larchmere, just east of Coventry Road. I saw it in my rear view mirror and just had to stop, get out of my car and take in the view. In September 2012 I tried to photograph it. I kept my fancy camera with its wide angle lens and more in the trunk of my car. But I started a few days too late. I tried again in the Spring of this year and again, missed it. But last night, Thursday September 5, 2013, I captured it as shown in the two images below. A Google © search on "larchmerehenge" shows no hits.
It will be interesting to track the links to this page and the folks who "snag" the pictures. Next year I hope to attend Spring and Fall celebrations of Larchmerehenge. Just think of hundreds of people gathering to celebrate it, then adjourning to the coffee houses and restaurants nearby. Arnie Berger
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Webkeeper notes Many of Manhattan's streets run north-south and east-west, without slopes and hills. Manhattanhenge provides mile-long views of the sun setting between high buildings. Some other cities (Baltimore and Chicago to name two) also have large areas with streets laid out in a grid with their east-west streets having semi-annual "henges". But few of Cleveland's major streets run east-west. Our major arteries often radiate out from downtown, like spokes of a bicycle wheel. Woodland-Larchmere takes a few bends as it comes from downtown. Looking west you can't see the Terminal Tower until you are at East 126th Street - and even then its lower part isn't visible. We were the high ground millions of years before we were "the Heights". So yes, it is hyperbole to call the views of Larchmere a "henge". But any occurrence that gets people off their couches, away from their screens, and outside admiring nature and talking to their neighbors is to be welcomed -- even celebrated. Larchmerehenge photos by Arnold Berger |