When does autumn begin? What about the change in the weather?

I never know whether fall begins on September 21 or 22 so I asked Cortana Computer who asked Bing.com. The following is the first of their answers.

ASTRONOMICAL: In the northern hemisphere of Earth, Fall begins on the Autumnal equinox --22-23 September (in Persian calendar it will begin at the first day of Mehr) and ends on the Winter solstice (21-22 December). 

In the southern hemisphere of Earth, Fall begins on the Autumnal equinox (20-21 March) and ends on the Winter solstice (20-21 June). Can you imagine this? An email friend in Canberra, Australia is enjoying spring and sharing photos of daffodils!

CLIMATOLOGICAL: The World Meteorological Organization officially mandates September 1 of any year as the first day of the climatological autumn and November 30 as the last day in the northern hemisphere.
In the southern hemisphere, the climatological autumn begins March 1 and ends May 31.

             ECOLOGICAL: The ecological autumn has no fixed dates but coincides with the period that the leaves of deciduous trees change color and fall to the ground.

So, now I know. Thanks to Cortana and Bing and their online sites. True to the Astronomical season, the weather changed, or began to change, Thursday night, the 20^th. Because, the next morning, I awoke with a piercing pain in the center of my left foot. Yes, I’d had foot surgery back a ‘ways, but not there—only in and around my toes.

Nothing to do but go again to Cortana/Bing: Two experts on the subject of changes and how they can/ may affect one’s body are Robert N. Jamison, Harvard Medical School, and David Borenstein, George Washington University Medical Center. They are quoted in the site that showed up first:

“One leading theory points to changes in air pressure. Although many people say that their pain worsens with damp, rainy weather, research has shown that it's not the cold, wind, rain, or snow, Borenstein says. ‘The thing that affects people most is barometric pressure.’"

 “But barometric pressure often drops before bad weather sets in. This lower air pressure pushes less against the body, allowing tissues to expand -- and those expanded tissues can put pressure on the joint. ‘It's very microscopic and we can hardly notice, except that we have these sensations,’ Jamison says.”

 “Nevertheless, the link between pain and weather changes remains hypothetical; research has come to mixed conclusions, Jamison says. " ‘All the results are not very clean, meaning there are people who say that weather doesn't affect their pain.’"

“Borenstein agrees that there's no consensus, but he finds barometric pressure a likely explanation because it does affect people's bodies.”

All right, then. Since my foot pain disappeared that same afternoon, I’m insisting it was caused by the barometric pressure of changing weather. Is this old wives’ tale or Grandma’s saying about pain and the weather just so much talk? Perhaps. 

 But this old former wife and grandma says it’s true.

       c 2018, PL d/b/a/ lovepat press, Benton AR USA