Balancing Brooms

I've been seeing this broom balancing trick posted on blogs all over the internet for over a month now, but since it's supposedly (and I'm doubtful!) related to the autumn equinox that happened on September 22nd, I assumed it was all over and done with until Holly successfully attempted this a few days ago. Naturally, I had to give it a go in the Kundin household as well, and I was amazed that we got it to work! Not only did the broom balance easily, it stayed that way until the kids had fun knocking them over.

This is from the St. Louis Examiner website: "Autumn Equinox in St Louis. And brooms are standing on their own. This is so cool; try this, it works. On the day of the equinox, the Day Arc of the sun is 0 degrees. The exact date and time of the September equinox is September 22, 2009 at 21:18, or 9:18 pm. While no exact date is available for the end of the Autumn Equinox, the effects of the equinox can still be enjoyed now."

Now, I did a bunch of research, and I've found conflicting info on whether or not it's actually due to the equinox, but either way, it still worked for us...and just in case you think it's normally easy to balance a broom, just look at how old, twisted and funky these bristles are...



The kids thought it was magic though, and for a few minutes it made me the coolest mom on the planet :)


Sawyer balanced his own little broom and then tried to blow it over, but he wasn't successful in his endeavors! He needs to take some huffing and puffing lessons from the Big Bad Wolf, I guess ;)

Oh, and on a completely unrelated topic...

Want to know the BEST thing that you can do with all that trick-or-treat chocolate? Have the kids chop it all into little bits and then go to town making the richest, most "ridiculously good" (according to Mitch!) brownies you've ever eaten! Enjoy!

Oh, and watch out for Snickers unless you really like peanuts in your brownies. I've never really realized just how "packed with peanuts" they really are until they've been melted down and turned into brownie-covered-peanuts. Stick with Milky Ways, Twix and other carmel-chocolately goodness for the best results :)