Celestial navigation--the sun

The sun was directly over my head! I literally could draw a line from the sun to my head to the center of the earth on March 13th at local apparent noon!

If you're wondering what is this crazy girl talking about, the sun is always overhead at noon, then I regret to inform you that you are wrong. True, the sun is always at its zenith (highest point) at local apparent noon (which is not the same as 12 noon) every day, but, if you live in the continental United States, then THE SUN NEVER HAS BEEN NOR EVER WILL BE DIRECTLY OVER YOUR HEAD!

Crazy, right? Not really.

Basically, when the sun travels along the ecliptic year in and year out, it moves from a declination (basically word for the latitude of the sun) of around 23 degrees north at the summer solstice to 23 degrees south at the winter solstice. Do those latitudes sound familiar? They should because they are the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Thus, only if you live within the tropics will you ever experience the sun directly over your head, as I did just a few days ago.