![]() As the table below shows, days and nights are equal not on the equinox, but on Saint Patrick's Day: In fact, on the equinox dates in both March and September, the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes.Ĭheck out the situation for New York City. Perhaps someone skimming through the weather page of their newspaper on the day of the equinox, looked at the almanac box which provides the local time of sunrise and sunset and noticed that the length of day and night is not equal at all. Not "equal" on the equinox!Īnother complexity involving the vernal equinox concerns the axiom, "equal days and equal nights on the equinox." Yet each year I always get at least one or two inquiries asking why that isn't so. Had the year 2000 not been a leap year, the equinox would be occurring this year on Tuesday (March 21), not Monday. The vagaries of our Gregorian calendar, such as the inclusion of a leap day in century years divisible by 400 also help contribute to the seasonal date shift. This shift in dates happens because the Earth's elliptical orbit changes the orientation of its axis, and because our year does not contain an even number of days. A whisper rather than a shout, yet ultimately with hands full of wildflowers.Next year in fact, spring will officially begin on March 19. In these mountains, spring arrives slowly, cautiously, even timidly. The spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full of flowers. I welcome spring at my house, where the lawn grass starts greening, the swallows return to their nesting box on the fence rail, and I move the table and chairs onto the deck for afternoons spent reading in the sun, while also enjoying the last bits of winter higher up in the forest where the snow has yet to retreat during morning runs with the boys. Luckily, I get to enjoy both seasons for a few weeks. ![]() ![]() Yet I also long for the gorgeous wildflowers that I know are eagerly waiting to spring forth from the wet soil as soon as the snow retreats and the sun warms the ground. I love how clean my house is in winter – no mud, dirt or dust tracked inside! I love running through the forest with the boys on packed snow, hearing it crunch beneath my shoes, bundled against the frigid temperature. I love the white landscape and the crisp, cold air. I always find myself conflicted this time of year. Only later did I discover that Conall had succeeded in finding a vole, having left it near the hole he dug to find it. I went to another part of the yard to toss a toy for Finn. I watched him for a moment, digging deeper, thinking surely he’ll hit dirt this time despite two feet of snow. He had started digging in this spot yesterday, as if he’d heard a vole way down underneath, then gave up. Conall busied himself by digging deep into the snow. On the drive home I stopped to take a few photos of that changing weather, dramatic clouds against a bright blue sky, snow falling in micro-bursts.īack home, late this afternoon I cleared the yard of dog bombs. On days like this, the weather changes quickly and frequently. For several minutes we were pelted with hail, falling fast and furious. More snow falling against the mountains in the distance.Īfter taking the boys for a walk, we drove to a home a few miles away where I’m caring for three cats while their people are on vacation. Maybe some thunder tonight.įinn happily rolling on the snow. Today – the vernal equinox, marking the first day of spring – was no exception. Spring takes her own sweet time, waiting for the earth to absorb the life-sustaining snow which nourishes the soil and fills the streams and rivers.Īs I await the much-anticipated changes to the landscape that herald springtime, I’m treated to dramatic weather. ![]() One learns patience, living in these mountains. Returning songbirds will fill the air with their gleeful voices. ![]() One more bout of winter, followed by a brief mud season, then true spring will finally brighten the forest, adding leaves to the shrubs, green to the grasses, and a riot of wildflowers beneath the trees. Many in more temperate climates are already greeting crocuses and daffodils, and cherry trees are blossoming.īased on that “11 seasons” meme I posted in Fool’s Spring, I think we may have made it through our second winter and are now solidly in the spring of deception. The ground is still covered in well over a foot of snow. It hardly looks like spring here in Idaho’s mountains. ![]()
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