Vernal Equinox

Vernal Equinox

The vernal equinox has just passed, the time when the sun shines right on the equator and the hours of day and night are just about equal. The March or Spring equinox brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and rejuvenating plants and flowers.

The crocuses here have already faded but the daffodils are just now flowering. Their leaves have been hinting at blooms for a while and the buds have been teasing but here are the blossoms - at last. And today it is snowing.

It has snowed in late March and early April before so this is not that unusual but it isn’t necessarily welcome. Most of us are looking forward to the temperature moving out of the snow zone. While we are eager for the season to change, we have to remember that the equinox is the cusp of the seasons, the turning point, not the closing of a door; the year holds on to a little of the past even as it turns toward the future.

The daffodils may huddle into themselves for a bit longer but they will return with vibrant yellow flowers and Spring will assert itself. The snow will be gone, early season plants will poke out of the ground, trees will start to green up; there are buds already on the branches.

Like the changing seasons, we tend to hold on to what is familiar, too. But while we honor the past, let’s not close the door on what is unfolding before us. Let’s enjoy Nature’s changes as we move into a new space. And let us be open to the promise of growth in our gardens, in our thinking, in ourselves.

Happy Spring!
 http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html