{"id":3496,"date":"2023-03-20T13:22:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T13:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=3496"},"modified":"2023-03-20T13:22:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T13:22:27","slug":"spring-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=3496","title":{"rendered":"Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is the first day of spring \u2014 specifically, it starts at 5:24 p.m. EDT. That is the exact time for the arrival of the Vernal Equinox (I have a brother-in-law that possibly\/probably refers to it as the \u201cFirst Point of Aries.\u201d) Traditionally, we celebrate the first day of spring on March 21, but astronomers and calendar manufacturers now say that the spring season starts on March 20th, in all time zones in North America. So no matter what the weather may be doing outside, the vernal equinox marks the official<\/em> start of the spring season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Vernal translates to \u201cnew and \u201cfresh,\u201d and equinox is derived from the Latin aequus<\/em> (equal) and nox<\/em> (night.) So what does that mean? The daylight hours have been getting longer since December \u2014 the vernal equinox marks the turning point when daylight begins to win out over darkness. I\u2019ve always heard that on the first day of spring and autumn, the day and night are equal to exactly 12 hours all over the world. But \u2014 that\u2019s not true. On the days of the spring and fall equinox, the daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you probably know, there are a lot of myths and beliefs associated with the equinox\u2026.
Maybe the most famous myth is that you can stand a raw egg on end \u2014 supposedly due to the Sun\u2019s position in the sky, and its gravitational pull on the Earth, you can stand an egg on end during the precise moment of the vernal equinox. But that\u2019s something you can do any day \u2014 providing you have the patience. Equinoxes won\u2019t make it any easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the more interesting beliefs is that you won\u2019t have a noontime shadow on the day of the equinox. This is technically kind of true, but if you go outside at noon, you\u2019ll see your shadow (assuming the sun is shining.) Since the Sun is always at an angle to you, you always cast a shadow. In order to not cast a shadow, the Sun must be directly overhead, and because the Sun is situated over the equator at the equinox, you\u2019d have to be standing at the equator precisely at noon on the day of the equinox  to not have a shadow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people believe the equinox is a day-long event. Again, not true \u2014 it doesn\u2019t take all day, it\u2019s only a moment in time. The true equinox is the exact moment in which the Sun passes over the equator. Don\u2019t blink, or you\u2019ll miss it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people believe that, just like a full Moon, the spring equinox can alter your mood. Again, not really true \u2014 the Sun moving across the equator has no real effect on emotions \u2014 but \u2014 seasonal changes can, and do, often play a big part in moods. Around this time of year, you may experience a little bit of \u201cspring fever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So welcome to spring \u2014 I don\u2019t often get a chance to quote my friend Sitting Bull, but here\u2019s something he said at an Indian council in 1875, that seems appropriate for today\u2026. \u201cBehold, my friends, the spring is come; the Earth has gladly received the embraces of the Sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love.\u201d
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the first day of spring \u2014 specifically, it starts at 5:24 p.m. EDT. That is the exact time for the arrival of the Vernal Equinox (I have a brother-in-law that possibly\/probably refers to it as the \u201cFirst Point … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3498,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3496\/revisions\/3498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}