It’s spring! Let’s go stomp on some daisies!
OK, we’ll explain that later. For the moment let us all celebrate the formal beginning of the freshest season, which in 2021’s case falls on Saturday, March 20. In this northern hemisphere at 5:37am the sun crosses the equator on the annual northward swing, signaling the vernal equinox.
By the way, equinox isn’t about day but night. It is the date that generally speaking night-time hours are equal on either side of the equator. The south side by the way begins fall as they wave the sun sadly good-bye. The spring edition can fall on March 19, 20, or 21, and it would have been too convenient if ‘21’s edition had been on the last possible date. In fact it appears there won’t be a spring equinox in the whole 21st century on the 21st day of March.
I’ll take the Old Farmer’s Almanac word for it. After all, farmers more than most focus on when the spring season arrives regardless of official date. Weather professionals prefer divvying-up the calendar in discrete three-month periods and use March 1 as their spring springing. That does make some sense as weather gets wild all over our continent when warming ocean air drifts north and collides with stubborn cold conditions, with unpredictable and often unfortunate results.
It is just a price we happily accept for being able to shed coats, parkas, gloves, heavy boots, and romantically hope never need them again. Or the trade-off of getting outside for sun-lit hours…and being confronted by yards demanding direct attention. Never mind the inevitable bouts of sneezing when grass and trees unleash clouds of pollen aimed directly at our winter-softened sinuses.
Bring it all on.
Get the gardening gear cleaned and organized. Drain mower gas tanks and refresh the oil (and check the battery). Stick boots in back of the closet and break out the sneakers. Switch the satellite radio to channel 24 and hum along with the beach music. Stop by the sporting goods store to equip the kids for baseball and softball, and maybe pick up some flashy new lures for yourself. Oh, and replace that year-old sunblock. Old Sol is bringing it, after all.
Mostly, celebrate that one more miserable winter is over and the next one is an eternity away. Spring is here and we are springing back to life. At last.
Now, about the daisies… There is no lack of spring-has-sprung sayings, some more suitable for public use than others. Among these ancient axioms are notes about bluebirds, what early or late blooming trees signal for summer, and so on.
But the Old Farmer’s Almanac offers this intriguing advice: don’t say that spring has come until you can put your foot on nine daisies. I’ve no idea how humble Bellis perennis became an icon of such ambulatory abuse. Besides, you know, daisies tend to lean south in spring…
…as they face towards that oncoming Sun in annual welcome.