9/28/2023 0 Comments Vernal equinox meme![]() The Sun will pass directly above the equator, bringing nearly equal amounts of day and night on all parts of Earth. These simultaneous seasons will occur March 20, 2022, at 15:33 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) or 10:33 a.m. ![]() Seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere where it will be autumn, also known as fall. The March equinox – also called the vernal equinox – is the astronomical beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. (Image not to scale) Credits: NASA/GSFC/Genna Duberstein During the equinoxes, both hemispheres receive nearly equal amounts of daylight. An illustration of the March (spring) and September (fall or autumn) equinoxes. However, “astronomical” seasons happen because of the tilt of Earth’s axis (with respect to the Sun-Earth plane), and our planet’s position during its orbit around the Sun. For instance, the meteorological season of spring begins each year on March 1 and will end on May 31. “Meteorological seasons” follow the changing of the calendar, month to month, and are based on the annual temperature cycle – seasonal temperature variations modified by fluctuations in the amount of solar radiation received by Earth’s surface over the course of a year. A whisper rather than a shout, yet ultimately with hands full of wildflowers.Did you know our planet has two types of seasons? They are meteorological and astronomical. 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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