Today, Tuesday March 20, marks the beginning of our Earth's Spring or Vernal Equinox. But while the calendar's little 20 box may look to be the start of this season, it is really the rotation of our world and its slow progression around our sun that delivers us into this warming season of growth. This morning, the Sun perfectly aligned along our Earth's Eastern point and will continue to glide along the eccliptic, setting perfectly in our Western sky. This perfection happens but twice a year as our Earth wobbles on its axis, creating the dual equinox event in Spring and Fall. (This wobble also accounts for the Sun's procession across the sky that completes its own rotation every 26,000 years.) For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we have begun to once again point closer to the sun thus receiving more and more sunlight and therefore more warmth. In contrast, the Southern Hemisphere is now beginning to point away from the sun, creeping into colder and more dark days. But for two days of the year all Earthings will experience the same exact thing. A day and night of equal length. Everyone on Earth today will experience a 12 hour day and 12 hour night. If we did not wobble, that is if our poles aligned directly north and south, but spun directly up like a freshly released spinning top, we would have eternal equinox. If our poles aligned more like Uranus, running East and West, one half of the Earth would forever be bathed in sunlight while night forever held the other. Fortunately, for now, our poles are positioned in such a way to make Earth habitable to its beautifully diverse flora and fauna. And as we wobble closer to the sun and gain its warm glow, fresh life buds from the dark soil, springs up from the rocks and breaths life into the stiff winter air.
It is a time to rejoice in new life and embrace the fruits of the Earth. Early humans celebrated the arrival of spring with festivals of bounty and the intricate decoration of eggs, the symbol of life. We have similiar rituals of celebration today from Easter to Picnicing to Baseball Spring Training. The glory of the Christian Resurrection, the return of lush green grass and leaves, the smell of sweat and leather of the baseball field. It is a time of joy, a time of celebration, and a time of gratitude. Take time today to acknowledge the warmth of the sun, the fresh oxygen from budding plants and the wondrous movement of our little spaceship Earth.
