The Beauty of Spring Equinox

Bee on Blossom by C. Thomas

Happy Spring Equinox!

Today is the official first day of spring…the vernal equinox. That is the day in our year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth.

I can see it happening…my own mama (Hey Mom! I love you!) took this picture in her yard in eastern Virginia. Seeing little bees out and about makes my heart sing, and makes me want to go dance with then through the blossoms and feel the sun returning and the earth warming!

There are soapwort babies popping up like crazy now, and I have a woad plant that is growing to be huge already.  The yarrow is fluffing up from the earth and pushing aside the thatch of leaves and dead grass (time to rake!) and believe it or not, it looks like none of the wild patches of peppermint have made it through the winter! Mint is hard to kill, so maybe they are slow to wake up.

I have a date on early Saturday morning with a patch of wild nettles. A local person offered up their wild nettles on freecycle, and so I am going to get a few plants and use it to make nettle beer! Here’s a sample recipe from And Here We Are. I’ll be sure to document and share that experience with you all as I can.

But….it is 33 degrees outside this morning and I must remember that Spring does not equal immediate warmth, though I often wish it does!  There will be time soon enough for tank tops and bare legs and mud between naked toes.

Here’s a little something for all of you buried in feet of snow still – some art about the Equinox to get you through!

Morning Dew by Amanda Clark. Click to purchase a print on Etsy.

Crowned Mother by Carolina Gonzalez. Click to buy a print from the artist.

Wocekiye by Patricia Ariel
Click to buy a print.

Alphonse Mucha was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist. His art is in the public domain.