2nd post on this First Day of Spring

image from Pinterest 

​I am adding a second post today as some of this information is interesting.   Hope you are enjoying the day as the weather is awesome.  Stay cool, stay safe. 
When does Spring start?  Written By: Catherine Boeckmann
Welcome, vernal equinox! Are you excited about the start of spring?
When Is the First Day of Spring 2026?
In 2026, the equinox happens on March 20 at 10:46 A.M. EDT. This falls on a Friday and is the astronomical beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere.
If you thought that the spring equinox only ever occurred on March 21, you may be dating yourself. The civil calendar date of the equinox continues to shift every year.
What Is the Spring Equinox?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox across the globe) occurs when the Sun crosses the celestial equator going south to north. It’s called the celestial equator because it’s an imaginary line in the sky above Earth’s equator. Imagine standing on the equator; the Sun would pass directly overhead on its way north.
On the March equinox, the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere receive roughly equal amounts of sunlight; neither hemisphere is tilted more toward or away from the Sun than the other.
Although in most locations (the North Pole and the equator being exceptions), the amount of daylight had been increasing each day after the winter solstice, and after the spring equinox, many places will experience more daylight than darkness in each 24-hour day. The amount of daylight each day will continue to increase until the summer solstice (in June), when the longest period of daylight occurs.
Here’s an interesting fact: Equinoxes are the only two times of year when the Sun rises due east and sets due west for all of us on Earth! While the Sun passes overhead, the tilt of Earth is zero relative to the Sun, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun. (Note, however, that Earth never orbits upright but is always tilted on its axis by about 23.5 degrees.)
What Does Equinox Mean?
The word equinox comes from the Latin words for equal night—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world.
Are Day and Night Equal on the Equinox?
Quite close! In reality, day and night are not exactly equal on the equinox. Daytime begins the moment any part of the Sun appears over the horizon and is not finished until the last part of the Sun disappears below the horizon. If the Sun were to shrink to a starlike point—and we lived in a world without air—the spring and fall equinoxes would truly have equal nights.
According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on its end on the Equinox. Is this true?
This egg folklore became popular in 1945 following a LIFE article about the spring practice. “The origins of this myth are attributed to stories that the ancient Chinese would create displays of eggs standing on end during the first day of spring,” according to John Millis, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Anderson University in South Carolina. “The ancient Chinese celebrated the first day of spring about six weeks earlier than the equinox”—not just on the equinox itself.
As with most folklore, it’s only partly true. You should be able to balance an egg on its end on the equinox, but it’s possible to balance an egg on other days, too!
Folklore or not, this egg trick sounded like fun to us. One spring, a few minutes before the vernal equinox, several Almanac editors tried this trick. For a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood on end. Three days later, we tried this trick again and found similar results. Perhaps 3 days after the equinox was still too near. Perhaps the equinox has nothing to do with it. Perhaps we just don’t like to take ourselves too seriously!
Try this yourself and let us know what happens. (Tip: You’ll probably have better luck balancing an egg if you try it on a rough surface—or use an egg that has a bumpy end.)
Get outside! Look around. Are worms and grubs reappearing? (The March Full Moon is called the “Worm Moon” for this very reason!)
Watch the arc of the Sun across the sky as it shifts toward the north. Birds are migrating northward, along with the path of the Sun.
Are you noticing that the days are getting longer? Did you know that the increasing sunlight inspires birds to sing? Cool, eh? Enjoy our Bird Songs page.
Are daffodils poking up their heads? Trees, shrubs, and flowers are sensitive to temperature and day length, too! Since ancient days, people have used natural events as indicators of when the weather is right for planting. For example: Blooming crocus are your cue to plant radishes, parsnips, and spinach. See more of nature’s signs.
Can you feel the Sun getting stronger? The longer days bring high temperatures. Both we and the animals around us discard our warm clothes and heavy coats!
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-spring-vernal-equinox
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Beckysgreenhouse.com  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse