The snow may be reluctant to leave, but it won’t be long now.

This past weekend, spring arrived on March 1^st—meteorological spring, that is.  Never heard of it?  I’m not surprised if you haven’t.  I didn’t know meteorological spring was a thing until a couple of years ago.

While the dates of our traditional four seasons vary from year to year, meteorological seasons are constant, based on average temperatures for each three-month period.  December, January, and February—the coldest months—are winter and that, according to meteorologists, ended on February 28^th.  B-Bye!

The seasons we’re all familiar with are marked by celestial events:  the vernal equinox (spring, when hours of daylight are nearly equal to hours of darkness), the summer solstice (the longest day and the beginning of summer), the autumnal equinox (fall, when once again hours of daylight are nearly equal to hours of darkness), and the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter).  

Birds gathered among the leftover stalks from last year’s garden

It strikes me as rather sad that summer’s arrival marks the beginning of a decrease in daylight hours, but then winter’s arrival means daylight hours will slowly increase even as temperatures drop, and weather turns decidedly inhospitable.  On the other hand, I have no mixed feelings about spring.  The thought of spring makes me smile even on the nastiest of winter days, and as it gets closer, I begin to shake off the winter blues that invariably take hold like a bad case of cabin fever sometime in late January. 

As winter wanes, I look forward to three events:  meteorological spring on March 1^st, closely followed by the return of Daylight Saving Time (this coming weekend!), and a little over a week later my favorite season debuts when spring arrives on March 20^th.  I’m counting down the days and am as full of anticipation as it seems the returning songbirds are. 

Footprints in the snow

Outside, I see evidence of more activity by local wildlife.  The snow is covered with tracks from rabbits, possums, skunks, squirrels, raccoons, birds, and so many other visitors.  Soon the snow will melt, the mud will dry, and they’ll have to put up with a human presence in the garden again.  Spring is on its way, and I can’t wait to play in the dirt.

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