Showing posts with label vernal equinox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vernal equinox. Show all posts
Friday, March 20, 2015
A minor correction
Sure, I called tomorrow the first day of Spring. Maybe not. Technically speaking, the vernal equinox -- when the sun shines directly on the equator -- occurs today at 6:45 pm. Night and day are nearly equal in length today, and from here on out, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, the days will get longer. The vernal equinox always happens on March 19, 20 or 21 and is considered the first day of spring. This year, it happens to fall on March 20 -- today -- but as a kid, we always considered March 21 to be the first day of spring. Not sure we gave a lot of thought to when the actual equinox was. Anyway, enough boring people with details. Whether the first day of spring is today or tomorrow, we're having a snowstorm now. There was more than 3 inches on the ground when I left home, and more coming. As I said, Winter is a stubborn bastard.
First day of Spring tomorrow!
That's right, kids, tomorrow is the vernal equinox. All you pagans get out there and worship trees, get your Druid on or whatever it is pagans do for the vernal equinox. Me, I just like saying vernal equinox. Makes me sound like I know something.
So what better way to celebrate the coming of Spring -- OK, sure, a day early -- than with a snowstorm? Some people woke up to daffodils, I woke up to this:
A pretty solid 2 inches on the ground, almost up to 3 and no signs of stopping in the next few hours. We are located right at the 6-inch line, so I expect we will get less than that, but more than we have. Maybe 4 inches. This is not a huge problem, but for once the federal government is not even on 2-hour delay, which means traffic will be awful, with tons of accidents. Which is why I am sitting home at 8 am, waiting it out. It's not sticking to the roads too much, but it is slick. People here can't drive in snow, so it is best to avoid driving in snow when hundreds of thousands of other people are doing so. Doesn't matter if I can drive in snow if the dude behind me can't and decides to park in my trunk.
Anyway, it looks like winter again:
It looks like I won't have to shovel, anyway. Supposed to turn to rain this afternoon. Right now, though, every snowflake is unique:
And many of them are on my car:
Winter is a stubborn bastard.
So what better way to celebrate the coming of Spring -- OK, sure, a day early -- than with a snowstorm? Some people woke up to daffodils, I woke up to this:
A pretty solid 2 inches on the ground, almost up to 3 and no signs of stopping in the next few hours. We are located right at the 6-inch line, so I expect we will get less than that, but more than we have. Maybe 4 inches. This is not a huge problem, but for once the federal government is not even on 2-hour delay, which means traffic will be awful, with tons of accidents. Which is why I am sitting home at 8 am, waiting it out. It's not sticking to the roads too much, but it is slick. People here can't drive in snow, so it is best to avoid driving in snow when hundreds of thousands of other people are doing so. Doesn't matter if I can drive in snow if the dude behind me can't and decides to park in my trunk.
Anyway, it looks like winter again:
It looks like I won't have to shovel, anyway. Supposed to turn to rain this afternoon. Right now, though, every snowflake is unique:
And many of them are on my car:
Winter is a stubborn bastard.
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