The Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch
  • Spring is a balancing act

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  • march 20, 2013, is a date that most of us recognize as symbolic of changing seasons.
    march 20 is also significant for astronomical reasons. it is the date that the sun will cross directly over the earth’s equator.
    these brief, but monumental moments owe their significance to the 23.4 degree tilt of the earth’s axis. because of this we receive the sun’s rays most directly in the summer. in the winter we are tilted away from the sun and the sun’s rays pass through the atmosphere at a greater slant, bringing cooler temperatures.
    translated, equinox means “equal lengths of night and daylight.” because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.
    astronomy aside, people have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. there is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring.
    some ancient spring festivals celebrated the return of light and life with fertility rituals and symbols. the egg, being the most literal and obvious of all fertility symbols, has survived not only in the form of egg rolling and easter egg hunts, but also in the superstitious belief, most often attributed to the chinese, that you can stand raw eggs on end the first day of spring.
    many early peoples celebrated for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. the date is significant in christianity because easter always falls on the first sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
    the moon, resurrection, easter and eggs, along with a lot of other things involving fertility, life and death have become intertwined. even the rabbit has gotten in the picture.
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    sorry, folks! no such thing occurs at equinox time.
    i’m not saying it can’t be done–standing raw eggs on end, i mean–but it takes patience, eggs of just the right shape and a pinch of salt if needed.
    here’s a secret–it works any day of the year.
    at the risk of being boiled and dyed for heresy, i think there is more to life than science!

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