The springing of the year, March 20, 2025

Today, Thursday, March 20, at 5:01 a.m., marks the vernal equinox, the first day of spring, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The sun, the Old Farmer tells us, is over the equator and making its journey north.

In the northern hemisphere (that‘s you, Shelter Island) the earth begins to be tilted more toward the sun, and starting on Thursday there will be “increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures.” We’ll take the Old Farmer at his word.

Another expert, perhaps less on the science and more on the spirit of spring, Emily Dickinson, wrote: The sun just touched the morning;/ The morning, happy thing,/ Supposed that he had come to dwell,/And life would be all spring.

Besides the annual American rite of celebrating the start of the season — the debaucheries of Spring Break — one in particular is worth a trip to Chichen Itza in Mexico. The Mayans built a temple in the form of a pyramid there 2,000 years ago that coordinated the sun’s light at equinoxes to make interesting effects on the temple’s facade.

For the first day of spring, sunlight hits the stone pyramid and shimmers, which the Mayans said looks like a snake sliding down and “the return of the Sun Serpent.”

Human sacrifice was also a fairly common occurrence at Chichen Itza, which Spring Break has so far successfully avoided.

The Druids were perhaps the first Spring Breakers. They believed in the observation made by Robin (perfect name for the day) Williams, who noted that “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’”

The Druids held a special place in their hearts for the unhappily named Blodeuwedd, who was known for her beauty and grace, the first of what the Celts called “Flower Women.” According to Mother Earth Living (motherearthliving.com), Guinevere of Camelot fame was also a Flower Woman.

Mother Earth Living reports that “Blodeuwedd’s face and hair were portrayed in spring flowers, and Celts knew the path of a Flower Woman by the patches of white clover that bloomed in her wake. She was the goddess not only of fertility, but also of magic, innocence, and dawn.”

And we’ll give the last word to another spring-besotted poet, Rainer Maria Rilke: “It is spring again. The earth is like a child who knows poems by heart.”

Happy Spring to all.