By: Elizabeth Elliott
With nothing but cold temperatures, freezing rain and snow for a long time, people may be losing hope for ever feeling warm. But this month brings us hope in the form of the First Day of Spring on March 20, at exactly 12:32 p.m. There is a myth associated with the first day of spring which says that on the day of the vernal equinox one can balance a raw egg because the pull of gravity is more equal due to the sun being directly overhead. While it has not been scientifically proven, people have tried over the years to do this. It goes back as far as a 1945 Life Magazine article about a Chinese ritual, which actually takes place in February when the Chinese recognize the first day of Spring. There are many rituals associated with the first day of spring. In Persia, it is known as Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and the celebration lasts 13 days. It is associated with the tradition of Zorastrianism. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the vernal equinox. In China they celebrate the Spring Festival with various activities during the Chinese New Year. Burning of the Socks is another traditional first day of spring celebration in Annapolis, Md. Bob Turner, who was then manager of the Annapolis Yacht Yard, was tired of winter and took off his socks he had been wearing through the season, put them in a paint tray and drank a beer while they burned. The tradition caught on and other towns from Key West to Seattle have sock burning celebrations on the first day of spring. The Sphinx in Egypt was built pointing directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox. After a long winter full of snow and cold temperatures, this season will be welcome. March 20, is the day of the vernal equinox on which the sunrise and sunset will be about 12 hours apart. Daylight is expected to last a little longer. One would see the sun pass directly overhead at this time and during the autumnal equinox if one would be standing directly on the equator. It is also during this time that the sun is said to rise due east and set due west. The date for the vernal equinox shifts between March 20, and March 21. This has to do with the Gregorian calendar established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. While one hopes the first day of spring will bring warm and gentle weather, this has not always been the case. An article in the Chicago Tribune on March 21, 1969 said the first day of spring included a storm which resulted in five-foot snow drifts across northeast Nebraska. The same thing happened in 2006 when a first spring day storm dumped 25 inches of snow in central Nebraska. For those who like to ring in the new season with flowers, the 2010 Greater Omaha Orchid Society will be hosting the 23rd annual orchid show and sale at the Lauritzen Gardens March 20-21.
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