I know, some of y'all are still deeply buried under snow. But honest - today is the first day of spring.
The seasons progress not based on temperatures but on the position of the Sun in the sky. I won't bore you with apogees and perigees and all of the mathematics that go into it. Instead, I'll give you an easy example.
Imagine a clock with all 24 hours marked on it. Noon and midnight are the Solstices: Midwinter and Midsummer. 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. are the Equinoxes, balanced half way between the two midseasons of summer and winter. The Solstices and Equinoxes mark the height of the season, the middle of it; the longest day, the longest night, the two days that are equal light. The hours (weeks) ticking between them lead up to and then away from each one. Halfway between the Equinox and the Solstice, the season changes from leaving one to approaching the other.
Now, roll that clock out across a linear calendar, with noon placed on midsummer and midnight on midwinter. You'll see that the Equinoxes will naturally fall at the 6 o'clock positions. And halfway between are the dates February 2, May 1, August 2, and November 1.
From Midwinter -the middle of winter, the height of winter, we enter the depths of winter, the coldest part of the year. The days slowly lengthen from that longest night. Halfway between Midwinter and the Spring Equinox, it's obvious that winter is now over, even as the cold still grips the land, just as 3:00 a.m. is the darkest part of the night, but you can see that dawn (spring) will be here. Now, instead of moving away from winter, we are moving toward spring. February 2 is the First Day of Spring. It has other names: Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day, Groundhog's Day. But the most important aspect of February 2 is that winter is over. It may still be cold, and we may still get snow and ice storms, but the days are noticeably longer and will become warmer a bit at a time.
The Spring Equinox is the balance day between summer and winter, the halfway mark. It is the height of spring, with the grass growing and the flowers beginning to push up, some of them through snow and others in sunshine. The days are definitely warmer. Spring itself has many names: Ostara, Vernal Equinox, Easter (sometimes, although the religious holiday isn't tied to the solar progression). We get our spring storms coming in as the seasons change from winter to summer, the worst storms happen after the Equinox.
The days following the Spring Equinox continue to warm and six weeks after the Equinox, we reach May 1st, the first day of summer. This is the day we sing songs such as "Summer is Icumen In", and the spring promise of flowers is fulfilled. Spring fruits ripen and the summer crops are sown. May 1 is the point when the days change from leaving the Equinox to approaching the Summer Solstice, making it the First Day of Summer. The heat rises, the sun shines, the stormy spring is over and summer is starting to settle in.
Between May 1st and Midsummer, the heat increases. There are still a few storms but they are tapering off in favor of hot, sunny days. Those days peak in the longest day of the year - Midsummer Day.
Midsummer is the longest day of the year, but it's not the hottest day. Those are the days following Midsummer, just as the hottest part of the day comes after noon. Midsummer is the peak, the height of summer. The days following it start becoming shorter and hotter.
Halfway between Midsummer and the Fall Equinox lies August 2, the first harvest day for the fall crops. This is when the wheat is ripe, so it's often called Loaf Mass Day (often called Lammas Day). It's also called Lughnasad and Lugh's Day. Summer is definitely ending as the crops ripen and begin to die. August 2, hot as it is, is the First Day of Fall.
The Fall Equinox is the opposite of the Spring Equinox even though it is also a day of balance between day and night. The temperatures may even be similar by then in some climates, and still hot in others, just as the Spring Equinox may still be cold in some climates and warm in others. It is another harvest festival, usually of the fall fruits like apples and pears. With modern tree grafting and such, we have apples ripening at various times, but this was the traditional time when the early apples were ripe. The date is also called Pomonalia and St. Micheal's Day or Michaelmas. It is the height of fall, the middle day of fall. The days fallowing will become shorter and cooler, and we get our fall storms.
Between the Fall Equinox and Midwinter lies November 1, the first day of winter. This is the final large harvest day, usually of the domestic farm animals that will feed people throughout the winter. It's the day the animals are culled and only the strongest selected to winter through. The last of the apples are brought in, the animals slaughtered and butchered and set to cure. For those of Celtic extraction, this is the beginning of their New Year. As the Jews celebrate the beginning of the day at sunset, so the Celts celebrate their New Year at the beginning of winter. This day is also called Samhain and All Hallow's Day. In America, we celebrate the night before as Halloween. We have switched from leaving the Fall Equinox to approaching winter.
The days get shorter and colder leading up to the middle of winter, to Midwinter Day or the Winter Solstice. It won't be the coldest day of the year. The first half of winter is packed with parties and holidays because the days following winter will be too cold and too harsh to travel in the days before cars and snow plows. Midwinter Day is the height of winter, the longest night of the year, the opposite of Midsummer. The days following Midwinter will get colder, harsher, the snows and ice deeper even as the days get longer.
And we're back to the First Day of Spring.
That's today.
So Happy First Day of Spring everyone!