Spring is Coming

I let the dog out at 5:30 a.m. last Thursday and was greeted with a surprise: Birds were singing. Not just a few little chirps from early peepers, but massive flocks singing a Hallelujah Chorus in every tree in the neighborhood. Spring is coming.

Never mind the fact that I think they are pushing the season a bit, the birds have returned. In my front yard, daffodils are in bloom. My grass needs to be mowed already. The downed limbs from the winter months need to be cut up and recycled (as well as the Christmas tree still sitting in my back yard). I can't deny that Spring is coming.

The precise time of Spring's arrival this year will be on March 20 at 7:34 a.m. EST (4:34 a.m. Pacific Time). That means as well that Easter will be on March 27 as the moon will be full on March 25. Easter is computed as the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. There are some subtle rules that are engaged in figuring this date, so for a full description of the actual formula for deciding when Easter is, go to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.html.

So what does all the birds singing so early mean? Well, merely that I need to brush up my spring rituals a little and prepare to celebrate. The birds, the flowers, and the light have returned!