First Day Of Spring

Ok, test your batteries in the Smoke Detector.

There are other things you tend to do every season, it's a good day to consider it at any rate.

It's the first day of spring.  Actually since I write these a wee bit ahead of time, It is still winter for me.

While the first day you can plant things outdoors without fear of frost is getting closer, you might want to consult a USDA Zone Map for that.   In the big cities, those days vary.  I always took my plants out today when I lived in Philadelphia but I would watch the "lows" on the forecast until the "official" day of April 1.  Your zone will vary.

You see, you live on a ball.  We call it the Earth. 

That ball is tilted about 23 degrees in respect to the Sun.  That causes seasons as it works its way around the Sun.  During the year days get longer and shorter as a result.

Two days a year, first day of Spring, and first day of Fall, the day is actually 12 hours long.  The Sun appears to cross over the equator on its way North in the Spring, South in the Fall.

Or Autumn.  I'm fine either way.

So today at 12:57 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, the Sun is right over top of the Equator. 

Here in Wilton Manors, I am at 26 degrees North, roughly.  90-26 is 64 so the Sun should be 64 degrees up in the skies  at 12:57 today. 

If you really want to be absolutely correct about it, there are websites that tell you where exactly the Sun is overhead at any moment and the place it crosses the equator.  It looks to be off shore in the ocean near the coast of Ecuador by this link.  If you were there, you would look "due up" and there's the Sun.

Yes, that's a bit much isn't it?

If you are South of the Equator, you are upside down and you are going out of Summer into Fall.

My smoke detector just beeped when I pressed the button, so I'm good for a few more months. 

As for the butterfly, it was posing for me a while back when I walked through the park with my camera.

We've got butterflies the year around here in South Florida, and I make it a point to plant things they like.  As a result, it is rare that my Mexican Milkweed isn't eaten up.  But I do like watching them float by the front window on their little butterfly way of doing butterfly things.

Perfect picture for the first day of Spring.