Book of Days

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Vernal Equinox occurs today, March 20. It is, by the almanac, the first day of Spring. The sun continues to strengthen. Day and night are fairly well balanced at this point across the globe, and we are midway between the shortest day (Winter Solstice, or Midwinter, in December) and the longest day (Summer Solstice, or Midsummer in June). It is a day of balance.

It is, as well, a time of renewal, a time of opening. The month of April, just a little more than a week away, is named after the Latin apero, to open, like the aperture on a camera. It is Earth who is opening in Spring, ready to receive seed and give forth life and abundance. It is time for the return of the Green Man, the ancient spirit of vegetation, born from the virginal Earth goddess.

Here in South Florida, spring comes early. For a few weeks now, we’ve been noticing the young chartreuse green of new leaves, and our annual litany of flowering trees has begun with the blooming of the citrus trees, followed by the Florida Lilac (which is not a tree but will happily vine up a tree) and the Tabebuia argentia (the Yellow Tabs, as we call them), and soon the Jerusalem Thorns, the Bottlebrushes, the Jacarandas, and by May, we’ll be enthralled with the flaming reds of the Royal Poinciana. But by then we’ll know that summer has arrived. For now, the bright yellow of the Tabebuias is all we need, together with the near perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold, to know that spring has come. Plenty of folks will tell you that this place has no seasons. We beg to differ. All of our flowering trees beg to differ, as well. Florida is a beautiful place to be in springtime.

On this vernal day, we wish you renewed energy. We wish you openness. We wish you balance.

Image: A typical Green Man roof boss, this one from Rochester Cathedral in England, circa 1079. Green Men were typically carved in wood and some medieval cathedrals contain scores of them, usually high up, looking down upon the congregation.