Vernal Equinox Dawn

NEARLY WORDLESS SPECIAL

Yesterday morning, Friday 20 March, at 5:44 AM MDT, the earth passed through the equinox. In the norther hemisphere, it was the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. On this day, we experienced an equal amount of darkness and light in our day, and in our northern hemisphere, the daylight hours will increase each day through the May crossquarter and until the Summer Solstice. In our current calendar the March equinox marks the first day of astronomical spring in the northern hemisphere. In the old calendar, spring began on the February 2 crossquarter, and yesterday was the midpoint of the season.

It was a fortunate day to mark the Vernal Equinox, as we had plenty of time to take our walk together, with both Lily and Shayna, and get to our fixed points for this year to take pictures of the Spring sunrise. I felt a little sad as I took these pictures, because on Ground Hog's day, Zoey was with us. The Great Wheel of Time turns, bringing each of us to the point of departure.

Sunrise, March 20, 2009, from the top of Via Sedillo.
Blessed is the One that separates light from darkness . . .



Sunrise on February 2, 2009.
Compare with the above picture to see that sun rose south of the Pinyon on Candlemas, and yesterday it was north of it.





Sunrise from Teypana and Via Sedillo (south intersection), on March 20, 2009. The sun is rising behind the left middle tree.

Sunrise on February 2, 2009. The sun is rising above the trees that are to the right and above the two trees in the center of the picture above. Again, it is rising to the north of where it did from the same fixed point at the cross-quarter.

A close-up of the Vernal Equinox dawn from the top of Via Sedillo. The sky was full of moisture and so the dawn was full of color. May the golden sunrise signal good rains, good crops and prosperity in the coming seasons.

Happy Spring!