Happy Spring Equinox, Piedmont Wildlife Center community! Today marks the first day of the new season. From the perspective of the weather, spring seemed to start around March 1st here in Durham. We've enjoyed a lot of warmer weather over the last month, even if the last few nights have dropped down around freezing! Certainly the plants have been blooming, leafing out, and dropping pollen even earlier this year.
Still, we celebrate the first day of spring on the Spring Equinox, which falls on or around March 20th here in the northern hemisphere. The word "equinox" comes from the Latin for "equal" and "night," and marks the astronomical change in seasons from winter to spring and summer to fall. It is the day we can look due east at sunrise (or due west at sunset) and be perfectly in line with the sun.
For us here in the North Carolina Piedmont, the spring equinox occurred today at 5:24 PM EST. That is the time when the sun crosses over our celestial equator (an imaginary line in the sky directly above our planet's equator) from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. Because of this, we'll get almost exactly the same amount of daylight and nighttime today: 12 hours of day, 12 hours of night.
Either way, spring is here. It is a time of growth, energy, change, and new beginnings. Birds are singing and zipping through the sky, showing off their moves. Squirrels are building nests and squawking at anyone in close proximity. The colors of green are more electric each day.
Did you set new goals during the winter season to change habits, learn something new, or push your boundaries this year? Now is the time to pick up the pace and work on those goals! Growing is not easy. All of us, human and nonhuman, face daily obstacles: uncomfortable temperatures, unexpected dangers, dark mornings, and the fear of taking that first step toward change. Facing these challenges is what makes us feel alive and strive to be better.
So this Spring Equinox, welcome the new season by listening to the birds! Watch the plants grow, the days lengthen, and the sun race across the sky. Take the energy they share with you to rise to the challenges on the path to becoming all you are to be.
Happy spring,
Karen McCall, Executive Director
