Unequal Equinox

The word “equinox” comes from Latin and means “equal nights.” Around March 20, sunrise and sunset are about twelve hours apart everywhere on Earth. Because of that, a lot of people think that day and night are of equal length on March 20. But actually the day is a little longer than the night on this date. There are a few reasons for that. Sunrise occurs when the top of the sun (not the center) is on the horizon. But the sun actually appears to be above the horizon when it is in fact still below it. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere refracts or “bends” light coming from the sun, so we see the sun a couple of minutes before it actually rises over the horizon. If you add the daylight that persists after sunset, you’ll find the day on the equinox is several minutes longer than the night.

That is a mouthful. My mother taught me that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. And who was I to question that?

I almost went googly-eyed when I 'Googled' both spring equinox and Easter. I like my mother's explanation for the different dates for Easter much better. What brought this on was looking at the icicles on my header and thinking it is time to have a more positive image up there. I am keeping my eye out for the ferns to lift their fiddle heads.