March Madness, or Happy Almost New Year

March First, and I can almost smell the March equinox* where Day and Night are essentially equal. Spring thaw has officially begun. I have Evidence.

Once again, I have a ridiculously tenacious head cold, thanks to my son, and right on schedule, daughter has it too. It's been a non-stop cacophony of coughs since December around here, and I'm ate up with it, so to speak. So what to do on a snotty, miserable March morning? Stomp around in the crunchy melting snow, listening to the remnants of the ice storm clink to the ground from the treetops in the wind, the ridiculous wind that ushers in these thawing temperatures. It was all good, except for the snot.

Like I've whined before, I haven't enjoyed 2011 so far, because if I wasn't sick, someone in the family was. So I'm planning on starting my new year on the equinox, when I expect everybody to be healthy. So. Happy Almost New Year from the thawing Midwest.

* The word equinox just popped into my head today, from a random brain cell trying to be heard, and I googled it, and Wikipedia filled my head with fun facts, not the least of which is the burning of the socks and storytelling day. It fascinates me how holidays begin, and get rearranged over time. Time is so arbitrary, except for the constant things, like equinox and solstice. Anyway. Here's an excerpt of the non science, historical stuff:

The March equinox marks the first day of various calendars including the Iranian calendar and the Bahá'í calendar. According to the ancient Persian mythology Jamshid, the mythological king of Persia, ascended to the throne on this day and each year this is commemorated with festivities for two weeks. These festivities recall the story of creation and the ancient cosmology of Iranian and Persian people. It is also a holiday for Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, Albania, and various countries of Central Asia, as well as among the Kurds. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith and the Nizari Ismaili Muslims. Sham El Nessim was an ancient Egyptian holiday which can be traced back as far as 2700 B.C. It is still one of the public holidays in Egypt. Sometime during Egypt's Christian period (c. 200-639) the date moved to Easter Monday, but before then it coincided with the vernal equinox.

In many Arab countries, Mother's Day is celebrated on the March equinox.

The Jewish Passover usually falls on the first full moon after the Northern Hemisphere vernal equinox, although occasionally (7 times every 19 years) it will occur on the second full moon.

The Christian churches calculate Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox. The official church definition for the equinox is March 21; however, as the Eastern Orthodox Churches use the older Julian calendar, while the Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar, both of which designate March 21 as the equinox, the actual date of Easter differs. The earliest possible Easter date in any year is therefore March 22 on each calendar. The latest possible Easter date in any year is April 25.

Tamil and Bengali New Years follow the Hindu zodiac and are celebrated according to the sidereal vernal equinox (April 14). The former is celebrated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and the latter in Bangladesh and the East Indian state of West Bengal.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharastra people celebrate new year ugadi set by Satavahana on the first morning after first new moon from March equinox. Also the calculations of the great Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya proclaim the Ugadi day as the beginning of the New Year, New month and New day.

In the Indian states of Kerala and Orissa, the celestial vernal equinox is celebrated as the new year around April 14. It is known as 'Vishu' and 'Vishuva Sankranti' (meaning "equal" in Sanskrit).

Modern culture :

World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling, celebrated every year on the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, the first day of autumn equinox in the southern.

World Citizen Day occurs on the March equinox.

In Annapolis, Maryland in the United States, boatyard employees and sailboat owners celebrate the spring equinox with the Burning Of The Socks festival. Traditionally, the boating community wears socks only during the winter. These are burned at the approach of warmer weather, which brings more customers and work to the area. Officially, nobody then wears socks until the next equinox.

Earth Day was initially celebrated on March 21, 1970, the equinox day. It is currently celebrated in various countries on April 22.

Check out the Wiki page to learn more, since links are beyond me today.

There, that's enough learning for one day. Happy March.