Happy new year! I bet you thought the new year began at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1. But that was New Year’s Day for people.
For the natural world, the new year began at 6:45 a.m. March 20 with the official arrival of spring, or the vernal equinox, as spring‘s first day is known. Saturday, then, is the second day of nature’s new year.
(This is true only for the Northern Hemisphere; in the Southern Hemisphere, our vernal equinox actually is their autumnal equinox.)
Actually, many ancient cultures, including Babylonia, Persia and ancient Rome before Julius Caesar, celebrated the vernal equinox as the beginning of the new year.
To me, that makes sense. Spring is the time of rebirth, new life, new vitality — full of new possibilities. In spring, nature’s powerful forces “tell” the trees that it’s time to put forth new leaves. Countless billions of insect eggs “know” it’s time to hatch. Countless species feel a consuming urge to reproduce their own kind.
“The green and growing world makes its own calendar,” wrote the late nature writer Hal Borland. “The roots know it, and the bulbs and the seeds: This is a new year.”
Celestial cues, such as lengthening of daylight hours, no doubt play a critical role in kicking off nature’s new year. On Friday, the first day of spring, day and night were of nearly equal length — 12 hours each. Beginning Saturday, though, the days gradually will grow longer than the nights until we reach the longest day of the year June 21, the first day of summer.
Most people in the so-called modern world probably take little notice of such changes. But, for those of us still closely attuned to the land and weather, the changes can be momentous. As Borland said: “The annual recurrence of the vernal equinox makes one aware of hidden forces so accurate and so sensitive that the observer can scarcely escape a feeling of awe and wonder.”
So, welcome to a new year, down where it really matters.
In the sky: The moon, which will be a thin crescent Sunday, will "grow" to first-quarter by March 27, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. Mercury is low in the east just before sunrise. Venus is in the west just after dark and sets about two hours later. Mars also sets in the west a few hours after sunset. Jupiter is high in the east just after dark and is visible all night. Saturn rises out of the east around midnight.
About the Author
