March 19, 2024 is the first day of spring! How do you celebrate?

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   tsmogposted 6 weeks ago

   Spring is all about new beginnings and transformations; it's a season that symbolizes starting fresh and starting over. After months of cold temperatures that often result in many of us feeling the winter blues, spring reawakens us and our surrounding environment, bringing everything back to life.
   
   Most certainly springtime is a world event. Who knows, maybe the whole universe?
   
   ** How do you celebrate springtime’s arrival where you live?
   ** Do you have a religious tradition?
   ** Do you have a national tradition?
   ** Do you have regional tradition?
   ** Does your city/town/village/community have a tradition?
   ** Do you have a family tradition?
   ** Do you have a personal tradition?
   
   ** Does it have any special meaning to you?
   
   Personally, definitely it means Old Man Winter has been kicked to the wayside. Hooray!! Mr. Sunshine will be in cohoots with Mother Nature alternating their duty from time to time to bring spring blooms, the beginning of crop growth, and 'hope will spring eternal'. I usually write a poem in my journal to reflect on later in life. 
   
   A little bit about the first day of Spring.
   
   It happens every March 20 or 21 (or March 19 if it's a leap year like 2024 and you are in the Eastern Time Zone or farther west). Cue the sunshine, birds, bees, and early spring flowers in the Northern Hemisphere. The spring equinox has arrived marking the first day of spring.
   
   But what is the spring equinox?
   
   Is it an astronomical event? A holiday once marked by the ancients? Actually, it's both. It also doesn't exactly coincide with the meteorological start of the season, which begins a bit earlier on March 1. The latter is not based on celestial occurrences, but instead the annual temperature cycle and the 12-month calendar.
   
   To discover more take a peek at:
   Spring Equinox 2024: The First Day of Spring Explained by Country Living (Jan 24, 2024)
   https://www.countryliving.com/life/a268 … g-equinox/

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      Venkatachari Mposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Tim, for bringing up this interesting discussion. You shared a good lot of knowledge about the spring musings,
      
      So, that's how you placed March 19 as the first day of Spring. I assume the equinox will occur on 20th March here in Bangalore, India.
      
      As far as my personal feelings are considered, spring has already arrived much before 1st March, say February 16th onward. 
      
      But for me, the 1st Day of Spring is the first day of the month titled Chaitra which will be on 10th April perhaps. I haven't verified our calendar yet.
      
      This is our traditional festival day known as Ugadi. Freshly sprouted margosa flowers, green mango, etc. are consumed in the form of a sweet and savory dish containing all the 6 tastes of food tastes. This is both traditional, religious, and my personally beloved festive relish.
      
      

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         tsmogposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         Cool!! That soup like dish looks savory! I would take the challenge and give it a try. Thanks for sharing and tempting me as I am thinking about breakfast now.
         
         Interesting about spring traditions and thoughts about the arrival of spring for you and your neck of the woods. I did some poking about how different countries celebrate it.
         
         In your community or region do you celebrate the Feast of Colors - Holi?

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            Venkatachari Mposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            Yes. I used to play with those colors for 4, or 5 years during the 1970s. But not after that. Nowadays, I only enjoy the recipes that are unique at Holi festive occasions. Here is a link to one of the most unique recipe that is popular during the Holi Festival. People go from home to home to enjoy and share their recipes.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujia
            
            

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               tsmogposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

               M'm . . . M'm . . . most definitely would give the pictured delicacies a go. I like dried fruits. Thanks for the Wiki link giving me the history.
               
               Do you think the celebration of colors is generational? In other words, elders teaching customs/tradtion of Holi to younger generations. I think it is important to maintain those customs/traditions.
               
               I imagine the celebration of Spring arriving here in the US is greater in the rural/farming communities since it marks planting season for crops. Maybe they have celebration traditions or events. We don't where I live other than it may mark the bar-b-q season.
               
               How about there in India. Do you bar-b-q?

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                  Venkatachari Mposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                  Yes, Tim, nowadays it has become a custom among urban generations to party out on festival occasions, birthdays, and even weekly holidays. So, maybe, my son will take us to some popular restaurant.
                  
                  I hope rural people celebrate these festivals more traditionally and enjoy the true essence of it. We are virtually cut off from those pleasures.
                  
                  I, for myself, though keep holding to some of those moments even now and try to  be of some example to the children so that they can understand the beauty and pleasure of it all.

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                     tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                     Venkat . . . I hope your son does take you out to dinner to celebrate the First day of Spring. That would be nice!
                     
                     Not having any children to pass traditions along to I ponder about it. My family does celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the 4th of July our Independence day celebration from back to the days of the Revolution from England.
                     
                     I think I will email my family on the first day of Spring. That will include some of my nephews and nieces along with brothers and sisters. Maybe it will bring a smile to them.

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                        Venkatachari Mposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                        That's a nice job, Tim. Email them some synopsis of Spring Celebrations. You can create a post even here on HP and then link that in your email.
                        
                        Let us seniors keep on inspiring the younger generations about traditional values.

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   Genna Eastposted 6 weeks ago

   Spring is my favorite season...it brings a renewal of hope and promise that dwells within us all.  :-)

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      tsmogposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I like that Geena! Optimism!
      
      At first before making the OP post I thought of how to meld Spring time with 'Hope springs eternal' from the poem by Alexander Pope. It was his composition, "An essay on Man".
      
      " Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;
      Wait the great teacher Death; and God adore!
      What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
      But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.
      Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
      Man never is, but always to be blest:
      The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
      Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
      
      For reading pleasure if desired:
      
      An Essay on Man: Epistle I by Alexander Pope published at the Poetry Foundation
      https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ … -epistle-i

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         Venkatachari Mposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         Very nice poem. It provides a new perception.

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   Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks ago

   In Britain the first day of spring is the 20th March.  But surprisingly there is very little in the way of celebrations in Britain to mark the 1st day of spring! 
   
   Far more popular is May Day (a Bank/Public Holiday in Britain); when British people celebrate the beginning of summer e.g. Maypole Dancing and Morris Dancers etc. - May Day being around the halfway mark between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
   
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day
   
   Morris Dancers in Cornwall, England July 2013: https://youtu.be/hMChxgh4Wzk

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      tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Arthur!
      
      Yeah, I don't think many countries celebrate the first day of spring, though it appears some do. I think if any tradition surrounds it it is related to farming. Just a guess.
      
      Thanks for the links. The May Day reminds me of in Sweden they have Midsummer Day for the celebration of Summer's arrival. It is a big event there also with something similar to the May Pole except it is the Midsummer Pole.
      
      Midsummer in Sweden – like something from another world by Visit Sweden (Jan 2, 2024)
      https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/cult … her-world/
      
      Swedish Midsummer for Dummies YouTube (3:55 min) From 11 years ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ZLpGOOA1Q
      
      With what I gather both in the UK and Sweden as well as other EU countries it is the connection historically going back centuries with ties to the bridge between paganism or myth with early Christianity.
      
      I find that intriguing as compared to here, though, quite honestly I have never looked into the arrival of spring or summer with the indigenous tribes of my area. All I know is there are a lot of outdoor concerts around the time of the arrival of summer for celebrations.
      
      One reason why I find it intriguing is I spent a good portion of my past looking into/studying Greek and Nordic myth and polytheism. Also, during that time period the history of Christianity mainly around the time of the reformation. When I met my friend in Sweden that was revived with learning of Sweden's culture and traditions formed during that time period of the bridging of the paganism/myth with early Christianity for that region.

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         Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         Yep, certainly, as you said; the start of spring is more relevant to farming e.g. now the weather is warming up, as soon as we get a dry spell (hopefully by the weekend!) then I’ll tidy up our gardens and start preparing my veg plot for planting and sowing the summer crops.  Namely, put our robotic lawnmower back out on our lawn; prune all the bushes and shrubs back; sweep the paths and patios; check the pumps still work on the water features in our wildlife pond; burn the wood from the pruning’s on veg plot (potash); empty the two large compost bins onto the veg plot; plough the veg plot; tidy the greenhouse; and nip to a local garden centre to buy and plant onion sets and seed potatoes, and any veg seeds to sow later in the spring, and over summer etc.
         
         Wow – I loved the website link, and fully enjoyed to YouTube video – The Swedes certainly know how to celebrate summer; I can see a lot of cultural similarities between the Swedes and Brits (and would fit in quite well if I was over there), but the Swedes seem to have it down to a fine art.
         
         Yep, spot on: as you said, Sweden, Britain and the rest of Europe do have a strong “connection historically going back centuries with ties to the bridge between paganism or myth with early Christianity.”
         
         One thing that caught my eye from your first link was the “Kubb, femkamp and other fun games” in Sweden; we have different fun games in Britain, obviously:  But going off at a tangent – there are some very weird games in Britain; below is a link list to various ones (some of which may amuse you):  I’d be interested to know if in American you also have weird games?
         
         TEN WEIRD & WHACKY BRITISH SPORTS:
         
         1.    Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling: https://youtu.be/KEh3wz-92i4
         
         2.    Worm Charming Championship: https://youtu.be/ks2bA1gWHsE
         
         3.    Pancake Racing: https://youtu.be/MdoFaP__mwo
         
         4.    Gig Racing in Cornwall (we saw this on our honeymoon): https://youtu.be/IpGQAYEXSOI
         
         5.    World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Wales: https://youtu.be/JBuHYfyZhyw
         
         6.    World Tin Bath Racing Championships in the Isle of Man: https://youtu.be/HNquXqF9FXs
         
         7.    World Snail Racing Championships: https://youtu.be/r-6Wwd184uo
         
         8.    Welly-Wanging:  https://youtu.be/ttg8mPFDkHc
         
         9.    Black Pudding Throwing Championships (In Yorkshire, Northern England, of course): https://youtu.be/8s4aBmq8u4Y
         
         10.    Haxey Hood Game:  Haxey Hood is  an annual game between two local villages in Northern England, dating back to the 14th century, which involves a series of historic rituals that starts at 12 noon on the 6th January (12th Day of Christmas): https://youtu.be/CauKOpDAFok

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            tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Arthur!
            
            Wow! You have a busy schedule before you with your gardening/landscape adventure. I am very happy you have that in your life. With my COPD/Emphysema I wouldn't really be able to do that. So, I can really appreciate it.
            
            Besides, anyways, I have weeds galore in my small 12 feet by 30 feet backyard plot. (3.65 meter x 9.1 meter) They are a pesky bunch. Seems every time I get rid of them they do disappear, but lo and behold a totally new species arrive. ha-ha On goes the battle.
            
            I can't really plant a lawn for ground cover because no where to store a mower battery or otherwise. I use to have a beautiful native California plant garden designed for butterflies and hummingbird attraction. It worked wonderfully for a few years. Then wild grass came out of nowhere and took it over. I finally had to pay someone to take it out. I miss seeing the butterflies and especially the hummingbirds.
            
            I will look into the games later. Just getting a reply to you before I head to work on a project. Off the top of my head, I don't know of any events with games between communities in my city. Maybe there is.

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               Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               Sorry about your COPD, I can’t imagine how restrictive that must be; when I came out of hospital in March 2021, that spring I hadn’t recovered enough to be able to dig the vegetable plot over for planting and sowing, which I found very frustrating:  So I bought an electric rotavator, which is a lot easier and quicker than digging by hand with a garden fork – so although I’ve since made a near full recovery, and don’t really need it now, I still use it each spring now – and I wonder why I didn’t think of getting one before.
               
               Yeah, I love being out in the garden, gardening during the good weather; working at a leisurely pace, listening to the birds, and the sound of the water features in our wildlife pond, and see the odd frog pop its head up above the water, or a newt swimming about in the pond, and seeing the squirrels regularly run along the top of our boundary fence – and then on hot days, after doing a few short hours pottering around the garden, to sit on the picnic bench (on the patio by the wildlife pond) and enjoy a bottle of beer – It makes for a tranquil and productive few hours.
               
               One thing that caught my eye is the size of your back garden (backyard), 12ft x 30ft, is the standard size of most back gardens for housing in the city suburbs.  We’re lucky in that we bought an ex-council house (Social housing for the low paid, built and owned by the State (local government)), in that the gardens in such social housing is often more generous (larger) than the gardens in private housing development.
               
               The sizes of our gardens are:-
               •    Front Garden = 30ft wide x 20ft long
               •    Back Garden = 30ft wide x 100ft long.
               I’ve converted the front garden to a driveway for two cars, with raised flower beds on either side.
               
               In the back garden, just outside the back doors I’ve built a small brick garden shed (4ft x 6ft), a conservatory (10ft x 14ft) adjoining the house, decking and patio.
               
               In front of the decking is the lawn, and at the far end of the lawn is a mini-orchard; and the whole area has raised garden beds either side; the mini orchard consisting of apple, plum, pear and cherry trees.
               
               Behind the mini orchard is a hedge with an archway that leads into the 2nd back garden room that has the following layout:-
               
               •    Large brick shed, divided into two sheds, one shed is my DIY workshop and the other one is my wife’s food store.  Behind my workshop is a min-shed (2ft  x 3ft) for the gardening tools, and either side of that is a large compost bin one side, and a water butt the other side to catch rainwater from the shed roofs, with the surplus rainwater overflowing from the water butt going into underground pipes that feeds into our wildlife pond.
               
               •    Greenhouse (6ft x 8ft), where I grow our tomatoes and strawberries.
               
               •    Patio and brick BBQ
               
               •    Wildlife pond with water features, frogs and newts
               
               •    Veg plot 12ft x 20ft, where we grow enough veg to feed us 12 months of the year.
               
               •    Running parallel to the veg plot, a 20ft strip (2ft wide) for all our soft fruits.
               
               •    Plus a mint garden behind the greenhouse; with herb garden and a raised flower bed at the very top of the garden; and in the far corner, a 2nd compost bin.
               
               In all the flower raised beds we’ve got well established shrubs and bushes that smothers the weeds, including a butterfly bush (Buddleia), so we only get weeds in the paths, patios and veg plot; the veg plot is hoed periodically throughout the growing season to keep the weeds down; and I quickly go around the patios and paths with ‘Weedol’ in a spray bottle once a month.
               
               For the lawn, we use a robotic lawnmower that stays out on our lawn almost 10 months of the year; it takes up a lot less space than a mower, and is labour saving; short video of our robotic lawnmower in action:-  https://youtu.be/Q7NTWZWt44w
               
               It you do watch any of the whacky and Weird British sports listed in my previous post (mostly short videos) you can get a general idea of the event within the first half of the videos, with perhaps the exception of the Haxey Hood Game, which may require a little more explanation!

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                  Venkatachari Mposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                  A wonderful thing to experience or even to imagine.

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                     Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                     Thanks; yes, very tranquil during the summer months - a few photos below showing various aspects of our back garden:
                     
                     Below:  View of our lawn and mini-orchard from the back of our house:
                     
                     
                     
                     Below:  View from the top of our garden showing the veg plot with my large brick shed to the right, and the greenhouse below the veg plot:
                     
                     
                     
                     Below:  View from beside the greenhouse looking up at the veg plot, with our brick sheds on the left:
                     
                     
                     
                     Below:  View from beside the greenhouse, looking at the patio and pond just below the veg plot.
                     
                     

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                        tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                        Wow!! A very beautiful wondrous garden/landscape that most certainly brings comfort and joy while is a reflection of creativity and effort to cause the 'dream' to become reality. Nice!

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                           Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                           Thanks

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