I love the Spring. It means so many things to me, not least a new beginning…

Spring is my favourite season of the year. Why? Because it is the season of new beginnings, of rebirth, renewal, rejuvenation, regrowth. At the Spring equinox, the days are almost 12 hours long, with day length increasing as the season unfolds.

In most of the temperate zones in the North, the months of Spring are usually regarded as March, April and May. In the South, they are September, October and November. In Sweden, meteorologists define Spring as beginning on the first occasion that the temperature rises above 0º Celsius for 7 consecutive days. This means that in different parts of Sweden, Spring might start on a different day, depending on the elevation and latitude of the place concerned! In the USA, the March equinox is often regarded as the first day of Spring, and the Northern solstice as the first day of summer, or more fancifully, by Groundhog Day. In South America, the year was broken up according to solstices and equinoxes. The Ara Pyau, or New Age, ran through Spring and Summer and the Ara Ymã, or Old Age, marking Autumn and Winter. According to the Celtic calendar, Spring starts at the beginning of February near Imbolc/Candlemas and ends in early May with Beltane.

In Spring, the Earth’s axis tilts toward the Sun, and the days get longer and warmer. But this season can also bring with it unstable weather in the form of flooding from snowmelt, thunderstorms  or tornadoes. Akitu was a Spring Festival in ancient Mesopotamia. In Australia, the Melbourne Cup, is held on a public holiday in Victoria in the Spring and it is known as ‘the race that  stops the nation’. Nowruz, or New Day is celebrated by Persian people worldwide as the first day of Spring and in India Holi, or the festival of colours, is celebrated by the Hindus to mark the end of winter.  it is, of course, one of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Consider also, other meanings for the word ‘spring’. It can mean to jump or leap, it can refer to a source of water, it can represent a tightly coiled piece of metal. All of these items suggest a sudden, vigorous activity. The word spring comes from the German word, spreng, meaning to jump, and about 1000 years ago this mutated to spryng in Old English. Prior to the season being named for the fact that winter was bounding forward into summer, it was known in Old English as langiton because the days were lengthening. This word survives in modern English as lenten or Lent.

So clearly my forebears too welcomed the arrival of Spring as a time of new beginnings, of cold ending and nature reasserting itself. I see it as a blueprint for new discoveries, a time for change or reacquaintance, above all, a time of  hope… do you?