Funfact: Equinox quite literally means equal night. Interesting to me that it name isn’t equal day (Equidies), since the light is what everyone seems happiest to see. Equidies doesn’t have the same ring to it as Equinox. Equilux might work better. Equilux (as day becomes equal to night)  and Equinox (as night catches up to day). Yes. I like it. I suppose there’s some redundancy in my proposal, since the seasonal adjectives vernal and autumnal are part of the official designation. They’re often dropped because you can infer the season based on the context of the information, and the part of the world in which you reside (or are looking at the sky, perhaps). In Melbourne and Rio de Janiero and Capetown… way less Vernal today, way more Autumnal.

Yeah, I know, my nerd is showing. You know what you signed up for, I can’t just turn it off. I love the twists of language. Sidebar: Hysterical typo I just corrected in the previous sentence: The twits of language. May apply more than I want to admit. Ha.

So, to be pedantic, in my part of the world, today marks the first day of spring. My yard is a heady mix of mud and winter-bloated dog poop. Louie can’t come into my house without making a Family Circle-style trail of muddy paw prints all over my kitchen and hallway. But, the other side of that is that there are plants in my gardens that are as tired of winter as the rest of us. My Camus is already pushed through the mulch. There is either parsley or cilantro sprouting. There are other alliums, and tulips, and my favourite little grape hyacinth stirring and heading toward the light. Its very hopeful. Things are growing.

During Lent, may I recognize how each passing day stirs my heart and soul for the really great things that are growing in me, too. May the fruits of my Lenten labour burst forth (less like Alien, more like crocuses), and may I remember that good things are stirring in other people, too.