Spring is HERE!!!

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By Diane Forrest

After consulting the famed Puxatawny Phil, springing forward, doing some spring cleaning, getting a little spring fever, and even taking a spring break, the day has finally arrived.  Today is officially the first day of spring.

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I am sure you have noticed budding flowers, growing grass, leaves appearing on the trees, and if your town is anything like mine, everything is covered with a yellow dusting of pollen.  There is new life all around.  Birds are chirping. .bees are buzzing, the sun stays out longer, and the temperature is just right.

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While Spring is my favorite time of year, there are a few drawbacks.  This is also the time for thunderstorms, flash floods and tornados, at least in my area.

In technical terms, today is the beginning of the vernal equinox.  On the vernal equinox, day and night are nearly identical in length -- 12 hours each -- at the equatorial plane.

An equinox occurs twice a year, in March and September, when the center of the Sun crosses directly over the Earth's equator, as the Earth is tilted neither away nor toward the Sun. Many cultures around the world celebrate the equinoxes as special occasions.

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Spring is a very important time in my town.  We have a Spring Pilgrimage.  This is the time when people travel here from all over the world to tour our antebellum homes.  Ladies dress up in hoop skirts, horse drawn buggies are available to take visitors on tours, the town's people spend weeks sprucing up everything, putting fresh paint where it is needed, and planting beautiful gardens.  At night the residents put on a pageant for the visitors that depict life on the Mississippi.  For more information about the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage, click here:  http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/

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So today, the first day of spring, go outside...shake off the winter blues if you are able, and enjoy the new fresh day.

Spring Break

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By Diane Forrest

This is the start of Spring Break, the time when all the kids head to the beach or vacations, or simply stay at home enjoying a week off from school.  Spring break makes me think of the Elvis movie, Girl Happy.  Elvis is hired by a mobster to keep an eye on his daughter during spring break in Florida.  But, I love the Frankie and Annette Movies too like Beach Blanket Bingo and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.

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From the end of World War II until the 1980's Fort Lauderdale, Florida was the Spring Break location in the United States for College kids.  These days kids take more sophisticated trips to locations such as Cancun, Acapulco, and other Mexican beach destinations and to Jamaica, the Bahamas’, Cuba and other exotic locations.

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I recently read an article about Mexico issuing warnings to Spring Break visitors to beware of the drug problems there.  Some colleges are opting to offer vacations closer to home and performing charitable acts such as home for humanity, working at school orphanages, or othr community service.

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However you choose to spend your Spring Break, be sure to rest, relax and clear your mind so that you can be refreshed.

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