Spring Equinox

March 21, 2022

Here we are at the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Every year, it always feels like such a surprise. I can hardly believe it's happening, and I can barely remember the last Spring.

The plants are emerging. Trees are budding. It's all so exciting. Around my house, we've got chickweed, tulips coming, young violets, daffodils, stone crop/sedums, and crocuses.

Suddenly I'm so aware of 'green'. So many different greens - acidic lime green, cool blue-green, warm dark green...

Recently, the words of that famous Dylan Thomas poem came back to me:

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

It's such a visceral description, and feels appropriate right now.

The Spring Equinox does't seem to get much attention in terms of festivals, but it is a welcome turning point. It's the fulcrum where we tip from dark to light - a day of perfect balance before we start leaning towards summer.

The equinox may symbolize balance, but the quality of Spring itself is urgency, excitement, volatility. There is no 'easing in' to the spring, at least not where I live here in Central Virginia. I was in reflective, slow, winter mode, and then everything suddenly felt like a rush.

I struggled at first to figure out how to represent the Spring Equinox. The themes of balance and symmetry dominate, but strict rules are not my style. Frankly, I don't think nature is very rigid either. As usual, there are wonky lines, mismatched textiles, and other anomalies spread throughout.

Remember the old saying about the month of March? "It comes in like a lion, out like a lamb."

Over the last few weeks, there's been a feeling of whiplash - swinging wildly between warm and humid, cool and damp, frigid and windy. This season has sharp edges, teeth.