Spring has sprung

Or has it? Astronomical spring officially begins at 11:06 p.m. Eastern time. Today is the Spring equinox. Normally it falls on the 20th but 2024 is a leap year. It can also fall on the 21st but we are not due for one of those again until 2102. Probably not going to stick around for that one.

Equinoxes and seasons happen because the Earth doesn’t orbit the sun completely upright. Because Earth’s axis is tilted from the vertical by about 23.5 degrees, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. On the spring and autumnal equinoxes, however, both hemispheres receive equal amounts of the sun’s energy, causing day and night to be nearly equal everywhere on Earth.

Weathermen and climate people prefer to think of Spring starting March 1st and extending through May 31st. I guess it is tidier that way. The Spring equinox is also known as the vernal equinox, vernal meaning "of and in the spring" according to my old pal Merriam Webster.

borrowed from Latin vernālis, from vernus "of spring" (going back to pre-Latin *u̯esri-no-, adjective derivative from the base of Latin vēr "spring") + -ālis -AL entry 1; vēr "spring," going back to Indo-European *u̯ḗs-r̥-, *u̯es-n̥-s, whence also Old Norse vár "spring," Old Frisian wars, wērs, Welsh gwanwyn (Old Welsh guiannuin, from British Celtic *u̯esantēno-), Middle Irish errach (probably from *u̯esrāko-, with generalization of the lenited initial consonant), Old Church Slavic vesna, Russian vesná, Lithuanian vãsara "summer," Greek éar "spring" (from *u̯ehar, from *u̯esr̥), Armenian garun (gar- from *gehar-, from *u̯esr̥- + a suffix), Sanskrit vasantá-, Avestan vaŋri (locative) "in the spring"

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I was thinking of Spring and being sprung as I woke up and thought about Boeing. They never should have gone into aircraft, should have stuck with pogo sticks, with a name like Boeing. As in Sproing. A Don Martin word if there ever was one.

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I got sproinged myself on Sunday. Hate to air my dirty laundry but you do enjoy it so. So like I said last week, I rarely smoke pot and the few times in the last forty or fifty years that I have ingested edibles, well, it has not been pretty. Take my word for it. I am supersensitive and it gets almost nightmarish at night.

But I made these scones and thought that it was my duty as a baker to try one, as I had given a couple away.  Have to know what you are doling out. Steve said they were pretty tame as did Leslie. I think they both have high tolerances for the stuff but what do I know?

I ate one of my blueberry, cranberry, ginger, walnut, panama red delectables at about 9:30 Sunday morning. Hey, they are weak, I went super easy on the butter, give it a go during daytime, everything should be okay, right?

Around an hour later I started feeling light effects. By eleven I was seriously tripping and feeling very uncomfortable. Walked around inside, walked around outside, listen to my wife make a short exposition of my deficiency list, took a bath, laid down, could not really find my sea legs. Seriously overactive brain syndrome and not one I particularly enjoy.

She drove to Temecula, after first inquiring if I was going to be okay and I had a very big world weighing on my mind. Tripping my balls off as we used to say on the lower east side. But not exceedingly happy, more like, why the fuck did you do this again, you know what happens, you idiot? Slow learner I guess... Not quite make it stop, Mommy but not real comfortable in my own skin, if that makes any sense?

I finally decided to do something constructive and comet cleanser, windex and sponge in hand, cleaned the shower and sinks as well as the bathroom mirror. There is an old zen koan that says when your world is drifting apart, it helps to go do the dishes. You know, pick your brains off the floor...

I did feel better and continued to ride out the afternoon. Ultimately I drove up to the neighbors for a preplanned drink, bottle of Ukrainian vodka in hand, we made screwdrivers with their fresh navel oranges and toasted the Ukrainian people. Leslie joined us shortly thereafter and the vodka did a nice job dulling the brittle buzz and harsh brain of the scone experiment.

I don't need to do that again for a long time, if ever.

I saw Steve the next day and said, "Hey I thought you said they were mild?" He looked at me and said," Well, I only ate half." 

Thanks, Steve.