Category Archives: Life

Bring it on Spring ~ we are ready for you!

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YAY, SPRING! This lovely season brings us rebirth along with increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and ~ well, we can always hope. Regardless, I promise it will get warmer, greener and lusher, eventually (unless you are south of the equator, then it’s just the opposite and its autumn for you).

Technically speaking, spring begins today with the vernal equinox at 12:15 P.M. EDT. The word equinox is Latin for “equal night” (vernal means spring). In other words, today we will have approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime everywhere on the Earth. Moreover, the Sun rises and sets due east and west. This happens because today, the tilt of the Earth relative to the Sun is zero, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun (don’t forget, the tilt of Earth is relative to its plane of orbit, called the ecliptic plane, which is always about 23.5 degrees). This is very cool.

This morning, I went out looking for some signs of spring. I had to look hard, but found a couple. The stream by our house is starting to flow again.

We don’t have any spring flowers breaking through the ground yet but the buds on the trees are starting to develop. I always know spring is here when the landscape has evolved from grayish/brown to a reddish glow with the promise of leaves.

Although on other days, I have seen Redwing Black Birds around our feeders, which are another sign of spring for me. No Robins were out today either. But alas, there weren’t many birds out at all this morning.

In addition to today being the first day of spring, it is also the United Nations International Day of Happiness!  In 2011, all 193 United Nations members recognized that progress should be about increasing human happiness and well-being, not just growing the economy. That was a very profound declaration in a time of such immense greed. It is definitely a good step in the right direction. So today is a day to celebrate, rejoice and simply be happy.

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! ~Sitting Bull

Random Acts of Kindness

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Driving home today a car approaching me flashed his lights a couple of times. This, folks, is the universal sign telling me to slow down – danger ahead. Sometimes there is an accident or an object in the road but more often than not, it’s an officer watching for speeders.

I love the fact that strangers are watching out for each other. I truly believe that the world would be a safer and more loving place if we merely took better care of each other. Every day I try my best to contribute to the good of our planet and my fellow earthlings. Some days I accomplish more than others. I try my best not to over look people in need. For example, a while back I noticed an elderly woman struggling with her shopping cart. I offered to assist her and help load her groceries into her car. To my pleasure, she accepted and seemed relieved. Hey, you never know if your actions will get misinterpreted. Funny, but a couple of days later, my mother mentioned how helpful people were to her while she was searching for items in a store. I was overjoyed to hear her say this.

It’s amazing to me how fulfilling random acts of kindness can be. Most efforts take only a thought and a moment to act. However, the rewards for the recipient and giver tend to make a big difference in their lives. The fact that someone took a moment to flash their lights at me perhaps saved me the time and cost of a traffic ticket and made an impression on me that I just had to write about it. By the way, two other people flashed their lights at me during my ride home.