From winter into spring

This the last day of winter. Tomorrow, March 20, is the first day of spring astrologically and astronomically, and the sun enters the sign of Aries and crosses the equator, heading for the Tropic of Cancer.

Outside we have a good old-fashioned storm, with squalls blowing rain sideways. It is the first proper rain since December, and tonight it will clear away what's left of the snow on the ground, after 91 days of white cover.

Water is beading on all my windows, and I can hear the wind as it occasionally rises high enough to be heard over the music I have on in the background and my little space heater. It is weather for curling up in a blanket with a book and a cup of tea to candlelight. Or for taking said cup of tea to the desk and do a bit of blogging.

I had a starling on my feeder yesterday. They are migratory birds so to see one with snow still on the ground was both odd and encouraging. I, however, find myself not yet ready for spring. I've actually enjoyed the winter, if not some of the colder days. I will transition into the brighter, warmer half of the year, eventually. I have already shed my winter coat - literally. The down coat I bought on a freezing Wednesday evening in December has been worn every day this season until this week. It was hung up permanently until next winter, also on a Wednesday. My black rain coat is back in good graces.

I haven't been posting here much, but I have been a bit wordier on my weather blog with the astrology behind my forecasts there taking up a lot of my time - delightfully so. The astrology is one reason why this past season and the coming spring and summer are far more interesting this time around. To scan the ephemeris and watch the planets move through the signs, contacting each other and then losing touch, bringing in and taking away weather has been quite educational about both weather and astrology.

So educational, in fact, that I've been learning a lot of new things about climate change. Like: a) it's happening all the time, and b) it's been worse before, so c) it ain't us - it's the planet.

I've told friends that I'm not concerned about the climate; pollution and the wasting of water and energy do concern me. I have bought a couple of reusable bottles and fill them with tap water, for example, because it takes 20 times (I believe the figure was; you can look this stuff up) the amount of fresh water to make a bottle of water, including the bottle itself. And it doesn't taste any better. Stuff like that.

A howling wind outside on a Friday evening in March is actually perfectly normal for March where I live. Happy Spring Equinox!