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<DOCID>spring.doc.txt</DOCID>
<AUTHOR>Stephanie Rice</AUTHOR>
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The first day of spring this year was Tuesday, March 20th.  This day is known as the Vernal Equinox where day and night are equal in time but soon the days will be getting longer.  The Vernal Equinox is when the sun sits directly above the equator on the trip northward.  Of course the sun isnt moving; Earth is. As Earth revolves around the sun, the Northern Hemisphere becomes tilted more toward the sun as winter turns to spring.  Meanwhile the Southern Hemisphere becomes tilted more away from the sun.  The beginning of spring for us is the beginning of autumn for people in Australia and the southern parts of Africa and South America.

Spring isnt only a time for the days and nights to change length, but it is also when the weather gets crazy.  It can mean weather extremes from very cold and snowy days (some of the country's biggest snowfalls have occurred in March) to humid and stormy days (there can be as much as 150-thousand tons of water inside one cumulonimbus cloud and thats enough to fill a pond one mile long, 300 feet wide and five feet deep).  

There are many holidays in the spring including: April Fools Day (April 1st), Passover (April 2-April 8 or 9th), Spring Day or Good Friday (April 6th), Easter (April 8th), Earth Day (April 22), May Day (May 1st), Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), and Mothers Day (May 13th), Memorial Day (May 28th). 

Spring is a wonderful time of year when little bunnies and squirrels come out to frolic and play.  It means that winter is over and summer is about to begin.  Love is in the air!  Go out and try something new and maybe you will meet someone new.  If you already have a special someone you can enjoy doing something new together.  
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