Tuesday, March 21, 2006

At Last. Spring!

"Tis Spring, and a young mans fancy lightly turns to thoughts of what the dirty old man has been thinking of all year long." ~ Isaac Asimov

As I write this, it has been officially Spring for a little more than 12 hours. Otherwise known as the vernal equinox.

I love Spring. Most people celebrate New Years day on the first day of January. I celebrate it on the first day of Spring, because to me, Spring represents a new beginning, a fresh start.

It is a time when green buds swell on the trees and flowers bloom and new blades of grass begin to emerge from the previously frozen ground.

In higher elevations, winter snows begin to melt and the resulting streams run down the mountains, forming crystal clear pools and unmuddied lakes of ice cold water.

It is the day that I exorcise all the dormant demons that I buried beneath the dead leaves the previous summer. It represents to me a new awakening, when I can put mistakes of the past behind me and resolve to make positive changes in my life. Each Spring is a fresh start.

Wait. Was that me, waxing poetic?

Speaking of wax, I don't care what your wife or girlfriend says, bikini waxes are painful. I don't recommend getting one. Especially if you are a man.

Don't ask.

That's a whole other kettle of fish. And speaking of kettles of fish....well, never mind. All I have to say about that is if you add an old fashioned manually cranked egg beater and a SCUBA wet suit to those things, you can have a very interesting party.

But I digress.

Speaking of eggs, It has been said that at high noon on days of the vernal equinox, you can place an egg on it's end, and it will stand there, on end, unassisted, for a few seconds. I never have tried it, because I don't know if they are referring to high noon GST or EST or EDT, or even PST.

But anyway, that trick can be facilitated much easier by boiling the egg first. Then, with a rapid downward motion, bringing it down forcefully upon a hard flat surface, thereby smashing one end flat. It will then remain standing unassisted, for the remainder of the day, or until someone picks it up, peels, and eats it.

Incidentally, eggs have had a substantial influence on scientists and other visionaries through out history.


Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were not convinced that the world was round, even after Columbus showed them an egg. Perhaps he would have had an easier time of persuading them had he not broken and fried it first.

And then there was the time that an egg fell out of the tree and hit Sir Isaac Newton on the head and led to the discovery of gravity, after which, a great many eggs have since fallen and made quite a few messes.

Ok, I know it was an apple, but that doesn't fit in with my subject, and I can't think of any other times when eggs contributed to great discoveries.

Never mind.

Have a wonderful Spring.

7 comments:

RC said...

ugh...that picture of the egg is sort of disgusting.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

Eric said...

Mmmmm! Ovary fruit!

Chipper said...

Ahahaha! I love it! I have heard that about the egg before and it has been presented a fact, but I have never been able to do it.
You should have been persian--Today is the Persian New Year! I agree with you, the first day of spring is a much better day to be celebrated as the new year.

Oh and wow. I think I want to be invited to your next party. A scuba suit and an egg beater? ;-)
Hey-they use eggs as a base to grow flu vaccines on--does that count?

Gayle said...

I'm sorry to disagree, but that was a beautiful picture of an egg, Mark! But then, I love fried eggs.

You were in a good mood when you posted this. I love it when bloggers are in a good mood. Spring has definitely sprung in your part of the woods. (I won't ask about the Bikini wax thingy.)

We, on the other hand, are expecting a freeze.

Francis Lynn said...

Spring, right - 35 out - right. Love your yolks - they funny.

Mark said...

That quote on the top is an actual quote from Dr. Isaac Asimov, the Sci-Fi writer. He wrote a book in the early 70's entitled, "The Sensuous Dirty Old Man" by "Dr. "A". It was humor.

I read it. That quote was in the book. I remember it.

Marie's Two Cents said...

Well I'm glad you love spring Mark. They have to be more lovely than the ones we have here in Oklahoma. Springtime for me means high humidity, constant tornado warnings, and allergies beyond belief. Cant hardly wait for summer when all the Tarantulas and Scorpions wake up. Speaking of eggs, it was so hot last summer I did brake an egg in the street (Just to see if it would really do it) and yes it did fry!