Wikiwhatever has the answers.

Ben and I had a short phone conversation this morning that included a discussion of whether or not this really IS the first day of spring (we've always thought it was the 21st, but who are we to judge), in which I commented that I always thought the equinoxes and solstices were on the 21st of whichever month they fell in. That got us started on a discussion of the proper plural form of solstice. Can you see why we've been married 25 years? It's the excitement we manage to bring to our daily lives. Since I am OCD about grammar-y stuff, I had to come in and research it. Here are my findings:

1. According to many sources, the proper plural is solstices, not solsti. The latter is a word that might be a good guess if solstice were really a Latin word, which it is not. Just add s. But in my searching, I found a thing called Wiktionary. How cool is that?

2. The facts are not so cut-and-dried with equinox. Depending on which source you believe, the plural could be equinoxes, equinoctes, or equinoctials. Who makes this stuff up? At any rate, the first official day of spring coincides with the vernal equinox. Here's the explanation copied from WikiAnswers:

Spring comes in between the 19th to the 23rd of March and at different times. It changes on a yearly basis because the first official day of spring is the (Spring) Vernal EQUINOX. This is when the sun is directly above the equator. It rises due East and sets due West and does not do so on the exact same day every year since the calendar is not exactly 365 precise days every single year. In 2009, spring will arrive on March 20th, as stated above and the sun will be above the equator, crossing to the northern hemisphere at 11:47pm (ish)

So on this happy vernal equinox, I'm going to hang out by the fire because we are freezing in Northern Virginia. And I might see what other Wikis I can find. Do they make one that vacuums dog hair?

Be thankful ~

Karen

ps. I just realized I had a naked blog. My apologies! I've fixed it with a beach and a palm tree. And what can't be fixed with a beach and a palm tree??