And what a lovely thing this is. Being curious to know exactly what the vernal equinox is, I find it quickly in that handiest of sources, Answers.com, this one by Greg Scott:

“As the earth revolves around the sun there are two moments (not whole days) of the year when the sun is exactly above the equator. At these times neither pole tilts toward the sun. These moments are called ‘equinoxes’. One occurs in March as the northern hemisphere starts to tilt toward the sun. In the north, that equinox is called the ‘vernal, or spring equinox’, the beginning of spring.”

Tilting toward the sun. Oh, yes.

Photograph by Catherine Rutgers © 2012