Spring has Sprung

China has 24 distinct solar terms recognised, emphatically for agricultural guidance and echoing historical and cultural significance and sophistication. The fourth of February in 2026 marked the arrival of Spring or Li Chun. In Japan, this same day is called Risshun. The Japanese celebrate Shunbun No Hi in March, also to signify the start of the Sakura or Cherry Blossom flowering season, first starting in Kyushu and spreading north to Hokkaido. Li Chun day has a touch of fun when it is said eggs can be placed standing up, but only on that particular date. Have you tried doing this? Zurich youngsters traditionally publicly burned the Boogg, an eleven foot straw effigy to mark the day of the Spring Equinox (21st March) in Switzerland. The widely used English word "bogeyman" comes from this effigy. Indians celebrate the arrival of Spring as Holi, a colourful riot of celebration marked by street festivities and the use of dyed powders. Persians celebrate Nowruz, a significant feature of Zoroastrainism, when an intensive and purposeful home spring cleaning exercise called Khaneh Tekani is carried out before the important date. Druids and Pagans gathered at Stonehenge in England. The Great Sphinx, ever mysterious south of Cairo in all its stone splendour through the ages, has the setting sun behind her right shoulder on the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Human groups and cultures instinctively welcome the transition to warmer temperatures, especially from this current winter with blizzards and record snowfall in Canada, Siberia, northern Europe, western Russia, northern China and north eastern USA. The Festival of Scrambled Eggs takes place in Bosnia to mark the change to a warmer season. A bit later than in most nations, Canadians have a Tulip Festival to remember the gift of the Dutch flowers to Canada at the end of World War 2. Indigenous practice is to welcome the Serpent of the Light in equatorial Mexico on the day of the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox. Easter indicates rebirth and renewal. Bulgarians tap hard boiled eggs against each other in a game like atmosphere, but these have colourfully painted egg shells in the practice of Orthodoxy. Romanian and Maldovians exchange gifts of bright red strings craftfully tied up in a bow. Smigus-Dyngus or Wet Monday involves splashing of water in an affectionate and cleansing way by Poles to herald the arrival of Spring. It reminds me of the perhaps more boisterous water splashing in April on the streets of Thailand to celebrate Songkran. Meanwhile the largest ever annual festive migration of humans occurs in the two weeks before and after the Chinese New Year, not just in China but amongst the diaspora especiallly across South East Asia. Reminding me of salmons who swim back to where they were born in Canada, Scandinavia or New Zealand, the importance of family reunion is echoed in the massive movements of human beings on planes, trains and on the roads. The aim is to sit down and have a meal together as a family on that most sentimental of evenings - New Year's Eve. Chinese New Year is referred to as the Lunar New Year in Western media, as the same festival is also celebrated in Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and in Central Asian republics. When Chinese New festivities end on the 15th night of the celebrations, the Chinese farming calender indicates a change into another solar term - Yu Shiu or the period of Rain. #yongkevthoughts

Blog 18th Anniversary - As Seasons Change

 Now the air is still crisp,

but with not so much of a bite.
What do we choose when things take a flip,
The right path, even when so dark, is when we do see the light.

It can be the best time of year, to have blooms and buds on shrubs and trees,
when gentle becomes the night.
There can always be so many things to do with busy bees,
and the most joy is to see what is deeply bright and just right.

The mood lifts, or is it just me,
As we ignore fights and diversionary might,
Grow upon our journey forward to be truly free,
To open our hearts without fear or fright.

Time we have can be just spent like a passing night,
like a ship that goes out of sight.
We are born with a fresh page and delight,
We leave behind a trail of memories and likes.

#yongkevthoughts

Autumn Again in the Antipodes

 A Moment of Reflection.

Autumn is a wonderful time in the garden.

Growth may slow, but the flora take stock as the weather cools and take a hiatus from normal activity to restore.

Weeds disappear, the sunlight hours restore and plants prepare for spring.

Not a time to fertilise or induce the soil.  The moon shines brighter and the sun reduces its intensity.

Fauna prepare for the coming winter.

#yongkevthoughts

Spring in the Air

 Spring time is near for the Northern Hemisphere 

Now the air is still crisp,

but with not so much of a bite.

What do we choose when things take a flip,

The right path, even when so dark, is when we do see the light. 

It can be the best time of year, to have blooms and buds on shrubs and trees,

when gentle becomes the night.

There can always be so many things to do with busy bees,

and the most joy is to see what is deeply bright and just right. 

The mood lifts, or is it just me,

As we ignore fights and diversionary might,

Grow upon our journey forward to be truly free,

To open our hearts without fear or fright. 

Time we have can be just spent like a passing night,

like a ship that goes out of sight.

We are born with a fresh page and delight,

We leave behind a trail of memories and likes. 

#yongkevthoughts

The Autumn Leaves

Autumn leaves under frozen souls,

                                                      Hungry hands turning soft and old,
                                                      My hero cried as we stood out there in the cold,
                                                      Like these autumn leaves I don't have nothing to hold.
                                                      (Paola Nutini)

 

Red leaves falling through the branches
making their way to the ground
blowing by the flowers sleeping
no one knows the leaves are leaving.
(Haste The Day)

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
( Nat King Cole)

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.
(George Cooper)

Every stained page is stressed
by a splat of color. Rough-red,
like an old tavern,
        we become hungry birds
and prepare for fall.
Shape and shadow are candied citron
(Mary Hamrick)

You may gather from me
the spring of my youth,
my summer of maturity,
and hold onto with me,
the solace of these days
of remembering
before the frost.
(Judith A. Lawrence)