Johnny Appleseed Day

When : March 11th and/or September 26th. Why two dates?......read on

Johnny Appleseed Day honors one of America's great legends. Johnny Appleseed was a real person. John Chapman was among the American settlers who were captivated by the movement west across the continent. As Johnny Appleseed traveled west, he planted apple trees along the way, and sold trees to settlers. With every apple tree that was planted, the legend grew.

A Little About the Legend:

• John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) was born on September 26, 1774.
• He was a nurseryman who started out planting trees in western New York and Pennsylvania.
• During the life of John Chapman, the "West" was places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.
• John Chapman was a deeply religious person He was known to preach during his travels.
• According to legend, Johny Appleseed led a simple life and wanted little. He rarely accepted money and often donated any money he received.
• It is believed that he died on March 11, 1845, from what was referred to as the "winter plague". The actual date of his death has been disputed.

There is a lot of "legend" in stories written about Johny Appleseed. By it's definition, over the years, legends grow bigger than life. It also appears that there is some link between Johny Appleseed and very early Arbor Day celebrations.

Celebrate today with an apple rich menu. Include fresh apples for snacks, and some applesauce or apple pie for dessert. And, make plans to plant an apple tree.

The Rite of Spring Vernal equinox occurs on March 20, 2009    7:44 AM March 20, 2008, is a date that most of us recognize as symbolic of changing seasons. As we welcome spring, people south of the equator are actually gearing up for the cooler temperatures of autumn.   What Happens at the Equinox? Far from being an arbitrary indicator of the changing seasons, March 20 (March 21 in some years) is significant for astronomical reasons. On March 20, 2007, at precisely 8:07 P.M. EDT (March 21, 00:07 Universal Time), the Sun will cross directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox. The Spring (or Vernal) Equinox brings days and nights in equal proportions. It is simply the day when there is exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. But, did you know that this is only true on the Equator? For the rest of us, there is more or less depending upon where we live on the planet. We won't go any deeper than that as this site is not a science course.   Equinox Means "Equal Night"   Translated literally, equinox means "equal night." Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes. A second equinox occurs each year on September 22 or 23; in 2007, it will be on September 23 at 5:51 A.M. EDT (09:51 UT). This date will mark the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Southern (vernal denotes "spring")     Reasons for the Seasons   These brief but monumental moments owe their significance to the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis. Because of the tilt, we receive the Sun's rays most directly in the summer. In the winter, when we are tilted away from the Sun, the rays pass through the atmosphere at a greater slant, bringing lower temperatures. If the Earth rotated on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, there would be no variation in day lengths or temperatures throughout the year, and we would not have seasons.   Rituals and Traditions   Modern astronomy aside, people have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. Many early peoples celebrated for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. The date is significant in Christianity because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It is also probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox. The first day of spring also marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The celebration lasts 13 days and is rooted in the 3,000-year-old tradition of Zorastrianism. The other thing to note is that the Spring Equinox is just a calendar date. From a standpoint of weather in your area, real spring arrives sooner or later depending upon where you live in the Northern Hemisphere.