Yes, as of 1:26pm today Winter is now officially over. Spring has sprung and we are now out of our first Canadian Winter. (Mind you, I just looked at the thermometer and it's still -6 outside, so don't get too excited about it just yet.)

But what's the deal with this 1:26pm on the 20th March business? Perhaps because I come from Australia (where the seasons seem to come and go when and if they feel like it) that I've never paid attention to these things before but I was always been led to believe that Spring was simply the months of September/October/November. Likewise, Summer was always just considered to be December/January/February, Autumn was March/April/May, and Winter was June/July/August. Notwithstanding the fact that our seasonal timings are reversed to those of the Northern hemisphere, I have still always understood our seasons to simply come and go in plain old three month chunks.

Not so in Canada (and the US too). Here the start of Spring is timed to coincide exactly with the vernal equinox, which this year apparently occurred today, March 20, at 1:26pm. Perhaps us laid-back Aussies just consider that three month chunks are "close enough mate!", or perhaps we are just far less committed to the need for such specific timings... after all, what point is there in worrying about when exactly spring is here if the property is still in drought anyway?

Regardless, it's just another of those little things that I've learned from living in another country. Thanks Canada!