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Spring Calendar
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Spring is
probably the most longed for and magical of the four seasons. It is of course
associated with re-birth and renewal of life and was therefore often synonym
with ideas of hope and joy, after the dark, gloomy Winter months. Merry Spring
with your bright folliage and flowers blooming, your mild rains and many
new-born bouncing in the fresh grass.
Spring
starts on the 21st of March (Spring Equinox) and ends on the 21st of June
(Summer Solstice).
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-March- |
After the long Winter months, March finally ends bringing Spring to
the North Hemisphere !
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-April- |
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At
the start of the month, the sun rises around 6:20 am and sets around
7:15pm. The days get 2 minutes longer every morning and 1 every
night.
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Before the XVIth century, the 1st of April was the first day
of the new year. In remembrance of it, we still play jokes or
give little mock-messages instead of the presents given on the
former new year's day.
On the last sunday of April is Palm Sunday, just before
Easter. This Christian Feast celebrates the day Jesus came
back to Jerusalem and was welcome by everyone with palm
branches. Nowadays, we use box branches or bay leaves
previously blessed and hang them around the house until the
next Palm Sunday. |
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Easter is celebrated on the sunday following the Spring
Equinox full moon, between the 22nd of March and the 25th of
April. |
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On Easter, the Christians celebrate the Resurection of Jesus
Christ. Every churches' bells keep quiet on Good Friday as a
sign of mourning. They all ring again on Easter day. |
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To explain the silence of the bells on Good Friday to
children, people used to tell them they were gone to Rome and
would come back on Easter and drop sugar or chocolate eggs
from the sky. |
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In the past, Easter was a very important feast in the country.
People would clean their entire homes thouroughly, wear new
clothes and wear summer hats.
April Moon : it's the name givent to the lunar month following
Easter. It is often a time of frosts and cold winds.
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-May- |
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In
May, the sun rises around 5:20am and sets around 8:05pm. The days
get 1 minute longer every morning and every evening.
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The 1st of May : In Chicago, 1884, trade unions decided to
that from the 1st of May 1886, the day's work would not be
longer than 8 hours. The following years, on the 1st of May
great strikes would take place in the USA. On this day, we
offer lily as a token of love and a lucky charm. |
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Many religious feasts take place on the month of May.
Assumption celebrates the day that Jesus Christ went to
Heaven, 40 days after Easter. Pentecost celebrates the Holy
Spirit, 50 days after Easter. |
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-June- |
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In
June, the sun rises around 4:35am and sets around 8:45pm.
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The 21st of June is Summer Solstice : Summer begins and the
days grow shorter again. Around Summer Solstice, the days are
at their longest and the nights at their shortest. (see Winter
Calendar for more information on Solstices) |
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Spring Garden -
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scatter |
plant out |
harvest |
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