The crocuses are one of the first signs of Spring where I live. There aren’t many planted here but the few we have are showing nicely now. The above picture was taken today. I particularly like the striking purple veins in the nearly white pedals.

Thinking about today being the solstice led to a little reading on the subject. I found this discussion of the seasons as they relate to the astronomical solstice and equinox events to be interesting.

The Straight Dope: Is it true summer in Ireland starts May 1?

I prefer to think of the seasons (from my Northern perspective) as related to the calendar in the simple form: December, January, and February are Winter; March, April, and May are Spring; June, July, and August are Summer; and September, October, and November are Fall (or, if you prefer, Autumn). This seems to follow the temperature and weather changes fairly well and places the associated astronomical events of solstice and equinox not at the beginning, or at the exact midpoint, but closer to the beginning of each season. This works well given the lag in Earth’s warming and cooling in response to the seasonal changes in solar exposure.