Oh boy, did I find a sticky wicket of ancient traditions celebrated around this day! I have always recognized it as the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring solstice, that point in the winter where you need and hope that the days once again ever so slightly lengthen and inch closer to days of equal length with night.

Ancient Irish tradition it is called Imbolc, other names and different twists on the day include, Candlemas, St. Bridget’s Day, the Feast of the Purification of Mary, and of course, Groundhog Day. A day of deep meaning (and some not so deep) in many traditions. Here’s a link to a site with more information in case you are interested.

Today I was “Rock Man.” I went to Emma’s school and gave a whirlwind tour of geology. The kids were especially captivated with the geologic time analogy. Since it was soo popular, I’ll share it here as well.

Imagine the history of the earth is compressed into one year. The following shows the relative timeline of major events in earth history.

January 1 – Earth forms
July 25 – Oxygen appears in atmosphere
December 19 – Atlantic Ocean appears
December 26 – Dinosaurs Extinct
December 31, 11:49 pm Humans Appear
December 31, 11:58:57 pm Ice Age retreats from Midwest US
December 31, 11:59:57 Columbus sets sail for India and finds America
December 31, 11:59:59.4 WWII