You can count on Easter always being on Sunday. You cannot count on which month it will occur. The first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after March 21st is Easter. Palm Sunday, which celebrates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem always falls on the Sunday directly before Easter Sunday. This year, March’s full moon occurred before the spring equinox, making it the Lenten Moon. Based in astronomy, the March moon is the last full moon of winter, also known as the Worm Moon. The first full moon after March occurs Saturday April 16th in 2022 making April 17th this year’s Sunday Easter Day. The Pink full Moon, is also called the Paschal full moon. The word derives from Pascha, which in Greek and Latin means Passover. The Paschal moon is used to fix the date of Easter. The range of possible Sundays to herald the resurrection is March 22 at the earliest. By ecclesiastical rules, Easter can never come as early as March 21 because that date is fixed as the vernal equinox. The latest possible Easter Sunday is April 25th. You may well have known all of that but I am guessing most folks only know Easter is on Sunday.
What else can you count on in this amazing world. For one thing, spiders abound. In a current Smithsonian article by Elizabeth Gamillo, I learned that scientists just discovered a new species of spider, “bringing the world count to 50,000 species.” Experts feel this is just the tip of the iceberg and that many more spiders are waiting to be discovered. I am sure this news is disconcerting for my arachnophobic friends like my daughter Megan. The spider, Guriurius minuano, belongs to the family of “beady eyed jumping spiders (salticidae) and resides in shrubs and trees in some parts of South American.” I may not be able to show the spider to you as the last time I borrowed a picture for one of my blogs I was advised that I had to pay to use the image. I finally settled our of court but I am a bit jumpy about borrowing images. Please go to Smithsonian.com on 4-12 and check out this very cool looking spider with a furry head that resembles a piston, a stripy pattern on its abdomen and two large perfectly round black eyes. The picture jumps off the page at you.
A few fun jumping spider facts, they have the sharpest vision of their spidey cousins and use this to their benefit when stalking prey according to Science News. The spiders can see ultraviolet light and blue and green colors according to another expert. Many members of the salticidae family have elaborate courtship dances that involves the shaking and twitching of their eight legs. It is noted that in 2012, a jumping spider of a different species became the worlds first “spidernaut” spending 100 days on the international space station and returned to live the rest of its life in the Smithsonian Insect Zoo. There is so much more, but we owe arachnids a debt of gratitude, “it is estimated that spiders on some between 400 and 800 million metric tons of insects every year. They are one of the most crucial predators on Earth’s terrestrial habitats.” Can’t live with them or without them.
Wishing you the best possible Easter Sunday. Enjoy your friends and family. Mike
Count On It
