What to Know Tuesday, March 20

6:50 p.m., West Terrace

Free talk on the vernal equinox

We're not demanding receipts here, and we don't need to see figures and bills and numbers, although, to be honest, this is that moment of the year when figures and bills and numbers figure rather prominently, as we move quickly in the direction of Tax Day.

What we are saying, though, is that when it comes to seasons, springtime is the freest of all.

Some other writers might type "fight me" after such a bold statement, but we're not interested in conflict, because it is now spring, the season of smiles. For all of those sweet spring breezes, new flowers, and sunshiny afternoons can make a person feel as free as a baby bird leaving the nest.

Which leads us to this receipt of sorts: Griffith Observatory has an incredibly charming knack for marking all of the solstices and equinoxes on the calendar.

How? Staffers kindly hold a free event to share information on what's happening with the sun, the days, the nights, and our home planet. (Spoiler alert: Earth.)

Ready to put some spring(time) in your step?

Yeah. You are. We all are. All of us.

The spring 2018 version of this event is flowering as the sun goes down on Tuesday, March 20. Time is 6:50 p.m., reservations aren't required, and you'll want to meet on the West Terrace, which is also located on our home planet. (Again, that would be Earth.)

"The vernal, or spring, equinox is the moment when the Sun crosses the equator (the projection of Earth's equator into space) from south to north," is the good word from the good observatory on the matter, which is science.

This also means, of course, that you can wish all of your friends in the Southern Hemisphere a very happy first day of autumn, because that is happening, and that is also science.

Surely you've got your "Happy Fall" greeting cards lined up for your Southern Hemisphere buds?

Best swing by your favorite stationary store and buy some, on your way to Griffith Observatory, for a nifty under-the-sky lesson about our nearest star, the constant turning/tilting of our home turf, and how this translates into our seasons.

With the freest season being, of course, spring, and, no, we won't go over our reasons again.

Just get outside and soak up those free breezes, the free bird chirps, and a free evening of equinox education at Griffith Observatory.