When night and day are eggs-actly of even length WEST MILFORD Tuesday marked the official start of spring, more scientifically known as the vernal equinox. It is one of the two (the other being autumnal) equinoxes each year, when the center of the sun spends an equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on earth. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). It’s also when the sun spends an equal amount of time on each side of the world. There is an old folk tale that says on the vernal equinox one can balance an egg on its point. Some claim it can also be done in September during the autumnal equinox. So, West Milford Messenger Photographer Mike Bousquet and his wife Lori decided to find out whether it was true. As this picture attests, Lori was able to balance five eggs at once. Did they prove the legend to be true? Not really. Detractors of the myth don’t claim you can’t get the egg to stand on end, they claim that you can do it at any time. All you need is patience and a steady hand. Googling the issue on the Internet resulted in a plethora of sites devoted to this probable urban legend. They range from folksy, anecdotal stories to well documented experiments by university professors. Most of the experimenters agree, there is no scientific reason an egg would be easier to stand on point during the vernal equinox and that it can be done any time. How this particular piece of folk lore came into being is unknown. But one account of how it came to the United States claimed that Annalee Jacoby, a correspondent for Life Magazine, might have been inadvertently responsible. According to several sites, Jacoby was on assignment in China in 1945 when she witness a Chinese ritual. It was the first day of spring and a crowd of people came to the capital city of Chunking on Li Chun to balance eggs. Jacoby wrote an article which was then picked up by the United Press. And the legend was born to America. The irony is that the Chinese do not celebrate the first day of spring on the vernal equinox, but rather, six weeks prior. Bousquet and his wife left the eggs standing on point and reported that one of them was still up by the following evening.