We pack a lot into the pages of every issue of Kayak, but there’s always more great stuff we just can’t fit in. So join Teeka and Beau, our otter mascots, to find out more about the theme of each issue, or just pick up some random bits of Canadian history.

It’s Spring! (Sort of…)

In lots of parts of Canada this year, it still feels a whole lot like winter. (And this has been one of the coldest, snowiest winters in decades.) But at least March 21 is the start of spring, right? Well, no. Or, maybe. Turns out that the people who are really into this stuff, like astronomers and companies that make calendars, say spring actually starts on March 20. The reasons are pretty complicated, but they’re related to the way the earth is tilted.

And that thing about day and night being the exact same length on the first day of spring? Not necessarily true either. But sometime around March 20, there will be the same amount of daylight and darkness. One more cool fact about this day, which is also known as the vernal equinox: If you were standing on the equator, you could see the sun go right overhead. That only happens on the spring and fall equinox.