1.   As the girls take their first swings, we seem like natives performing spring rites in the cold, doing the ceremonies that will make spring appear.

2.   It was an ordinary game of catch, but that day, the spring training rite made me smile.

3.   It is Sunday afternoon, and the eternal spring rite known as the NBA playoffs is set to unfold again at Staples Center.

4.   Thousands of worshipers prayed Friday amid clouds of incense and pounding drums at the Pyramid of the Sun in a re-creation of the ancient spring equinox rite.