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Maudlin March
Will this month ever end!
One of the longest and most annoying months, March, just doesn’t seem to want to end. The weather is tricky, spring won’t come, and it is hard to find direction. I have never liked it and find it more offensive as I get older.
Of course it has to
be one that has 31 days! It won’t stay warm enough to really get into yard work
or other outside chores. In addition, the wind blows so fiercely at times outside exercise is a struggle.
One day it will be sunny and warm and the next cold and
windy. You just don’t know what to do
--- rejoice in the nice days and revert back to winter doldrums on the bad
There are a few bright spots --- St. Patrick’s Day March 17
--- which gives cause for celebration, displaying every shade and shape of
green.
But it is short-lived.
For those who grew up Catholic, you may remember St.
Joseph’s Day March 19. Our priest, when I was a child, was named Joseph so he
celebrated the saint’s day each year and granted everyone a break from Lent,
which is a time for giving up something you really like and no celebrations –
another reason to love March.
A positive is my husband’s
birthday on March 12. While several
celebrations by family and friends help
to brighten the days, the calorie intake is far beyond normal. We always end up talking about diets ---
sometime they happen but usually not.
March is one of the few times that boots and sandals take up
residence in the closet. Boots are on
the way out hopefully, while sandals are making a stand for days to come. Also
heavy coats and spring-weight jackets battle it out for dominance in an
ever-changing weather pattern.
Spring sports are also hung out to dry as tennis, golf, track, soccer, and others are often
canceled due to extreme weather. My husband, a track team member in college and
track coach later, as well as my children who both played on school tennis
teams kept me out in the March madness of wind and cold. And then on other
occasions, the sun came out with a vengeance so that sunscreen, shades, and
drinks were required.
The Ides of March is often bantered about as a time to dread
--- March 15 -- for Julius Caesar, of course. I don’t think
anyone really understands what it means but in this dreary month, it is
remembered. Most resources say it really
isn’t that memorable except for Caesar’s warning.
And of course, the most dreaded deed of the month is
preparing taxes – federal and state (although Virginians have until May 1 to
file state taxes so I can put that off a little later.) I always write myself a
note in February to start, but it usually doesn’t happen until the middle of March; this year it was March 21. I pull it all out the papers on the dining room table so I will have a
visual that says, you are behind again.
As we bid farewell to March, I breathe a small sigh of
relief and hope that it will leave like
a lamb because it came in like a lion, and I revel in the fact that probably there will be
no more snow--but I am afraid to even think that so forget I said it.
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