SWEET MARCH, THE SEASON OF HOPE AND NEW BEGINNINGS

 
Dear George, 

It’s 67 here on March first, with a predicted high today of 76. The sky is sunny, the daffodils are blooming in our garden, and the newly sprouting grass on our lawn is a handsome green. In some ways March is the most exciting month of the year. It signals the end to the snow and ice that have made dog walking a little perilous and makes outings to the zoo and the city parks more enticing. True, we have more frost and a few chilly storms to go, but this is definitely a season of hope and new beginnings. Here are some of the many interesting things about March. 

Some Basic March Facts.  In the early Roman calendar March was the first month of the year. It was named after the Roman god Mars because it was the month in which generals resumed military campaigns which had been interrupted by the winter. It’s also the start of the season for farming, and many societies still celebrate March as the beginning of the New Year (which is how it feels to me today). The Anglo-Saxons called it Hlyd monath (Stormy month) or Hraed monath (Rugged month). The Vernal Equinox is on March 20th this year, marking the beginning of Spring and the day on which day and night have the same 12-hour length. Daylight Savings Time starts on March 12th. (d) 

March in Cincinnati.  March is a transition month, winding up winter and beginning to move toward summer. Compared to the year as a whole, March is cooler, wetter, and less sunny than the average month in Cincinnati. It’s the fourth snowiest month of the year (averaging 4.5 inches). We typically get rain on ten days during the month. Sixty-three percent of March days are cloudy, 20% are partly cloudy, and 17% are sunny days free of clouds. The average high temperature is 55, the average low 34. March is the windiest month of the year in Cincinnati with winds averaging 11 m.p.h. (a) 

Quirky March Holidays.  March 1 is “National Pig Day”, and March 2 is “What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day?” “National Fanny Pack Day” is on March 11, and March 13 is “National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day”. Some celebrate “National No Selfie Day” on March 16 which is the same day as “Absolutely Incredible Kid Day”. March 20 is the “International Day of Happyness”. On the more serious side, Purim begins on March 6th and St. Patrick’s Day is March17th. (d) 

March Madness.  March is the number one month of the year for college basketball fans since it’s the time for March Madness, the NCAA tournament in which the nation’s 64 best teams compete to become the national champion. As a consequence, it’s also the most unproductive month of the year for businesses in America because of all the time workers spend on office betting pools. It’s estimated that some companies lose up to $1.9 billion because of wasted time during March Madness. Because the surgical procedure requires staying home for recovery (presumably on the couch in front of the TV), the first week of March Madness also sees the highest number of vasectomies of any week in the year. (e) 

Poets born in March: Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Mar. 6, 1806); Paul Verlaine (Mar. 30, 1844); A. E. Housman (Mar. 26, 1859); Robert Frost (Mar. 26, 1874); Dr. Seuss (Mar. 2, 1904); Robert Lowell (Mar. 1, 1917); Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Mar. 24,1919); Jack Kerouac (Mar. 12, 1922); Frank O’Hara (Mar. 27, 1926); Gregory Corso (Mar. 26, 1930); John Updike (Mar. 18, 1932). (c) 

March in My Childhood.  After the war our family moved out of town to our house on the Menominee River. Ice on the river melted, broke up, and flowed toward the bay in late March. My parents named the day “Chinese Bells Day” because of the wonderful tinkling sounds from the moving ice. Steve and I tried to rescue treasures from the river that the ice had torn from the banks. We made our last snowmen of the season in March, and I spent less time shoveling our hundred-yard driveway. The melting snow caused deep muddy ruts on Riverside Boulevard, and we’d usually get several days off from school in March because the road was impassable. 

March Nowadays at Our House.  Because of the warming temperatures our dog Iko will get to enjoy longer walks. Katja will go to Rahn’s Greenhouse to buy trays of pansies, and the gardener will begin working on the front and side of our house in earnest. We will watch the Oscars on March 12th, and we’ll celebrate World Poetry Day that same day too. We’ll see the new pottery exhibition by Roberto Lugo at the Art Museum (opening on March 17th), take in the Frank Stella prints at the Skirball Museum (opening March 23), and go to the Dayton Art Institute’s show on artists from Taos and Santa Fe in the 1920’s and 30’s. My OLLI classes in Advanced Poetry and Greek and Roman Mythology wind up in mid-March, and we’ll plan for the Spring quarter. We’ll go to the Linton Concert and the symphony, and Katja and I will each attend our writing groups. I hope to take my first camping trip of the year by the end of the month. 

A March Quote:  "March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes and a laugh in her voice.” (Hal Borland, writer) (b) 

 SOURCES:  (a) city-data.com, “Cincinnati, Ohio”; (b) louisem.com, “70 Inspiring March Quotes to Welcome a Marvelous Month”; (c) marchbirthdaysofpoets.wordpress.com, “March Birthdays of Poets”; (d) random-times.com, “The Month of March: holidays, fun facts, folklore and more”; (e) rd.com, “14 Facts You Probably Never Knew About the Month of March”; (f) thefactsite.com, “20 Marvelous Facts About March”; (g) wikipedia.org, “March”.