March, the whole month. I resist its very nature. Every year grumbling about the monochrome, the slop, the rain. It’s still cold even though it’s, say, 45 degrees, the wind, the ‘no accumulation’ wet snow slaps, or the fast heavy dumps that promise to ice over when the sun goes down. A bit tired of it, to say the least. Very annoying generally. And yet, and yet…poor, poor March. (A good part of April too, if you live in growing zones 5 or lower.)
Default March means messy logistics, whether or not you’re car-free.
For the longest time, I would get the flu or a cold or some other minor ailment that walks around this time of year. I’ve wondered if my aversion to this season was just an old habit: a time of some difficult childhood memories paired with rude weather, and so my immunity curled up and threw in the towel.
The sick pattern broke many years ago. It seemed to stop around the time I recognized that there was a pattern. Maybe I just became more health attentive and vigilant, like not touching door knobs with my bare hands.
Any season offers glimpses of funny.
This is an example of what March thinks is funny.
And here we are also. When the snow sticks beautifully and you know it will be gone by noon or as soon as a ray of sunlight appears. That moment of quiet when the wind dies down, winter is still ON, but it’s now offered with early spring bird song, or in this case, a battalion of floating geese.
Even in monochrome, we become more conscious of the longer light. We all wake up, if only just a little.
Since I work for a nature type of non profit, I get the most fun emails at work this time of year, announcements of the lambs and goats are getting born. New life is cute. I don’t care what you say. The ugliest old bull dog or giant smelly sheep was once cute. Our household happens to have all March birthdays, ushering in a spring bonanza of family and friend birthdays. And lambs? Not much is cuter. I mean really.
The under-story of March is in its contrasts. Big showy snowflakes that often disappear on contact; When the difference between night and day temperatures starts the sap-laced water pump, bringing sweetness from the tree roots to the leaf buds. That’s their nudge to start growing, using that longer light that is now around.
We all wake up, if only a little bit.
When it’s not annoying, March is beautiful, if we can curb our grumbling for a minute.
I’ll see if I can do that. But I’m not sure. See below.
P.S. Guess what?
During the process of prepping this post, we are now all now abuzz of the upcoming Nor’easter. Winter storm severity quite high because of the wind and quantity of water/snow.
Stay safe friends and keep your spirits up! It’s only March stomping around.
-wb
