March In Motion

It’s actually feeling like March this week and I am glad for it. Yep it almost looked like an early Spring in Georgia but Mother Nature had other plans.

The cool chill and brisk rains are welcomed by me. Spring and Fall are my more appreciated seasons, but of years lately, they all seem to blend together. Spring months are beginning to feel more like early summers and Fall months have been a weird mix.

Over the past few weeks, I have been taking more time than usual to kick the soccer ball around with Jacob and swing the racket with Robyn. Some days were like a mild winter day that required a hoodie, some have been the perfect mix of sun and breeze, and some have had us peeling off layers like it was summer.

Either way it’s nice to soak up some extra outside time. I’m not particularly fond of being outside in the blistering heat of summer unless it’s at a nice large body of water and even then you’ll find me under an umbrella with a hat.

Aside from the weather, March is also known for some of its festive holidays.

St. Patrick’s Day is this Friday and I really didn’t get into its vibe until living in the Savannah suburbs for a few years. They go all out in Chatham County with the green river, the green fountains, the green drinks. But the parade is by far the best, and according to many, the second biggest in the nation following that of the great NYC.

I had some fun times at that parade in year’s past. It was also a popular time for family to visit and hang out at your place with no intention of securing a hotel room. It was all good, the gatherings just turned into one big weekend family reunion party.

I had a notion of taking the kids this year to the coastal parade. It’s been years since they went and to be honest they probably remember very little about it other than everything green and their mother yanking them about through the crowds.

But alas, life steps in—Jacob has a soccer match Saturday morning and Robyn has the regional Social Studies Fair through the afternoon. So that put a kabash on Savannah and I thought we might be able to pull off the Atlanta parade but that starts around noon and neither will be done in time enough to get there. We’ll probably just grab a shamrock shake that evening.

The “Ides of March” also takes place this week. The term refers to the Romans marking of the first new moon of the month. However, I always remember it as the day Juluis Caesar was assassinated from my days as a student at Jasper County Comprehensive High School.

Then there’s Easter Sunday which used to fall in March or April sometimes. The last time it fell in March was in 2016. I remember as a kid, it being “interchangeble” as my mother would always have to check the calendar to know when to began Easter shopping.

Easter like the Ides of March is also determined by the lunar cycle. Easter Sunday falls after the first full moon following the Spring equinox in March. It falls on April 9 this year—the week of Spring Break and the weekend before Jacob turns 12. I’m going to enjoy these last two weeks of March before April sprints in.