March is here!!!

IT IS MARCH!!!

https://www.rd.com/culture/month-of-march-facts/

Yes, it is March.

March used to be the first month of the year.  If you think about it, that makes sense. That means October (with the prefix OCT) would be the eighth month, December (like the decimal system - DEC) is the tenth month.  And, as I erroneously thought that somehow when Julius Caesar added “July” and Augustus Caesar added “August” that they bumped the remaining months over, but they really were just renaming existing months.

Spring starts in March.  Officially Spring starts on March 19, 2020 - officially at 10:50 Central Daylight time.

March is a month of war.  The linked article (to the Reader’s Digest) has this: “March was actually named for the Latin Martius—aka Mars, the Roman God of war. With the winter frosts melting and the ground becoming fertile for harvest again in the Northern hemisphere, March was historically the perfect month for both farmers to resume farming, and warriors to resume warring."

To me, as an upper midwesterner most of my life, March is definitely a month of war.  War, that is, between weather fronts. While not full “tornado season”, March starts that trend where the clash of warmer weather pushed against the flow of colder arctic area produces violence in the heavens.  In Oklahoma when a warm March day occurs, you can look to the west and northwest and see the weather front developing. [Of course, another way to tell that tornadoes are possible is if Jim Cantore shows up in your area - Jim Cantore being one of the main Weather Channel people].  

March can be a month with the most snowfall - although it doesn’t last as long as the sun creeps over the equator but isn’t to it’s farthest north point (which will be the Summer Solstice in June).  

*****

March, of course, is noted for March Madness.  The annual NCAA basketball tournament begins in March.  The team selections this year will be on Sunday, March 15th.  68 teams will compete to play in the “Final Four” basketball championship which will be Monday, April 6 this year.  But, don’t expect the Cinderella teams to win it all. The lowest seed to ever win was Villanova as a Number 8 seed in 1985.  And, if you were wondering, wasn’t there 64 teams? Yes, but to add a few more teams (and probably to get more television revenue) the NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association was able to squeeze four more games before the “real” tournament gets started.  

And, with March Madness also comes the loss of office productivity.  The article says: “For civilians, on the other hand, March is known for one thing above all others: brackets. March Madness and the safest bet you can make is that lots and lots of people will be distracted. One number-crunching firm predicted last year that American companies would lose $1.9 billion in wages paid to unproductive workers spending company time on betting pool priorities. “

“According to the American Gaming Association, fans wagered more than $2 billion on March Madness brackets for the 2015 tournament. Each one of those 70-million-or-so brackets has a one in 9.2 quintillions (that’s 9 followed by 18 zeroes) chance of predicting the correct winners of every game. Good luck!”

*****

I have a friend who takes his vacation in March to watch all the games.  He has television sets that he can set up to catch most of the action. Last year (when Texas didn’t go to the “Big Dance”, but played in the National Invitational Tournament - and won; he watched all the NIT games as well!!  Such dedication!!!

*****

So, March is here - spring (and summer) is coming.  March weather is coming. Daylight-savings-time is coming.  March Madness Basketball is coming. And, maybe my friends in the north can start to put away their shovels and winter coats (dream on Ron!!) 

Hugs!!

Karen

(And, as an old high school marching band player - with a tuba - I can look forward to April 1st - because a “March” of 31 days can wear a band member out!!!)