by Kat | Mar 2, 2026 | General, Welcome
‘March’ is a sharp word, brusque and bracing, like its month. ‘January’, ‘February’; they meander like rivers; ‘April’ is like the sound of raindrops on the windowpane; but ‘March’ is a gust of wind flinging grit. — Adrian Bell, A Countryman’s Spring Notebook
I read these words yesterday morning as the sun was just rising, welcoming the meteorological spring… and I am very eager for it. Of course, Mr. Bell’s beautiful words reminded me of other beautiful words… Maurice Sendak wrote of the March winds blowing in a door and spilling soup upon the floor… and the best part: Blowing once, blowing twice, blowing chicken soup with rice. Yes, bring on those March winds!
Yesterday, as if on queue, I watched the winds blow the delicate Snowdrops… their blossoms swaying on thin stems, yet they are sturdier than they look! Snowdrops, who straddle winter and spring in the very best way. Snow cannot defeat them, nor can the early March wind… they sway delicately as a few brave bees buzz around them. In my corner of the world, they are the earliest flower that offers something sweet to bees who wake after a winter’s slumber.
I recorded the return of the Red-winged Blackbirds last week at my feeders, the earliest I have ever seen them. They joined a trio of juncos searching for seeds in the still sleeping grass. A reminder that these two seasons, Winter and Spring, like to play a good game of tug of war before one relinquishes to the other. Yes that means a month where all the weather’s can happen… even summer takes a turn here in the south hills of Pittsburgh. (Yes, we have a forecast for temperatures in the 70’s [F] here this week, sigh.)
I spent most of the winter… wintering. It was a season that understood my grieving and settled in around me like a comforting blanket. Dark mornings where I could walk quietly in the silence. As January gave way to February, it seemed to me that the gradual increase in daylight was somehow timed to ease me out of that deep grief, I know it was not… but it felt as if the earth was very much a participant in my grief process. And now my early walks are not in dark (at least until we turn the clocks back next weekend, grrr) and it is no longer silent. I am accompanied by birdsong… Song Sparrows are the first to jump on the Spring is Coming Train… their melodious chorus is so loud! Robin’s soon join in and Carolina Wren’s as well.
I want to steep myself in spring as deeply as I did winter, except I know that won’t be as easy as I am imagining. Spring is a lot more everything happening all at once, everywhere, all at the same time… so don’t blink because you will miss it. So I am adjusting my schedule to make more space for the delight that is spring. A good schedule shake up is not always welcome, but I think it will be a very good thing so I can spend more time appreciating the wonders of March. Rilke writes frequently about this desire: want the change. I think there is some wisdom in that edict… change happens without our control, so rather than fighting change, I am contemplating how to be a Wanter of Change… and March is a very good month for that!
Yes, welcome March. I am so happy you are here!
by Kat | Mar 3, 2025 | General, Welcome
How terrible a time is the beginning of March. In a month there will be daffodils and the sudden blossoming of orchards, but you wouldn’t know it now. You have to take spring on blind faith. — Beatriz Williams
March certainly roared in like a lion here in the south hills of Pittsburgh… for a time on Saturday it looked like a snow globe outside with the flurry of flakes that filled the skies and quickly covered the ground! Couple those flakes with 30+ MPH winds and bitterly cold temperatures and I was reminded that it is still winter despite the signs of spring that are “popping up” everywhere!
I spent some time Saturday afternoon, while the winds raged outdoors reclaiming some yarn from a sweater that never worked (and no, it was not the big cabled sweater… I thought I’d start “smaller” and see how the unraveling process worked.) It went surprisingly fast… sigh. All that reclaimed yarn – an incredible CVM 2-ply – is having a bit of a bath this morning. I have two stacks of things from my latest “closet clean out” that I plucked the sweater from (the “repurpose” pile”) The other is a “repair” pile that I’d like to get to this month… things like hem repairs, button reattachments, and seam reinforcements.
From a sweater to “fusilli” and now having a good long soak to work out the kinks!
Outside of unraveling sweaters, I really want to spend the month thinking about my living “spaces.” This means cleaning out a drawer or two, but also contemplating new furniture arrangements! And maybe a new rug for the living room!
Oh… and that refrigerator clean out from last month? Yeah that did not happen… so maybe I will get to it this month!
What about you? What do you hope March holds?
Header photo by Bich Tran
by Kat | Mar 1, 2024 | General, Welcome
March came in that winter like the meekest and mildest of lambs, bringing days that were crisp and golden and tingling, each followed by a frosty pink twilight which gradually lost itself in an elfland of moonshine. ― L.M. Montgomery
L.M. Montgomery’s quote above seems quite perfect for this morning… everything is covered in a frost and my breath is visible as I walk. But the skies are clear, the sun rose with a gorgeous rosy golden glow… and the temperature is supposed to rise into the 50’s today!
February roared to a close this week, literally… raging winds that blew out the mild weather we had and reminded me that, yes… it is still winter! Still. Sigh.
But March brings the “light at the end of the tunnel” closer and closer. My morning walks are full of light… beautiful light. Well at least for a few more days until we turn the clocks ahead on the 10th, then I will have lighter nighttime walks as I wait for the morning light to catch up again.
I had such great hopes for a spring with a plethora of blooming daffodils, crocus, alliums, and tulips but most of those hopes have been dashed… or rather eaten. Yes, every last crocus that had come up has been eaten entirely… every.last.one. And the few tulips that had begun to sprout have been shredded by the damned squirrels. And whatever was eating those tender allium shoots… keeps eating them as they valiantly continue to grow. I planted an abundance (30 or so) of “daffodils for naturalizing” and not a single one has sprouted. The only daffodils that have grown are the ones I planted near the living room window. So March Disappointment is absolutely A. Thing.
The snowdrops though… they started blooming last month and they are still going strong! One day last month, I sat in the sunshine on the porch step soaking in the warmth and watched bees dancing around those tender blooms. So maybe I just need to order a LOT more snowdrop bulbs!!
I have thought about the things I want to accomplish this month… but I don’t really have any spectacular things to put on a list.
I *need* to pull out a few “warm weather” things in my closet (a few are pulled out but maybe a few more… I really don’t like the “mixed wardrobe closet” at all. It just feels like chaos… because it is a bit chaotic!)
I have an eye doctor appointment this month and a meeting with the audiologist about hearing aids.
So there you have my March… I am hopeful that my disappointments will wane and that there will be good things that overtake them!
What about you? What do you hope your March holds?
** Photo by Polina Kovaleva
