“March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” I remember my parents explaining that many years ago, as I puzzled over the Sunday funnies back in Rhode Island – how the month often begins with blustery winds, and ends with the first sweet signs of spring.
Perhaps Charlie Brown was trying to fly his kite in those funnies, for March is kite-flying month.
One of those first sweet signs of spring… or maybe not-so-sweet… is skunk cabbage appearing where the ground is streaked with wet, after the snow is gone.
March takes it name from Mars, the Roman god of war… “martial” is another related word. The war god suits well with the blustering gusts.
Heavier-than-air travel came to Steuben on March 12, 1908, when Casey Baldwin piloted “Red Wing” 319 feet across the frozen surface of Keuka Lake. After Dayton and Kitty Hawk, Keuka may have been the next place an airplane flew in America.
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, when the ancient Irish saint is honored, and all things Irsh along with him. For many years Hornell has hosted a St. Patrick’s Day parade. (It’s also the day that Casey Baldwin wrecked the “Red Wing,” on its second try, making the first airplane CRASH in Steuben.)
The Super Bowl being over with, we now experience March Madness, the collegiate blood-bath that ends with one (very tired) team still standing.
March 4 used to be presidential inauguration day, but during the Franklin Roosevelt administration it was moved to January 20, communications and transportation having improved a little since 1787.
March 1 is the first day of METEOROLOGICAL spring, while the vernal equinox (first day of ASTRONOMICAL spring) comes on the 20th or 21st. Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th, despite having been warned to “Beware the Ides of March!” Daylight savings time begins in March.
The Salem witch trials began in March (it had been a bad winter), and Napoleon returned from Elba to once again threaten the peace of Europe. A hundred days later, with tens of thousands dead on the field at Waterloo, he was on his way to St. Helena. Few rulers have contrived to get so many men killed, in such a short reign, to such little effect.
The Boston Massacre also took place in March, and Santa Ana captured the Alamo. In March of 1918, scientists first recognized the Spanish influenza. In March 2020, we began COVID shutdowns. The March blizzard of 1888 killed 400 people, mostly in and around New York City.
The world’s first national park (Yellowstone, 1872) and America’s first National Wildlife Refuge (Pelican Island, 1903) were created in March – that alone makes March a great month. Michelangelo was born in March, and Johann Sebastian Bach, which is also very special. Almost 200 years ago a former Steuben County woman named her new baby Wyatt Earp.
The Peace Corps was formed in March, and so was the Civilian Conservation Corps.
As we observed last month, February usually begins the maple sugar season, but the sap often keeps on flowing in March. Many producers sell the raw sap, but some process their own, including the folks at Cartwright’s Maple Tree Inn, between Houghton and Angelica. Standing in line on a chilly morning, waiting for pancakes with Cartwright syrup, is a generations-long springtime ritual.
So, shake off the cloudy cloak of winter! Take a stroll around town, (watching out for ice patches). Put on waterproof shoes, and hit the Finger Lakes Trail. The days warm up, and the sun sets later. The drab, tired earth struggles, and then succeeds, to bring forth the first tiny splashes of color. So peek at the neighbors’ streetside flower beds, and see how the bulbs are coming up! Keep your eye peeled for the year’s first robin. Enjoy your March.