March 2005
Dear Visitor,
Whether or not I’ve made this in time for
the first week in March depends entirely on the
people at Pedalo and how fast they can get this
on to the site, because they aren’t going
to get it until the 7th of March. So if it’s
late, I apologise, and if it’s on time, three
cheers for Pedalo.
Finally, I’ve got the tree looking very
slightly different! Snow – not much, to be
sure, but snow is lying on the branches, if you
look very closely. Everywhere else was ankle-deep
in the stuff – I hope the good people in
this part of the world realise that I have single-handedly
saved them from the worst of the weather, all because
of my tree idea. This was taken on 2 March, and
the snow had vanished about half an hour later.
A couple of updates – firstly, George fans,
in case they don’t know, can follow his first
year’s progress on his own page. He wanted
to go out and play when he saw that it was snowing,
but came back in immediately. I think he found
he couldn’t enjoy playing with the snowflakes
because cold wet stuff kept falling on him.
And secondly, those of you who have been with
me for some time will know that I have in previous
letters sung the praises of Nation 217, the satellite
channel on which I won a substantial amount of
money by solving puzzles. It is an evolving channel,
and I’ve no doubt it will change again, but
at the moment I have to say that I do not recommend
it. It’s a pity, but I will keep my eye on
it, and if they return to the sort of programming
they did to begin with, I’ll let you know.
I got another big entry for my own modest competition,
and last month’s winners have been notified.
Don’t forget – there are two first
prizes every month now!
So – what can I tell you about March? Well,
it’s named after Mars, the Roman god of war,
and is the month that the clocks go forward and
British Summer Time is officially declared. It
has two important saints’ days – St
David on the 1st, and St Patrick on the 17th. And
I’m writing this on Mother’s Day – a
day for which my own mother had very little time.
She felt that you either loved your mother or you
didn’t – she said she didn’t
need cards and presents on a particular day in
order to have confirmation that we loved her, so
we were actively discouraged from marking the day.
Julius Caesar was advised to beware the Ides of
March, being the 15th, and the 25th is Lady Day
which used to be the start of the year in Britain
until the calendar change in 1752.
Poets mention March – Masefield’s ‘dirty
British coaster with the salt-caked smoke stack’ was ‘butting
through the channel in the mad March days’ for
instance – but nothing all that significant,
as far as I’m aware. If I’ve overlooked
something, please forgive me! Lewis Carroll gave
us the Mad March Hare, and, of course, the proverb
tells us that March comes in like a lion and goes
out like a lamb, but that’s about it as far
as literature goes.
I can’t find any hit songs with March in
the title – well, I can, but they are all
of the ‘March of the Siamese Children’ variety.
It’s the same thing with films, unless you
count Easter Parade, which may or may not have
been in March.
April should be easier!
Love,
Jill
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