Beware the Ides of March

 

Shakespeare had it right.  Beware indeed.  Only not just today, but the whole month has been, in my view, "wonky."  We had NO SNOW this season until the end of February and then three more snow "storms" since then.  While the accumulations have been small (barely, and I do mean BARELY, measurable), the temperatures have been all over the place.  Coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb?  More like coming in like a bipolar swamp monster.  (Is that a thing?  CAN that be a thing?) 

Let me talk about today, Wednesday.  If you've read anything I've written before (and I hope you have), you know that Wednesdays are NOT my favorite day.  It's the day I trek to the office via public transportation.  (I'd like to say I'm being an environmentalist like Ed Begley Jr. [check out this article:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ed-begley-jr-oscars-2023_n_640e5594e4b0bc5cb64b1303], but the truth is I just want to save money since daily parking in my building is $20 and round trip bus fare is just under half of that.)  Yesterday, a Nor'easter hit our area.  Our community wasn't hard, but it did snow for most of the day, but it didn't stick until the end of the day, when I went out to pick up pizza. (It was, after all Pi day.)  

The worst part of the day (and the night) was the wind.  Biting cold which felt more like January than mid-March.  (Walking into it was blinding with the snow coming right at you.)  All night long it rattled the house.  This morning temperatures were in the low 30s, but "real feel" was in the 20s.  So I was thrilled to have to walk to the bus stop.

I bundled up (wearing my lined LL Bean pants which I have worn maybe ONCE this season and already have a grease stain on them that I didn't notice until this morning and I WASN'T taking them off!).  There was some ice on the stairs so I was extremely careful.  Then I noticed there was ice on most of the sidewalks, so I ended up walking on the side of the streets as I headed downtown to where I would catch the bus.  Even though the streets had been treated/salted, there was ice in some places.  I was extremely careful as I walked downhill.  (I live in fear of "I've fallen and I can't get up" syndrome.) My ears (the right one is still not "right" even though the ENT can find no issue), my face, my hands (even in gloves) and feet were really feeling it.

Thankfully the bus was early (SO GRATEFUL).  I stumbled on at total windswept mess.  (As I later observed in the ladies' room.  I try so hard to look "together" but by the time I arrive I am a disheveled mess that even a comb and static guard won't help.  I think I need a professional hair/make up person and dresser waiting for me at the office.)  The traffic was light (WIN!).  I placed an order for my coffee while I was still a few blocks away from Penn Station.  (Will someone tell me HOW I can get my "reward"?  I have been trying for two weeks to get the Dunkin app to apply my reward to my order, but it keeps telling me I don't have anything in my cart.  If I don't have anything in my "cart" how come I can place and pay for an order????  I'm old I know it...I need help with this from some young tech savvy person for whom a phone is like an appendage.)  Even so, my coffee was hot and waiting for me when I arrived.  (WAS hot...as I write this I'm going to have to warm it up for the second time.  I'm a slow drinker...at least when it comes to coffee.)

As we enter the second half of the month, forecasters are telling me that it will be more "lamb" like.  By St. Patrick's Day we are back in the 50s and I'm hoping it stays that way.  AND it gets even warmer.  As social media reminded me, just three years ago at this time, my son was laying out his pandemic garden.  

Spring officially arrives on Monday and I'm hoping Mother Nature got the memo.    Let’s get through this ides (hopefully surviving, unlike Julius Caesar) and onto the season where flowers can sprout from the ground.  Let me put my dirty winter coat into storage (after I’ve had it dry cleaned…it’s filthy) and dig out the “fun” warm weather clothes. I'm ready.