Thoughts On The Month Of March

~ beetleypete

Today is the 1st of March. It is my birthday on the 16th, so this month always has meaning for me. We are also collecting a car today, so fingers crossed that it all goes well. I had to insure it yesterday, and the telephone renewal went very smoothly indeed.

I take heart from that. These days, I take heart from anything remotely positive.

On my birthday, Julie has to work. So not much chance of a day out, especially with the possibility of snow that is predicted now. (Though that might not happen.) But in the evening we are going to a local Turkish restaurant to celebrate, and I am very much looking forward to the food there.

71 is not a ‘celebratory’ year, as it does not end in a 0. But I am celebrating living this long, something I never expected to happen after a life in very stressful jobs, a bad diet, and heavy smoking until I was 60.

March this year is also when the clocks go forward, near the end of the month. When that happens, it starts to really feel like Spring is here, and Summer is around the corner. I begin to anticipate those longer evenings. Daylight until 9pm, and hopefully much warmer temperatures too.

For many years, I have seen my birthday as the start of the year, rather than January the first. It is when I become another year older, and potentially another year wiser. It is also another year closer to the end of my life of course. But that holds no fear for me, as everything must end eventually.

Welcome, March. ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’, so legend has it.

77 thoughts on “Thoughts On The Month Of March”

  1. Yes, March is ‘in like a lion and out like a lamb’. That always makes me reflect and also think ahead, from age to what I can do, to… life. Worries aside, I smile at the past and look forward to the future. Really. Thank you March. Happy early birthday, Pete.

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  2. March is the month when everything seems possible again, where life blooms, and besides celebrating Pete Johnson’s birthday, we have St. Patricks Day too! I’m not a big fan of the time changing, it always throws me for a week, but ll the flowers make up for that. Hugs, C

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  3. Since I’m sure to forget by mid-month, I wish you a 🎈Happy Birthday🎈 now! I will be 72 in June, and every year when my birthday rolls around, I am surprised to find I’ve survived another year!

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  5. (1) Overheard;
    Dorothy Gale: “I took you down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City.”
    Tin Woodman: “Yes, and I take heart from that!”
    (2) There is snow on the north (Sheep Range) and west (Spring Mountains) side of Las Vegas all the way down to the valley floor!
    (3) According to Dorothy, “March comes in a like (cowardly) lion.”

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    1. Yes, I missed the Ides by one day, and St Patrick’s Day too. If I had been born two hours later, my Dad was going to call me Patrick. (And we had no Irish connections whatsoever.)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  7. Spring is here, apart from the daffodils popping up I saw a pair of robins in the garden. Last summer my robin disappeared – there has always been a robin since we moved here 18 years ago, presumably not the same one. I have been worried the drought, winter freezes and bird flu have reduced our bird population. It’s rare to see a pair together, they are solitary birds and seem to prefer gardeners to other robins!

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    1. We have had a Robin in the garden all year round ever since we moved here in 2012. My wife believes it is her dad’s spirit, I think it is just a bird. I have never seen a pair though.
      Best wishes, Pete

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          1. It was very creepy and then the robin kept coming in my ‘potting shed’ . As the late Cyberspouse was not particularly interested in gardening and certainly not in my compost bins, it would be very ironic if he reincarnated as a robin hanging round the working corner of the garden! It is a good idea for a story…

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  14. Too soon to say Happy Birthday, but I like the sound of hope in your “voice”. 71 is big. In my mind, you remain 60. I love Turkish food. Gobble some down for me. You can send some snow to me. I haven’t seen a flake yet this winter! Might as well be in Arizona. 😉

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    1. I don’t want to see snow, but I am glad to think you consider me to be 60. Time has ravaged my appearance since then, sadly.
      You are barely 40 in my imagination, dear Cindy.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  18. By now I imagine you have collected your car. I hope you are very pleased with it and that it serves you well. And I hope Ollie approves! I turned 75 on the 16th of last month but I have been thinking of myself as 75 since about October last year. I don’t feel any different (mentally that is!) than I did at about 50. Before that I had not yet grown totally cynical! Our clocks go forward on the 12th.

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    1. We are back with the car, and it seems fine so far. We have had to order folding dog stairs for Ollie, as the back is much higher than the old car. When they arrive next week, we will see how he copes with them.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  23. Mines a 0 this year, 4 days after you, will be flying up north with younger boy to visit older boy. No kebabs for me! Autumn started here today. Still bad affects from the cyclone that I reported on last week. Apparently you could see the aurora from here last night. Same in northern hemisphere. Wish I knew. Good cricket game here yesterday. Harry is charging the earth to hear him speak = major news. Charles still talks to plants & Pete goes on very long walks with Ollie. It be drives in a car soon. March on . . .

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