The Ides of March

Okay, so it's tomorrow, not today. The Ides, that is.

It is the day, so legend goes, that Julius Caesar was murdered in BC 44. A soothsayer cautioned him to "Beware the Ides of March," but he ignored the warning, and was murdered by his close friend Brutus.

You, of course, remember that from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, which you likely studied during your freshman or sophomore year in high school. Right?

I don't expect assassination: physical, character or otherwise. But it is an auspicious day. First of all, it is the middle of March, and spring is barely a week away. Second, our daughter departed this evening, heading for Alabama and new adventures. The Ides will be her first full day of travel, and our thoughts are with her every mile of the way -- we've driven it at least as far as Oklahoma City. We hope for clear weather and easy travels, and a better chance at finding herself.

This week is filled with activity -- little of it money-making, alas. Our Arts Council sponsors the Missoula Children's Theatre, and this is the Residency Week, so about 60 kids are singing and dancing and learning lines for "Robin Hood" every day after school. It'll be performed Saturday -- is that amazing or what! I've been laying out the program, the tickets, re-creating business cards for ads, and so on --all volunteer work. And when I'm not doing that, I've been in meetings for our local Realtor Association's new magazine, of which I will be editor -- also a "good of the order" volunteer job. It's an interesting venture and one which I hope will be successful.

Nonetheless, it's left little time for me to promote our own business. That'll change next week.

Spring is here...
ready or not. The little tree that always leafs out first is full of leaves. When you look across the land, the treetops shimmer with new green. Tiny curled leaves are unfolding hour by hour. All the daffodils I've planted are blooming, noses sniffing the very warm (86 degrees today on our porch) spring air, and they dot the still-green grass all around the house and stretching up the driveway. I'd like to plant about 50 new ones every year until the property is full of them in the spring.

I don't feel like there was enough winter, though, and it feels more like May than March. I'm hoping we have a wet April.

Where did it go, all those days since Jan. 1?

Of course we lost an hour this week, and I'm still trying to catch up. I think spring forward is much harder to get used to than fall back -- sort of like flying east is harder than flying west.

I'm not pondering much of anything, either, although there's stuff stirring around in my head -- but there isn't time this week to BE -- just DO. It's a new season, a rebirth of something, and I'm trying to figure out just what. Change is definitely in the air.