This is possibly my favorite week of the whole year.
Oh, it isn’t my birthday, anniversary or any special day at all. It is just the week containing the first day of the month that is hinting that winter weather might soon be over.
February, dubbed by me as the longest month of the year, (although it went by pretty quick this time) is finally over again and it will be eleven months before it rolls around again. Call me Pollyanna (only those of you in my ancient age bracket will have the slightest idea what that means…) but I am looking forward to the next eight of those months!
March, the messy, windy month, began Tuesday. That means the official start of spring is only sixteen days away, and before we know it, crocus and iris and a “little green” here and there will be peeking up again.
Meanwhile that wonderfully welcome, muddy, yucky mess we call spring will soon be allover Clare County again. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any Robins, those harbingers of the new season, around here yet.
We still have some snow and ice out there and the temps are still pretty frosty at night, but pretty soon the Maple trees will be tapped and the squirrels will be out and about again. We have noticed deer around the new place quite often, and although the temperatures aren’t all that high, the sun has been shining a lot lately.
Hopefully all of the snow will be gone before we know it and any late storms we get will melt away again within a day or two.
This time of year, the sun, when it shines, feels absolutely wonderful and really blows away those winter blahs. The birds and all the critters out there know spring is coming. We have even noticed pheasants in the remnants of the corn field across the road. (One thing about this new place…the views are fantastic.
March is a great month in Clare. The annual Irish Festival begins in less than two weeks with all of those crazy fun activities we all enjoy and probably some new ones too, much needed after two years of reduced or cancelled events due to the stupid pandemic, which never seems to go away…
One Irish Festival event that always makes me laugh is watching those wacky bed races down McEwan. They started in 1994 and 28 years later they are still a big hit with festival goers.!
There will be a huge craft show, Irish recipes to sample, a parade full of clowns and a 5K and 10K walk and run. There’s more. There is a Leprechaun Contest, Karaoke Star Search, Best Frame Doubles, Kids Fun Run, entertainment, a concert, delicious Irish fare all over town, the Clown Band back again and so much more! Watch for the full schedule of events in the Review.
The fun will be found in many, many locations around Clare, so watch for it!
The Irish Festival events this year are certain to lift those pandemic blues, and once the festival is over again, April will be nearly here!
Speaking of the proximity of spring, I am getting that awful urge again. Actually, I am fighting that urge again. You know the one: to clean out all of the drawers, reorganize the closets and wash the windows inside and out…
Even though this “big camper” is still fairly new and relatively clean most of the time, that old spring-cleaning bug still strikes when I look around this time of year.
I’m resisting, if I wait long enough house-hubby Jack will do it. Even if I did clean closets and drawers, I would just spend the next six months trying to find where I put the stuff anyway (I’ve had enough of that problem since we moved) – and if we wash windows (and they really need it), you all know it will rain the next day.
If this spring-cleaning “virus” hits you [It is caused by a sudden rise in temperature outside], try to resist. It will go away in a month or two.
March is here. Anyone spotted any robins yet?
