Startled to discover it's almost March

March always sneaks up on me. I've never really known if it was because February slips by so quickly, or whether March has some nefarious magic that makes it arrive more aggressively than all the other months of the year. While "April is the cruelest month" (my nod to T.S. Eliot) by far, March reminds us that all things pass and fade away.

March's name alone suggests the militaristic push forward, descended as it is from the Roman god Mars; but its homophony with the kind of march one is forced upon also strikes me as particularly cruel. When March first arrives, we're reminded that we're likely to be trampled under the feet of midterm examinations and papers, and that MLA submission deadlines are not far behind. We're also reminded that winter closes away and we need to begin preparations for our summer. For academics, this usually means that we have to figure out how we're supporting ourselves over the summer, since we're usually only paid 10 months of the year.

So as you prepare to turn in (or grade) those midterm papers, or clean out your closet of all the clothes you've outgrown this winter, just remember to "Beware the Ides of March." March 15 falls on Sunday this year.