March is a peculiar month. No one has an defining feeling for this transitory month; it's like the train stop where you make a connection, but you never actually exit the station. What we do know is this: March has one foot firmly rooted in winter and a lilting hand gesturing the entrance of spring. That's our March association--a doormat to the season change.

The oft-employed expressions around March further cement it's enigmatic role:
In like a lion, out like a lamb.
Beware the Ides of March!
Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour!
And my favorite--
Indoors or out, no one relaxes/In March, that month of wind and taxes.

Jeez, no wonder poor March has some kind of inferiority complex! Well, there are lots of positive things that can be said about March.

March is Women's History month. Don't eff with us fellas. This ain't our first month at the rodeo!

March plays host to a lot of important commemorations. To whit: National Noodle Month, National Nutritional Month, National Kidney Month, National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Red Cross Month, National Eye Donor Month and Music in our Schools Month. All fine and exalted associations...except maybe for that noodle thing.

There are two cultural occasions in March that are widely celebrated-- St. Patrick's Day and Pulaski Day. Curiously both these days are following by Bad Hangover Day.

And did you know that it was in the month of March when Uranus was discovered. To celebrate this special occasion, be sure to bend over and rediscover it all over again (Oh, come on! You knew that was coming!)

This year denotes some new respect for March. Daylight savings time begins on March 10, a month earlier than usual. That should put March firmly on the map as the segue between winter and spring. The longer days should ensure the return of the Mister Softee trucks and that certainly warrants an acknowledgment. March could eventually add Mister Softee Month to its roster of impressive commemorations.

Given the proximity of the letters on a keyboard, my real name is often misspelled as March, so I've got a particular fondness for this misunderstood month. If it wasn't for March, we wouldn't have green bagels and that lunacy alone is worthy of some props.