The following article was written by Sue Crowley, the Executive Director at the Woodland Dunes Nature Center.
This weekend we experience the yearly Daylight Savings Time adjustment to our daylight hours. We ‘spring ahead’ one hour essentially shortening our weekend time. This topic of daylight hours made me curious about the month of March in general. I found out that in the earlier Roman calendars March was the first month of the year. The month got its name from the Mars, the Roman god of war and in Latin it is known as Martius. Surprisingly, I found out that Russia used March 1 as the first month of the year until through 15th century while Great Britain plus her colonies (that includes the US) used March 25th as the start of the year through 1752 before adopting the Gregorian calendar in place of the Julian calendar. To this day there are four countries that use their own calendar, namely Ethiopia, Nepal, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Other names for March in other countries really struck chord with me. For instance, in Finnish the month is called maaliskuu. This word may be traced back to words that mean earthy month. The thinking is this is when the snow melted and you could start seeing the ground and vegetation. Along similar lines of thought in Slovene, the traditional name is susec- meaning the month the earth becomes dry enough so it is possible to cultivate. Another interesting note from Thai the month is pronounced minakhm and it means “arrival of fish”.
Being in the Northern Hemisphere we celebrate the start of spring in March. Meteorological spring begins on March 1 and astronomical spring begins on March 20, the spring equinox. I know as February slides into March I get more excited for those first really warm days and that when I leave work, it is still plenty light. It generates a certain spring fresh energy. It turns out that is true for a lot of other organisms. I hear the first songs of bird migrating like that of red-winged black bird’s song, conk-la-ree. It brings a reassuring smile to my face. The warming temperatures also stimulate organisms to emerge from their winter’s naps. Salamanders migrate, insects appear just in time to help feed the migrating birds. The soil begins its thaw and all those critters below begin their migration to the top. The critters include fireflies or lightening bugs, nesting gets underway for many birds and the month builds to quite a crescendo by the time we reach the equinox and head into April.
In thinking about March and its name I think I will adopt the notion that we all begin to march literarily. March out of the winter cold and snow and the short dark days. The birds migrate and nest, salamanders and frogs begin their awakening, insects re-emerge, garner snakes slither out of their hibernacula, and skunk cabbage blooms all marching to the season of renewal. So, march out to your favorite trail and take in the reawakening even if we do lose an hour this Sunday.
