March Forth!

Sooooo  .  . . who else out there is stunned that it's March?! I've heard mention of just how speedy this February was on at least two blogs and in several Facebook posts this morning, so I'm know I'm not alone in my incredulity. February may be a short month, but I'm pretty sure we only got a half February this year. Ah well, no reason to dwell on the time that's already flown by. Now's the time to march forth . . . into March!


While March has a reputation for being rather blustery and harsh at times (in lion, out like a lamb, eh?), I've always had a soft spot for this month. To me, it's a month filled momentum as we gear up spring and summer. Granted, all that momentum pretty much falls flat on its face come April's mud season, but I truly appreciate March's optimism before the dull reality of April sets in.

March is slated to be a busy month around here and I'm rather looking forward to it. Along with all of the regular goings-on, here's what's on the docket for March at Of Woods and Words:

Wrapping up two rather large freelance projects. It will feel great to finish them and even better to invoice for them. (Kidding about the invoicing. Okay, not really.)

Hockey tourney time! That glorious weekend of the year where I watch so much hockey and knit socks. God bless the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey tournament.  

Hockey tourney time means birthday time and while birthdays have less and less significance with each passing year, I'm not opposed to a little birthday sugar (here's lookin' at you key lime pie) to start the new year on a good note. 

Beware the Ides of March. I'm not really preparing for anything truly horrific on March 15, but it is deadline day around these parts, so there's that.

St. Patrick's Day. I love any excuse to be sentimental about Ireland. (In case you hadn't noticed.) If you need help getting your Irish on, check out the fun St. Paddy's Day inspired items in my Etsy shop.

I'll be the lower peninsula of Michigan for St. Paddy's Day this year visiting brother and girlfriend with my mom. I'm looking forward to the trip (especially since we're flying rather than making the 15+ hour drive), but dear brother, please move to Hawaii.

Grand Rapids, MI

And once I return from Michigan, it will be spring. Huzzah! Time for starting seeds, days longer than the nights, and the start of cookouts!


Whether March came in like a lion or a lamb in your neck of the woods today, I hope you're also looking forward to a wonderful, full and fulfilling month.

 

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Life without a Television

I grew up in a household lacking a television, but least you fear my brother and I were raised as some northern hybrid of the "homeschool jungle freak," let me assure you that we did not spend our afternoons studying up for the National Spelling Bee. In the summer months, our maternal grandparents were our next door neighbors and more afternoons than not, we'd head over for our diet pop and a couple hours in front of the tube, watching Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon (and later on, MTV and VH1), slowly turning our brains into a soft jelly.

During the winter, my grandparents headed south, forcing us two kids to depend on the library for some old fashioned entertainment. In college, I enjoyed the hundreds of complimentary cable channels that came with on-campus living and quickly discovered that people really meant it when they said "there's nothing on." Now that I'm on my own, I once again live in a household without a television and it's hard to miss the blaring, commercial ridden box when there's Netflix.

Through it all, there's always been a time every year when everyone in my family actively seeks out a television.

Yep, Minnesota High School Boys Hockey tournament time! The four-day tournament always takes place in St. Paul over the second weekend of March. It almost always handily coincides with my birthday (including my birth day) and I have gone so far as to have friends tape the championship games on the two occasions when I've been out of the country during the tournament. Needless to say, the tournament offers the best hockey in the world. The color commentary of intrepid tournament announcer Lou Nanne is basically the soundtrack to this annual weekend at my house.

Over the years, we've come up with pretty creative ways to get around the fact that none of us own a television to watch the tournament. One time, my father (who always walks or bikes to work) came home from work with a borrowed t.v. so small, it fit inside his backpack. If I remember correctly, the only thing the teeny t.v. ever displayed was a whole lot of static. Another time, we borrowed a larger television, but the set only got reception in our (unfinished) basement. That year we huddled around the t.v. on the concrete floor between the wood pile and roaring furnace. More often that not, we ended up crashing at the (sometimes unheated) home of some out of town accommodating friend or relative to get our annual fill of hockey.

The ridiculous television adventures seem destined to continue. Just last weekend, I headed over to the neighbors' for some Oscar viewing. We figured we could stream the awards show, but the only thing streaming was a backstage commentary, complete with the thank you cam and press conferences, but no actual shots of the actually ceremony. Figuring out who actually won required careful deductive skills. But that's just life in the woods, alienated from the world of popular culture.   

As for the hockey tournament this year, Mom says she's figured out a way to stream it. We'll just see how that goes, eh?

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