Beware the Ides of March

Well, I guess if I were Caesar I'd take this more to heart. But March is always a strange month around these parts. A month ago we were digging out from two massive snow storms. Today the trees are starting to bud and shed their little husks all over the place, bulbs are rocketing up in the flower beds, and we've just gone on Daylight Time. Crazy month, this March.

The start this year was somewhat inauspicious. On the 1st our friend Katherine, who is being treated for breast cancer, lost her faithful little dog Coal, who had been her constant companion while she endured the wretchedness of chemotherapy. Coal was my "little buddy" as well. I always played with him whenever I stopped by or when we visited Kath's cabin and,more recently, her cottage down on the Northern Neck. He was a great little dog and one of the primary reasons I felt we were ready to get Louis, with whom Laurie and I have become total mushes.

On the same day my former boss at the Planetarium, Jim Sharp, passed away. I had been trying to lend a hand to him and his widow by collecting his mail, helping him with his bills, etc. but hadn't seen him since late January. At that time he seemed to be in good spirits, in possession of all his faculties, maybe even upbeat. The blizzards prevented me from getting over to see him, then BAM! he was dead.

Now I'm trying to help tie up his estate with his widow. He left no apparent will, so the whole shebang is going to wind up in probate.

Yep, it's going to be an interesting month.