Farewell Winter, Welcome Spring
Seems like we’ve gone through a whole year since we last met here.
In weather ways, we have. Tuesday through Thursday in both the first two weeks of March brought spring warmth, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Last Thursday, March 9, was so warm we had to roll up our sleeves. March 14 brought ice. Now we’re back where we should have been in February, except that nine of that short month’s 28 days anticipated spring with temperatures above 60. Don’t look for balmy days again until the end of the month or beyond.
With one exception, that is. The weather gods have agreed to bless Maryland Day, Friday March 25, with balmy weather. We’re grateful, because the annually celebrated anniversary of the landing of Maryland’s first permanent colonists in 1634 brings us a weekend full of good things to do, many out of doors. It’s a time so rich, and so rewarding, that we’re pledging good weather and giving you a week’s notice so you can mark your calendar. Plan ahead now, and I’ll see you then to celebrate Maryland history.
Where will Bay Weekly take you this week?
With St. Patrick’s Day on Friday, need I ask? I’m betting you’ll be eating green, listening green and drinking green, from Irish beer to Irish whiskey to Irish coffee. Easy to do if you follow 8 Days a Week to the Irish restaurants’ celebration. I’m hoping you’ll send me photos and share the highlights.
As for eating in season, this week you’ll read Bob Melamud’s corn-your-own beef recipe. I got the story early, so mine is in the brine. I’ll let you know how it compares to that highly seasonal commodity store-bought corned beef. Growing up in a Jewish neighborhood, I ate corned beef sandwiches all year long; with Bob’s recipe, I plan to revive that old habit. The next step, he tells me, is homemade pastrami; I’ll be following.
Where else will Bay Weekly take you? Will you see your first osprey? Telescopes will be out Saturday at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, where, as first-time writer Sarah Jablon tells us, osprey have been in residence since February 24. Patuxent River osprey expert Greg Kearns talks about our spring harbingers at Captain Avery Museum Saturday afternoon and at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Tuesday evening.
See an osprey or not, send your photos.
Almost seasonal mid-March temperatures in the 50s make Saturday good for doing and seeing outdoors. Follow 8 Days a Week to Patuxent Refuge Birthday Bash or to hike at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, Jug Bay or Beverly Triton Beach Park. At the latter, you’ll be searching for the voice of spring: the tiny frogs known as spring peepers.
Whatever the temperature, that longed-for season returns to our hemisphere Monday, March 20. So Saturday is not really too soon to burn your socks at Annapolis Maritime Museum — though, in weather-fickle Chesapeake Country, your feet may regret your decision for many weeks to come.
Wherever Bay Weekly takes you to pick up your paper, shop our advertisers or fill your week with facts and fun … whatever the season or weather, send your pictures and stories to see yourself in our pages.
Sandra Olivetti Martin
Editor and publisher
email [email protected], www.sandraolivettimartin.com