March 1st

Today is March 1st. The first day of one of my favorite month's of the year. There are several things that I look forward to in March.

First, living in Wisconsin, March can be a transitional month for us. Going from the snowy, frozen, bitter cold of Winter to the wet, chilly, dampness of Spring, as we thaw out. It doesn't really get warmer around here until the end of May. Sometimes I think it feels like we just go from winter to summer and skip Spring all together.

There just seems to be an enormous lull from the end of the Super Bowl until the month of March, as we experience the dead of winter. For me things seem to change this month a little.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated this month. I'm not Irish but enjoy the Irish culture, Celtic design and a proper pint of Guinness.

March Madness; the annual NCAA tournament is played this month. I don't follow college basketball much during the season, but I'm always tuned into the tourney. What sports fan doesn’t enjoy filling out their brackets and trying to predict the big upsets and eventual winner?

Baseball and spring training games gets underway in March. It’s nice hearing the annual return of the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers announcer, Bob Uecker, as he calls the games on the radio. Being a Brewer’s fan has pretty much sucked the past decade, but with new ownership, there’s a sense of hope. I think this town is baseball-starved and if the organization could field a competitive team the fans’ support is still here.

A couple of my best friends have birthdays at the end of March. But there will be a special birthday this month. My wife and I are expecting our son to be born in the next few weeks. I can’t wait to meet him.