March: It's all about Springtime, Easter, St. Patrick's Day & Mermaids

Mermaids? Yep. March 29 is Mermaid Day, and it's only one of many celebrations in the third month of the year, named after Mars, the god of war. Other highlights this month include National Goof Off Day, National Cheese Doodle Day, and, lest we forget, Sock Monkey Day. Read on for details about these events and more in this month's issue of the Strange Files Newsletter, dedicated to making you the smartest person in the room -- or the Zoom.

Top March Events in Chronological Order

Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 10 and continues until Nov. 3. Remember: Spring ahead, fall behind. So, you need to move your clocks forward one hour. Which means you get robbed of 60 minutes, but you'll get them back in November. Whose bright idea was this time switching, anyway? Blame the Germans. They started it all during World War I to save fuel -- for all the good it did them.

Later on March 10, Catch the Academy Awards

See who wins the Oscar for best picture this year. Will it come down to Barbie versus Oppenheimer? Here's the full list of nominees. Some films are currently only available to see at theaters; others are now streaming if you're trying to catch up. The awards ceremony, hosted again this year by Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. EDT.

Best Picture Nominees:

• American Fiction
• Anatomy of a Fall
• Barbie
• The Holdovers
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Maestro
• Oppenheimer
• Past Lives
• Poor Things
• The Zone of Interest

The complete list in all categories here.

March Madness and St. Patrick's Day both arrive on March 17 This Year

March Madness

Also known as the NCAA college basketball championships, March Madness begins on Sunday, March 17 with the selection of teams and continues until April 7 for the women's finals and April 8 for the men.

Women:

• Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. EDT Sunday, March 17 on ESPN
• First Four: March 20-21
• First round: March 22-23
• Second round: March 24-25
• Sweet 16: March 29-30
• Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
• Final Four: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 and 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN in Cleveland.
• Championship game Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. EDT.

Men:

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 17
• First Four: March 19-20
• First round: March 21-22
• Second round: March 23-24 
• Sweet 16: March 28-29 
• Elite Eight: March 30-31 
• Final Four: Saturday, April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
• Championship game Monday, April 8.

St. Patrick's Day

If you happen to find yourself in a pub on March 17 swilling green beer (we don't judge), you may find these bits of trivia will impress your companions:

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, wasn't born there. At age 16, in the third century, the British Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in the Emerald Isle.

It's blarney that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. There never were any. (I've actually kissed the Blarney Stone. It tastes like limestone and fossils with notes of calcite.)

Of all places, the first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1601 even though, at the time, it was a Spanish colony. The local vicar was Irish.

What does "Erin go bragh" mean? Ireland forever.

The odds of finding a lucky four-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000.

It takes 40 pounds of vegetable dye to color the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day each year. No amount of green beer will turn your skin green, however, although you may feel that way the morning after.

Spring is Sprung on March 19

Why do we have seasons?

Because the earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees, which means that for half the year, the northern hemisphere gets more sunshine than the southern hemisphere. And vice versa.

On March 19, our orbit around our favorite star arrives at a point where there is equal sunlight in both hemispheres. The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring.

That's the astronomy of it all. Climatologically, spring begins March 1. That's when average temperatures start becoming warmer. Why the astronomers and the meteorologists can't get together on this, I don't know, but it's their fight not mine.

(If you have any Flat Earther friends, just explain that the bright thingy in the sky is making the pizza-shaped Earth warmer now. It might be a good time to prepare them for the April 8 solar eclipse. Tell them that the monster eating the sun will go away after a few minutes. Might help avert panic attacks.)

Speaking of the April 8 eclipse, it's not too soon to begin planning for how you will view it. The map (above) shows the path of totality. If you are in or near this zone you'll be able to glimpse a rare total eclipse of the sun that should look something like this:

PRO TIP: Don't even think about looking skyward during the eclipse without protective eyewear -- and, no, ordinary sunglasses won't cut it. I've just ordered my certified viewing glasses from Amazon.

Be sure you get eye protection that meets certification standards, like these, or use the pinhole method and avoid looking directly at it altogether.

If you want to travel to one of the eclipse locations, make your travel and lodging plans right away. It is going to get very crowded out there.

Easter arrives on March 31 this year. The annual holiday travels all over the calendar due to the unusual decisions made centuries ago on when to celebrate the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There was a great deal of disagreement about when Easter should be celebrated, conflicts between Christian and Jewish holidays, so it was finally settled that it would be observed on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Not confusing at all is it?

Other observances related to Easter this month include Palm Sunday on March 24, Good Friday on March 29, and Easter Monday on April 1.

Mark Your Calendar

You'll want to make note of these events, too.

Will there be a shutdown of the federal government?

That question was up in the air as this newsletter went to press. March 1 had been the deadline for the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to pass a budget or a temporary stop-gap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown.

On Leap Day, Feb. 29, congresspersons passed what is known as a "continuing resolution" -- also known as kick the can down the road -- to give themselves another week to figure it out.

This will be one of the big stories out of Washington this month.

In most presidential election cycles, Super Tuesday is a very big deal. It's the date -- this year, March 5 -- in which voters in the most states will cast their presidential preference primary ballots. But with President Joe Biden the assured Democratic nominee and Donald Trump walking away with the Republican nomination, there's not a lot of suspense about the outcome. Still, it will dominate the news this day.

The states holding primary elections on March 5 include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

President Joe Biden will deliver his annual State of the Union speech to Congress on March 7. This will be his final such address before the presidential election. Some State of the Union trivia you can use to impress your friends:

* The first State of the Union message was delivered by our first president, George Washington, in 1790. It was also the shortest at 833 words.

* Calvin Coolidge was the first president to deliver his annual message via radio in 1923.

* Harry Truman was the first on TV (1947), and Bill Clinton the first on the internet (1997).

* Two presidents never delivered a State of the Union message -- William Henry Harrison and James Garfield. Both died before they had a chance to do so.

Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and worship, begins on March 11 and continues through April 9. Like Easter, Ramadan follows the lunar cycle and its timing is linked to the sighting of a crescent moon at the first and end of the month.

March 14 is National Pi Day. It's the celebration of the mathematical constant Pi, which begins: 3.14. So March 14. Get it? And, yes, while most edible pies are round, pi times the radius of a circle squared (π r²) will give you the area of that circle. (Just showing off.)

March 15, the Ides of March, is a day that lives in infamy. Especially if your name is Julius Caesar. It was on this date in 44 BC that the knives came out and he was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate. Which, centuries later, inspired William Shakespeare to imagine his last words: "Et tu Brute?" Which, translated from the Latin means: "What? Brutus? You, beast! After all the fun times..." Or maybe just, "You, too, Brutus?" And why did Caesar's best bud betray him? Because Caesar had just declared himself dictator for life and, as history has shown, it's so hard to impeach an authoritarian.

Good news and bad news for former president Donald Trump.

Good news: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments as to whether he has immunity from prosecution, which will delay his criminal trial on charges he conspired to defraud the United States and tried to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election. If the Supremes take their sweet time, the trial could be delayed long enough that, were Trump to be elected in November, he could order his Justice Department to drop the charges. Maybe.

Bad news: Trump says he doesn't have the cash to post bond after being fined half a billion dollars in a New York fraud case, which could result in the state seizing his properties and selling them off. He also has another New York trial date, March 25, where he faces 34 felony charges handed up by a Manhattan grand jury. Trump is charged with falsifying business records in the first degree carrying a maximum sentence of 136 years if convicted on all counts. It all relates to alleged hush money paid to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels.

Meanwhile, Trump was expected to appear in court today (March 1) in Florida where Trump-appointed federal Judge Aileen Canon will hear arguments from his lawyers seeking to delay the scheduled start of the May 20 trial on charges surrounding the seizure of classified documents.

Stay tuned.

International Mermaid Day is observed every year on March 29. Give your favorite mermaid chocolate on this day. They especially like M&Ms. The above image is one of my favorites. I spent a fair chunk of time researching mermaids for the cover of my fourth novel, Strange Currents, which has an electrifying mermaid theme. (Get it? Electrifying? Currents? Really, it's my favorite title and book cover.)

More March Dates to Note

March 1 -- Employee Appreciation Day

March 2 -- International Rescue Cat Day

March 3 -- National Anthem Day

March 4 -- National Grammer Day (yes, that was on purpose)

March 5 -- National Cheese Doodle Day

March 6 -- White Chocolate Cheesecake Day

March 7 -- Sock Monkey Day

March 8 -- National proofreeding Day (yes, that was on purpose, too)

March 9 -- National Barbie Day

March 11 -- Fanny Pack Day

March 12 -- National Working Moms Day

March 13 -- National Ear Muff Day

March 16 -- National Freedom of Information Day

March 18 -- Save the Florida Panther Day

March 20 -- National Ravioli Day'

March 21 -- Crunchy Taco Day

March 22 -- National Goof Off Day

March 23 -- Tamale Day

March 25 -- Walk in the Sand Day

March 26 -- Wear a Hat Day

March 27 -- Manatee Appreciation Day

March 28 -- Respect Your Cat Day

March 30 -- Take a Walk in the Park Day

Follow My Blog on JCBRUCE.com

One idea to combat global warming is to drain the stratosphere, the layer of air that keeps Earth from becoming a giant snowball. What's not to like about that?

Ten Weird Facts to Blow People's Minds

1. Humans are incapable of walking in a straight line without looking at something. Put on a blindfold and you end up walking in circles.
2. Rats laugh when you tickle them. But it is very high pitched, so much so that it is beyond the range of human hearing.
3. Wombats poop cubes. According to the website funkidslive, scientists say it is because of the unusual way it dries.
4. Know what's always right in front of your eyes? Your nose. And it is always visible but we hardly ever notice it because our brains filter it out through a process called Unconscious Selective Attention.
5. With enough heat and pressure, peanut butter can be turned into diamonds.
6. All the electrons powering the internet weigh about as much as an apricot.
7. Australia is wider than the moon. But Oz is more fun. Among other things it has air and water and kangaroos.
8. Scotland's national animal is the unicorn. I love Scotland.
9. Fruit Loops are all the same flavor even though they come in different colors. Which I am here to declare is a gigantic disappointment.
10. Venus is the only planet that spins clockwise. However, since there is no up or down in space, you could also say Venus is the only planet that spins counter-clockwise. All depends on your perspective.

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Readers Write...

Dear J.C.

You mentioned your book Strange Currents earlier in the newsletter. The one with the mermaid cover. That's not your most recent?

Ariel T.

Thanks for asking. Two more Alexander Strange adventures have hit the bookshelves since then, Mister Manners and my most recent, Strange Timing (in which Mister Manners makes a guest appearance).

Dear J.C.

Hey, Strange Timing. Didn't that just get a big write-up in Kirkus Reviews. You sent an email blast out to your newsletter subscribers on it right?

H. Bloom

So glad you mentioned that. Here's a link to that press release. I was very pleased that Kirkus liked Strange Timing. Here are a few of the comments:

"Readers will encounter plenty of scenes of peril before the tale is told."

"Over the course of this novel, Bruce delivers snappy dialogue and crackling prose, and he’s clearly having a great time spinning an intriguing and well-paced adventure story."

"He also gets high marks for deftly managing the thorny time paradoxes ... as well as reanimated dinosaurs, skunk apes, and an Elvis Presley impersonator. There’s even James Bond references shaken and stirred into the mix."

"The story also manages to serve as an unexpectedly warm homage to the state of Florida itself."

"A highly entertaining romp through high strangeness."

-- Kirkus Reviews

Dear J.C.

Who is the annoying pirate who pops up every time I log onto your website? And why do you have a popup, anyway?

Anne B.

Her name is Mona and she is Alexander Strange's shipboard mannequin. She plays a pivotal role in my latest novel, Strange Timing. And she pops up on the website to encourage visitors to sign up for this newsletter. And since you ask, I guess it must have worked. Thanks for subscribing.

If you happen to be in Pensacola on March 23, stop by my booth at the first annual Books By The Bay book festival. I'll be among 50 authors selling and signing copies of my novels.

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Parting Shot

J.C. Bruce is the author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, other online booksellers, and at selected libraries). He also writes this free monthly newsletter. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida where, so far, none of his books has been banned, which is a huge disappointment to him.