JillWallace.com

Hellloooooo, and welcome to my UNTAMED*UNEXPECTED*UNFORGETTABLE world. Well, that’s my goal, my bar to reach – with your help of course. Tell me what you’d like to see in this world, and I will strive to please you.

On March 20^th, the sun crosses the celestial equator on its way north. On this day the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west. (That would matter enormously to Papin and Jock from the novel, ZEBRA, coming soon.)

March is a month of rebirth in the northern hemisphere.

On March 20^th in the northern-hemisphere-world I live in now, the Spring Equinox arrives. It’s a glorious time of rebirth.

On this same day in my other world in the southern hemisphere, the one in which I was born and raised, the Autumn Equinox arrives instead. South Africa in March is when things begin to fade, sleep or die.

Do you see how this South African-American girl can get all befuddled? One foot in spring the other in autumn at the same moment…what’s a body to do?

Long-ago I came up with the answer. Love the Autumn and Spring simultaneously. Be the Gemini of two continents. Embrace both north and south homes with all my heart, for each has its own beauty, its own specialness, and both have shaped and pruned me to be who I am: Half spring. Half autumn.

Here’s some cool March folklore:

-Wear a sprig of rosemary in your hair to improve your memory. (Perhaps I could fashion a whole hat???)

-March comes in with adders’ heads and goes out with peacocks’ tails.

-In beginning or in end, March its gifts will send.

-The worm moon signifies the last moon for the first quarter of the year. This is a transitional period. It’s a period of new beginnings. A time to be clear on your intentions and goals for the year ahead.

So how do we put this Folklore into practice apart from the rosemary sprig in your hair and a head-adornment the size of The Mad Hatter’s on mine? 

I have just the remedy: We abolish the poisonous adders’ heads we’ve been lugging around. We pin the brilliant emerald peacock tail feather somewhere bold to show off how lucky we are. Then we set our intentions for new beginnings and look forward to all the gifts March can’t wait to bestow upon us.

So, climb aboard my safari jeep, hold fast to your rosemary sprig or hairpiece (!) as the southern winds whistle by, and let’s have some Marvelous March Madness of our very own.

Beware the Ides of March? Not us! We have feathers, rosemary, and good intentions. Viva la March!

Cheers, Cheers!