March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear

Lori Hill

The theories on the origins for the saying “March in like a lion and leaves like a lamb” are multiple. Some are based on folklore describing the shift from winter to spring in the northern hemisphere. March is usually the month where winter shifts from winter to spring. So it usually starts off cold and stormy and ends calmer and warmer. Usually is the key word as there is nothing totally predictable during the transition between seasons. Which makes them so wonderful.

Another theory is based on the stars in the beginning of March Leo (the Lion) on the horizon at sunset but is replaced with Aires (the Ram) on the western horizon.

The most interesting insight was a Christian interpretation. It follows the thought that Jesus came into the world as a Lamb and will return as a Lion - in weather language means having a false spring.

Anyways for me, this March has been a “Lion” all month long. Its been one for the history books! Normally, March is kind of boring. Its cold, it rains, you stay inside. This March is different, I cannot remember one in which I experienced such a diversity of photographic experiences. It started off with a wonderful hike on the Tejon Ranch.

A storm had just broken up the night before and its remnants were hanging around the mountains. The result was this beautiful sunny day blessed with wonderful clouds that kept changing the light and shadows on the ground. A friend on the hike quipped “you could stand in one spot for the day and the scene would change a thousand times.”

Then during my once a week work commute between LA and San Diego, Waze directed me out to the I-15. Well, from the I-15 there is no missing , the now infamous, Walker Canyon “super-bloom.” Luckily, I stopped to enjoy it weeks before the massive crowds made it a zoo.

Even with spring wildflowers starting to bloom the March “Lion” was not finished yet. We took a trip up to the Eastern Sierra to check out how much snow was left. Oh my. We tend to be summer/hiking folks and don’t get up to the Sierra much in the winter months. 2019 has been an exceptional snow year and based on the snow still left on the ground and the fact it is still snowing the “Lamb” part of March missed its flight and won’t get into town till April.

Finally, I took a trek out to Death Valley to see the military pilots practice low level flying in a canyon nicknamed Star Wars Canyon (or called by the Pilots “the Jedi-transition.”) Talk about coming in like a Lion! The best description I can give about this canyon, other than “Oh sh*t”, it is the only place I know that you point your camera lens down to take a picture of a jet going by at several hundred miles an hour.

While March still has few days left it will be snowing in Mammoth so I am not sure we will see the spring “Lamb” until April.

With a March like I had I cannot wait to see what April brings!

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