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Le Trois Fait le Mois

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Le trois fait le mois, si le cinq ne le défait pas

                                ~ old proverb

It means:  The third determines the month, if the fifth doesn’t reverse (or undo) it.

I can’t explain why they use this particular expression, especially in March, except that this is the craziest month of the year. Don’t try to talk me out of it!  It’s like a teenager with all their hormones outta wack.  Monday, March 1st, was a glorious day, here on the south shore of Montreal. Meltage was happening, mini lakes were forming, the temps were above freezing.  You could smell spring was in the air.  Of course, that also meant lots of muck! But it was a wonderful 4ºC (40ºF) – now, to some of you not used to this, you might think it’s cold. Nay. Not to us.

And then, that very same night, just as I was heading for bed, the winds picked up ferociously.  Things were banging on the roof, against the house – I was sure I was going to wake up to a yard full of debris.  Nope.  Just my shovels in the middle of my driveway.  But boy did that wind bring a bitter, go-to-your-bones cold.  What in the blessed fuck?  The type of cold that makes your jacket crinkle, your nostrils stick together and you wonder if you’ve been teleported to the South Pole. Or North Pole. Both – at the same time. (Yeah, I stole this from you, Marc 😉 ).  I dunno what happens to the human body.  You get a couple of mild days and suddenly you turn into a solid wimp when the temps dip down to -28ºC (-18ºF).

By the way, it was too damn cold to take a picture, so these will have to do!  (Friday’s moon)

Wednesday morning dawns (and this was the day this post was to go up because it was the third, but yanno… life and all that) and it’s snowing. But not just any snow. The snow globe kinda snow.  So Zeke and I took a morning before work walk.

Lunchtime came around and out I went again because steps to be had!  The sun was shining and the temperature was just right.  I made my way down to the Parc du Bois de Brouage to “my” river.  I stepped as close to the little bridge-like stone walkway as I felt was safe, and clicked away. And then it wasn’t.  Through the crust I went. Up to above my ankles… and I was wearing hiking boots – that go up to your ankles. Boot full of water. Cold water. Friggen cold water. Turns out it was time to turn back home anyway… a twenty-minute walk.  OY!

Not one to cry over things, I sloshed-stepped-sloshed-stepped my way home, changed my socks (amazed I could still feel my ankle) and made myself my lunch. I didn’t quite have my steps come five o’clock so closed up the work computer and back out I went! The sun was such a show-off and turned Zeke golden! He’s been loving the fact I bring him out twice per day for short walks.  Those hips are not getting any younger but his enthusiasm is still there. For short wslks, anyway.

What did Thursday bring?  More cold. More wind. Ugh. I did manage to get out there for a morning and after-work walk with Zeke and at lunch, it got cut short when I ran into a friend and we jibber-jabbered.  It wasn’t as horrible as Tuesday but far from lovely like Monday.

Yesterday? Cold. More cold. -7ºC – feels like -15ºC (19ºF feels like 5ºF). As a native Montrealer, this is not really that bad. But for some strange reason, after the mild that we had?  It feels so cold! Plus the wind was rather not fun and tried to pierce through – nothing like Tuesday.  Still, optimist that I am, I did enjoy the blue of the sky and captured the noon moon.

Noon moon

Which brings us to today.  March 5th.  Seems like we have a cold month ahead of us if we believe that old proverb mentioned at the top.  Went for my morning walk with Zeke. -11ºC feels like -20ºC (12ºF feels like -4ºF).   And it’ll only warm up by a couple of degrees come time for my noontime walk. Sigh.

Even Zeke is discouraged.

I hate March.  Only good thing about it, is the last day… coz that’s the day Iain came into the world.  The rest?  The cold, the muck, the cold, the major snowstorms – ever notice some of the major doozies happen in March?

 

 

119 thoughts on “Le Trois Fait le Mois”

  1. I hope the rest of March goes smoothly for you–and warms up. Your photos are beyond gorgeous!
    March is a crazy month here, too. We’ve had big snow storms after warm days, but hopefully not this year. We had a beautiful day Wednesday (and yes, 40 in the sunshine without wind feels good here, too at this time of year). Last night the wind woke me up, and it felt like 11 F outside when I got up. We are supposed to have beautiful days next week though.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Me hear ya! That comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb thing is just a nicer way to say what you said so very aptly in your post … (for the record, it is prettiful outside today, but it is brrrrrful, too. -4C with a feel like of -10C. Seriously????
    I’m with ya. Your ‘relatively southern’ friend.

    Liked by 2 people

    • He is a long-haired German Shephard – no mix 🙂 And he is very smart. Those hips, though. And his mouth. And he’s a knotted mess but I just can’t bring myself to bring him anywhere because I know he’ll have trouble standing for that long. Sigh. I try but he hates being brushed.

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  6. Photos what an invention, takes you places. Makes it more real talking to you like this. I can already imagine slices of sunlight cutting through the snow, you with your old fella for company getting on with things. Throw in a warm hearth, a rocking arm chair and a furry rug..you get the picture.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Over here in Alberta, we were double digits on the plus side. Loving it but there will be a price to pay, I’m sure. Like House of Heart said, “In like a lion, out like a lamb” or the reverse. So, I’m not putting my winter coat away until May. :o)

    Liked by 3 people

    • Over there in Alberta, you often get the double digits in winter… but then, you can also get snow in summer so… So yeah, there is a price to pay for sure!
      Exactement. That’s why I chose the French proverb over the lion/lamb one.
      No. Hell no. I never put away till May!

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      • It’s just irresponsible and reckless to pack away the winter stuff too early.

        Snow in the summer is the price we pay to live near the mountains, but it doesn’t stop us from complaining loudly with a LOT of swearing. :o) xox

        Liked by 1 person

        • It is!

          This is true. Every time my friend Lynne laughs at us because it’s one of those warm days in winter; I gladly mock her for the hail in July. She lives in Airdrie 😉 And, not surprisingly, like us, is an avid swearer!

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  9. We have a saying here about March, hard to translate which really gives March a bad name! Still, it’s my month and the month of Spring Equinox, so I like it. It’s like this here too. One day warm and next freezing. March has his very own unique way of thinking! 😂🤣😂
    Zeke is radiant! The golden pup!
    Patience! Another saying here claims that if the first 3 days of March are good, then the rest will be bad and vv.
    💖❤💖❤💖

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I totally understand about a really nice day suddenly and then……bad days seem colder than before the good day. Weird, but true. However, we are having a great March here and that is unusual as March is some of our coldest, most unpredictable months. Love your photos

    Liked by 3 people

    • It’s March! She can’t be trusted. And have you ever noticed the biggest, wildest snowstorms always seem to happen in March? Crazy.
      Thank you, Jan. Glad you love!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I wonder if this is a Quebecois saying. I haven’t heard it here. Then again, I seem to learn a new weather/agricultural saying every year. Regardless: Je vais ignorer le froid du cinq car le trois était une belle journée ici. Northern winds moved in overnight and brought us below freezing after a few days of highs at 15°C. Not quite Montreal temperatures but the 1960’s heating struggles to keep my apartment warm when the temperature approaches freezing.

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  16. I feel very sorry for you Dale. We had amazing days end of February, on the day exactly – one year ago, we moved to Switzerland and had lunch outside at the just unloaded and well placed table outside on the patio and this year again. We even had a brunch outside and NOW it’s bitter cold (well, you’d probably sit here in your bikini but I’m packed up to the gills with warmers, shawl and warm socks…. and I feel even sorrier for you ‘having to do’ your steps, walks, whatever – for yourself and your old tired Zeke. It must hurt so much to see his end nearing with all the weaknesses of old age. Another sorrow at the horizon. Who needs them?
    Lovely pics to underline the story – and that ouch….. wet foot – AWFUL. I felt the frost crawling up my legs just reading you.
    Sending you a warm hug and spring greetings (it’s raining right now, not what we would wish for but hey, it’s nature doing its thing!).

    Liked by 2 people

    • Oh, don’t feel sorry for me, Kiki. It’s okay, I just complained so I could write a post 😉 I’m really quite used to the cold. I may be fed up of it, but still… And you know, cold is relative. What is cold to me now was not one month ago!
      And I don’t HAVE to do my steps… I WANT to! I’ve given myself a challenge to get 10K steps per day for 68 days for work, but for as long as I can for me.
      As for Zeke. It is sooo hard. I know I am going to have to put my big girl pants on sooner than later.
      And thank you. Glad you liked the pics. The wet foot was not fun but not as bad as I feared.
      I shall accept your warm hug and return it with an extra squeeze. I wouldn’t mind the rain if it meant it was above 5 and melted the snow!

      Liked by 1 person

    • The one province I have not (yet) visited! OK.. that and Newfoundland but they will be visited! You guys have had your cold moments as well. Thank you. He is a lovely old fella…

      Liked by 1 person

  18. You had me shivering from the cold. No other way to describe -18F. Sorry about the boot full. That used to happen to me all the time. This was a very informative post. The one photo of the street scene looks like a Holiday card. Beautiful

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Gigi. Funny how that goes, don’t you think?
      He’s such a handsome and gentle fellow… He’s got fans all over the place!

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  21. Q

    What I never understood is this. When the meteorologists tell us that it “feels like five degrees”, why don’t they just cut to the chill and tell us it’s five degrees? Even if the thermostat says differently, why would it matter to get all tangled up in those useless details when it FEELS like it’s five degrees outside?

    And the captures here. March. You gave us March in images. If you hadn’t written a word, we would have known enough to guess the month without any trouble at all. You pegged March with that fantastic eye of yours.

    Both. Hah! 😉

    As for the wind, don’t get me started. It was SO windy here today so the run I was going to go on? Didn’t happen. No worries since it wasn’t my running day as it was. But still . . that wind is the bane of my running existence.

    To a beautiful third and a quiet fifth . . and oh well . . .

    B

    Liked by 1 person

    • B,

      I’m with ya. Really I am. I was going to say just that in this post and then forgot to. Sheesh. It’s cold dammit!

      Awww… Thank you, lovely. I’m glad I managed to capture all the crazy that March has been. What? it’s only the fifth? Oy…

      Both. Though you’d like that one 😉

      Running in the wind is the pits. Walking ain’t fun either. I composed a whole post as I was walking and cursing with the damn thing in my face at lunchtime.

      To a seventh and ninth that turn everything on its ear!

      Q

      Liked by 1 person

  24. Weather like a hormonal teenager and right-on-the-money word images that turned me very chilly. And beautiful moon images and the adorable Zeke, so handsome. I loved the show-off sun that turned him golden.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Maybe I should! It’s definitely on my list. I keep reminding myself, as our lockdown continues, that one day we will be able to travel again…

      Like

  27. Weather’s the same here! However, Wed, Thursday & Friday +10, +12, +11. Then back ⬇️
    I’m going for a walk, as far as my foot lets me on one of those days.
    April Thunder coming our way!

    Liked by 2 people

  29. Dear Dale,

    I’m so ready for it to be spring. And while we’ve had some lovely springlike weather here, I don’t trust March. Not for a minute. She’s a vixen. First she lulls you into that warm, fragrant breeze, even lets a few daffodils and crocuses bloom and then BLAM! You’re hit with the artic blast from the North Pole. (The least she could do is send Santa down for another round of gift giving.)
    At any rate, I feel for you. But your descriptive words and photos make for great entertainment.

    Shalom and lotsa warm, dry hugs,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      You and me both, Sistah! March is definitely a vixen… And right? At ;east bring us some gifts!
      And I thank you. Glad I managed to entertain you 😉

      Shalom and lotsa spring is coming love,

      Dale

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  30. So glad our temperatures don’t hit your lows… I’m frozen just reading it. But it is true of March in UK too. One day warm, the next day back to freezing. Our problem at the moment is fog. Please, hurry on the warmer weather of spring

    Liked by 1 person

  31. No, you gotta like March! It’s the month when the snow starts to go. It’s like magic. It’s sooooo good. We emerge around here in March. We get human again. Pull on our skins and go for walks with fingers exposed.

    By the way, that black and white photo is some kind of magic.

    Liked by 1 person

    • No. It’s the ugly untrustworthy month! Whatchu talking about! I’ve more than emerged all winter! AND exposed my fingers… Coz strangely they get cold then really hot. Must have great mitts.

      And thank you, I am rather pleased with that one. (Naturally black and white, to boot!)

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