An archived post of my March reflections.

I’ve always associated March with wind. When I was six, my favorite book was Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup With Rice.

In March the wind blows down my door
and spills my soup upon the floor.
It laps it up and roars for more.
Blowing once, blowing twice
Blowing chicken soup with rice.

I had the privilege of meeting Maurice Sendak in my mid twenties. My college costume professor was working on a rebuild of the costumes for The Cunning Little Vixen while on her sabbatical, so she arranged a meeting with Mr Sendak when he was in New York. I liked him. He was a bit of a curmudgeon, but I don’t mean that in a negative way. He was simply old and set in his ways with pronounced views on things. He was very kind about my artwork and storytelling, and introduced me to two of his editors. After our visit we walked across Manhattan discussing life, opera, and Mozart. I was designing sets and costumes for a production of Cosi Fan Tutte at the time. It was a memorable afternoon.

It is funny how associations can stick with you throughout your life. Wind and the month of March. Old stories have power to stick even if they are not to our benefit. So March is a good time to blow those old, distracting stories out the door. It is time to replace those stories with new stories. I think that is one of the reasons I appreciate fiction with m/m romance. Stories have power. When one grows up thinking that it is wrong to fall in love with someone of the same gender, it takes quite a bit of reprogramming to let go of those stories. Happy endings are possible.