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THIS MONTH: Avalanche season in the Cascades coincides with an irrational need to drive through Snoqualmie Pass for hamburgers at the historical Brick tavern in Roslyn, Washington. 3/1 - Get Lost Magazine foods editor Martha Strom's birthday. 3/4 - The only day in the year that states a command. March forth. 3/5 - New Moon 3/14 - Get Lost Editor Leslie Strom's birthday, where she has tastefully listed her favorite books on Amazon.com . It's a middle-aged thing. So shut up and get me a book. 3/17 - The ferry Kalakala was towed in 1999 from the Seattle waterfront to Lake Union. 3/17 - St. Patrick's Day. 3/19 - Full Moon, also called the Crow Moon or Sap Moon. 3/20 - First day of Spring. Vernal Equinox occurs at 1:35 am, CST. According to the Farmer's Almanac, the vernal, or spring, equinox refers to the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from south to north, signaling the beginning of nature's renewal in the Northern Hemisphere. THIS MONTH: Look for the new US quarter for Massachusetts. I like the losing designs better, but hell.

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This month: Look for the new quarter for Maryland This month: Puyallup Daffodil Festival. 4/1 - Canada's enormous Nunavut Territory is a year old today! So is Get Lost Magazine! 4/4 - New moon. 4/5 - The Islamic year 1421 begins at sunset. 4/13- Go get those last obscure IRS forms from the post office, library or federal building. In a few days there will be a really ugly feeding frenzy for the chinchilla farmer's profit and loss form and that thing where you list your business losses caused by solar flares. You can also download them from the IRS web site. 4/15 - File that income tax extension by midnight. Oh, you're actually filing? Well, you MUST be proud. Go have a beer and rest the mighty hand that tackled the daunting 1040-EZ. 4/18 - Full moon, also called the Egg Moon or the Grass Moon. 4/20- Passover begins. 4/21 - Lyrids meteor shower, difficult to see in the moonlight. A few bright ones might dash by if you're in a dark place and stare a lot. 4/22 - Earth Day 2000. Last year we suggested you don't just pick up trash. Go get neutered. Take all your friends. Embrace Voluntary Simplicity to reduce overconsumption (as long as I can have chocolate, I'm for it.) 4/23 - Easter Sunday. 4/24 - Find those chocolate bunnies you left in the car trunk and hand them out to the kids. Today's ethical question: What part of a chocolate amoeba do you bite off first? 4/9 - 4/13 - National Association of Broadcasters convention: 110,000 men infest Las Vegas in a cloud of techno-testosterone. You think there's a story in that? We got one in 1999 and we'll get one for this year, too. 4/x - Arbor Day in Washington State. For other states check out the Arbor Day Foundation site. 4/x - Spring forward. Set your clocks (computer, oven, watch, VCR, auto, organizer) ahead one hour. Newfoundland, you're on your own with that rebellious special half-hour time zone thing. What the hell is up with that, anyway? If you know, please do share it with us. You can go to Canadian Geographic magazine, click on GEOMAPS and then select IT'S ABOUT TIME to see how perverse the time zones get in Canada. One irony (or explanation) is that time zones we enjoy today were originated in 1884 by Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming. In 1883 American meteorologist Cleveland Abbe convinced North American railroad companies to forget their 50-zone time zone system and adopt his 4 zones. According to Microsoft Encarta's on-line encyclopedia, China, which spans about 50 degrees of longitude and should observe three or four time zones, observes a single time zone based upon the time in the eastern part of the country. The Time & Date site will explain the whole convoluted and contrary Daylight savings time thing, who adheres and who does not, and what they do in the Southern hemisphere. The whole temporal standards thing gives me a headache. We love the vagaries of nature. The tulips are just now making an appearance in their leisurely way, and should be out full force at the end of Washington State's Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Falcon Research Group may resumed its observation of the nesting Peregrines on Washington Mutual Tower. Check out the FRG Falco-cam to see if the Washington Mutual Tower now supports a scrape of Peregrine falcon eggs.