In the domain of animal weather prediction, groundhogs have certainly grabbed the spotlight thanks to canny marketing (and Bill Murray). But we also turn to other species for forecasting, as exemplified in the proverbial prognostication: “If March comes in like a lamb, it will leave like a lion.”
That adage may cause some concern to winder-weary Ottawans, for whom the entry of March, with its near-zero temperatures and clear skies, was most assuredly lamb-like - thus direly portending a Lionesque Fin-du-Mois.
Upon reflection, however, the prospect of a March that leaves like a lion is actually rather cheerful.
Remember that the lion is a creature of the sub-Saharan savanna. To “leave like a lion”, therefore, means to amble across warm grasslands amid gently waving acacia trees - not an unpleasant alternative to what I see out the window right now.
To those snivelers and skeptics who will cavil that the proverb refers to the animal itself, and not its habitat, I say: “So much the better”. After all, the adage quite clearly specifies “lion”, and not “lionESS”. And as we all know it is the lioness, not the lion, who hunts, who scouts, who feeds the family (and probably manages the banking to boot). The lion is quite content to lounge about grooming his mane, waiting for wifey to get home with dinner, and generally goofing off.
Therefore be of good cheer, Ottawans - we can look forward to a March that ends in warm, lazy, sun-drenched torpor. And richly deserved, too.