The Ides of March

It might not look like it but there's been a lot of melting the last few days and with the next several days looking sunny and warmish, a lot more of this stuff will quickly disappear.  It is rather amazing how fast it does disappear once the corner is turned.  In early Roman times, March was actually the first month of the year and Ides fell on a full moon and was the official New Year's Day of ancient Rome.  Shakespeare coined the phrase, "Beware of the Ides of March" in his play Julius Cesare.  It was the day the emperor was murdered, stabbed in the back by his "friend" Brutus. Which is where we get that phrase for when friends betray us.  Interestingly, the letter "J" really wasn't in common usage until after the Bard's death.  His play was titled, The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar.  I've added a photo I took in the library at Trinity College in Dublin when I went to see the Book of Kells.  Although built well after Shakespeare's time, it still shows the missing "J".  And you thought this was all about the snow melt!