Spring expected to match the calendar

This year spring is expected to match the calendar, as weathermen say that the first day of March will bring high temperatures of 7 C°, and low temperatures of 1 C°. The day could also bring sleet followed by rain. People used to say that if the first of March, the Martishor Day, is accompanied by fair weather, the whole spring will be sunny. There are many legends connected to the first day of March. One of them tells the story of a martyr old lady named Odochia (also called Dochia), who wanted to go to the mountains before other shepherdess used to. She was warned by her friends but she wouldn't listen. So she took seven fur-coats and set off, but when March saw her, she made some hot days so the shepherdess had to give up her fur-coats. Then March borrowed three days from the cold February and froze the shepherdess and her sheep, turning them into stones. There is another legend about Dochia. There were two wars between the Dacians and the Romans (101-102 and 105-106 B.C.). Trajan, the Roman emperor conquered a part of Dacia. They say the Trajan fell in love with a young Dacian girl called Dochia, who turned out to be the daughter of the defeated Dacian King Decebal, who killed himself to avoid imprisonment. So Dochia begged Zamolxes, the most important Dacian god, to be stoned. Customs say that the first day of March one is supposed to do good things so that the year would be productive. In order to celebrate the time of growth and renewal, people give presents to each other, called “martishor”, two knitted red and white woollen threads. It symbolises love, respect, and friendship.