Blog Slog....

Saint Patrick's Day minus one is cold, wet, raw, dull and gray in DC. The weather forecasters are calling for snow in the mountains near here, and the big march on the Pentagon scheduled for Saturday is likely to be a mess. The rain is a reminder that Winter is still here regardless of the time change.

Two days ago it was 80 degrees.

I went to the so-called "tent city" near the Capitol where organizers of the anti-war march set up camp. No one was there. No one but me and Spanish TV crew. No organizers of the rally, no celebrities, not even someone to watch the tents in case someone came to rip them off.

But the memo that my office sent this week said as many as 50,000 people are expected to take part in the demonstration. Granted, they are supposed to start near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the other end of the mall and march across the Memorial Bridge to the Pentagon.

So maybe the tent city was abandoned on purpose. Or maybe the people were hanging out at the local Starbucks or some other wi-fi friendly place.

But regardless of how many people show up, I hope they dress warm. March winds around here can drop the temperature suddenly.

When they were filming Forrest Gump here several years back it was supposed to be a summer's day. They had everyone out by the Lincoln Memorial with shorts and t-shirts and hippie-dippe tie-dyes. There was only one problem - it was FREEZING. People's legs were turning pink. They were shivering. It was not good for the shot. Eventually they changed things so people would not catch pneumonia.

With the so-called "wintry mix" forecast for Saturday along with winds out of the Northeast at about 25 MPH, the chill will make hiding in a darkened pub with a glass of warm Guinness much more favorable to standing in the rain-snow-ice holding a homemade sign.

It will also test how much they believe in what they are protesting and how much it is just something to do because their friends are doing it.