Hello, February

February was added to the Roman calendar in 713 BC. The length of the month changed over time and, at one time, it had as few as 23 days. When Julius Caesar remade the Roman calendar, the month was assigned 28 days during normal years and 29 days during leap years which occurred every four years.

Birthstone: Amethyst

Flower: Primrose

 

Holidays

Chinese New Year

National Freedom Day

Groundhog Day

Valentine's Day

President's Day

Mardi Gras

Ash Wednesday

Black History Month

American Heart Month

 

Fun Facts about February

It is the shortest month of the year.

The Welsh call February "y mis bach" which means "little month".

It is the third month of winter.

In the Southern Hemisphere February is a summer month the equivalent of August.

The month is named for the Latin word februum which means purification.

Together with January, it was the last of the months added to the Roman calendar.

The largest American sporting event of the year, the Super Bowl, is held in February.

The Saxon term for the month, Sol-monath, means "cake month". This is because they offered cakes to the gods during this month.

The 2022 Winter Olympics begin in February

A Yea

President Biden has now completed the first year of his four year term.  It only seems fitting that we look back at his first year and draw some  conclusions.

First of all, I don't agree with his dismal poll numbers.  He's definitely doing better than his critics think.  It's easy to forget the mess he inherited.  It's going to take time to repair the damage done by Trump.  In fact some of that damage can't be repaired.  For example the appointment of incompetent judges to the Supreme Court.   We have yet to see how much that is going to hurt people.

But about Biden himself I have to say the reviews are mixed.  The first and biggest blunder was his handling of the evacuation of Afghanistan.  There is no question that that war needed to end.  When the government of Afghanistan won't even take measures to defend themselves, then why should we shed American blood? The short answer is we shouldn't but the exit strategy (if there actually was one) was poorly planned.  Many people were left behind.  You need to do better, Joe.

I'm also wondering what our policy is toward illegal immigration.  It is still a mess at our southern border.  And while we no longer separate children from their families as Trump did, we still don't seem to have a handle on the situation there.  VP Kamala Harris is supposed to be overseeing that end of things.  I'm disappointed in how it's going.  You've got three years to get this under control, Kamala.

Finally, Joe's public appearances need to improve.  He often seems confused and a little out of it.  

In spite of all of this the economy is perking along as it should and while the pandemic is stalled,  that's because the country is full of jerks who won't get vaccinated.  That's not a government problem.  That's a people problem.

We need to give Biden and his people the time they need to straighten things out.  It doesn't help that we have an uncooperative congress.  They need to step up and be part of the solution. Not part of the problem.

All in all I'd say we are damned lucky the other guy isn't there.  That would have been disaster after disaster.

 

As the years go on...

Yesterday was our oldest grand child's 18 birthday marking her official entry into adulthood.  I use Brooke's birthday to keep track how long I've been retired since it was the June after she was born that I left a 32 year teaching career to become her part time baby sitter.

 Looking back, I wonder where the years went.  All I can say is thank God for digital photography because now I have a photo record of all those years and the years of her sister and cousins.

Nothing gives us greater pleasure than watching the 4 grand children grow and mature while returning to earlier years by going through the literally thousands of photos I've accumulated.

We are blessed to have them nearby and hope to be able to see many more years.

The truth, please.

 We just returned from over two weeks in Florida where the weather was beautiful.  As we were leaving, it was cooling off to....the low 70s.  We arrived back in Connecticut where it is in the 30s.  Tomorrow (Saturday the 15th) it's going to be in the single digits and windy. But, hey, this is New England. It's supposed to be cold.

But the weather is not the point of this post.  What I observed while in Florida was that a very small percentage of people wore masks in spite of us still being in a pandemic.  This observation was coupled with a piece on TV a few nights ago where a news interviewer was interviewing Kamala Harris.  He asked her why the Biden administration was not making more progress in ending the pandemic.  I was very disappointed in her answer.  In stead of telling the truth she tried to spin it somehow to make it look like we were in fact making progress.

Here's what she should have said:

1. The Coronovirus is not playing fair.  It keeps mutating into other forms thereby infecting more people.

2. People are not getting vaccinated. Period.  The government can't wiggle its nose and make people suddenly get the shots they need.  People are stupid.  Biden can't fix that.

3.  When Biden does try to fix it by mandating vaccinations, the heavily conservative Supreme Court shoots him down.  More evidence of the damage Trump has done to this nation.  Now we're stuck with 6 people who are still living in the 1700s.  

Tell the truth, Madam Vice President.  Sure, you're going to offend some people but so what?  

Happy New Year and HELLO, January

May the year 2022 be happy and healthy for all of you.

Now here's some stuff about the month of January.

The Night Sky

Planets can be viewed in our part of the country during predawn hours.

Venus begins as a morning star but gradually rises above the horizon as the month moves on.

 

Holidays

New Years Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Australia Day

National Book Month
National Thank You Month

National Eye Care Month

National Volunteer Blood Donor Month

National Soup Month

Birthstone: Garnet

Flower: Carnation

January was named after the Roman god Janus. Janus is also the Roman word for door. The god Janus had two faces which allowed him to look forwards into the coming year and backwards into the past year.

Just for Fun

• January 1: Z Day (On this day, those whose last name begins with “Z” get to go first instead of last.)
• January 3: National Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day
• January 6: National Bean Day
• January 8: Elvis Presley’s Birthday
• January 10: National Houseplant Appreciation Day
• January 14: National Dress Up Your Pet Day
• January 20: National Penguin Day
• January 22: National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day
• January 29: National Puzzle Day