Hello January & Mercifully 2024!

 Good bye and good riddance to 2023.  It has been a generally miserable year.  Yeah, yeah, it could have been worse.  After all here I am sitting here writing this but still it could have been a heck of a lot better.  The weather stunk, there were numerous health issues with my wife and myself and it closed out with family disruptions.  So my expectations for 2024 are quite high.  Don't let me down!

Here're the usual tidbits about the new month of January.  

January is the 1st month of the year and has 31 days.

Season (Northern Hemisphere): Winter

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

Symbols of January:

• Birthstone: Garnet
• Flower: Carnation
• Zodiac signs: Capricorn and Aquarius

History:

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.

The original Roman calendar only had 10 months. January and February were not included, but were added later.

January in Other Languages

• Chinese (Mandarin) - yiyuè
• Danish - januar
• Italian - gennaio
• Latin - Ianuarius
• French - janvier
• Spanish - enero

Historical Names:

• Roman: Januarius
• Saxon: Giuli
• Germanic: Schnee-mond (Snow month)

Interesting Facts about January

• On average, it is the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
• It is the second month of winter.
• In the Southern Hemisphere January is a summer month the equivalent of July.
• Sometimes the Saxons called January the wolf month because hungry wolves would come into their towns searching for food this time of year.
• For a long period of European history, the start of the New Year occurred in March.
  

A Sad Day

 Today is the 11th anniversary of the Sandy Hook School shooting tragedy. Twenty one children and six adult staff members were killed.  When I got the news of this horrific event I was in the waiting room of my kidney doctor's office.  A nurse came in and said to me "didn't you teach at Sandy Hook?" I replied I did.  She told me to go to the outer waiting room and look at the TV.  

That happened at about 9:30 in the morning so events were unfolding.  I went ahead with my appointment and rushed home after too watch events unfold on TV.  It ended up being the worst day of my life and I'm 80.

What's been done since then to address the issue of gun violence?  Nothing.  It is this country's greatest failure.  Is there cause for optimism over the coming year or two?  None.  Not as long as we have a House of Representatives controlled by republicans.  

So onward we go, into the future, proudly wearing our guns on our belts. 

Welcome December

About December

 About the Month of December

December is the 12th month of the year and has 31 days.

Season (Northern Hemisphere): Winter

Holidays

Pearl Harbor Day
Hanukkah
Christmas
Boxing Day
Kwanzaa
Read a New Book Month
Human Rights Month
Calendar Awareness Month
National Handwashing Awareness Week
National Fruit Cake Month

Symbols of December

• Birthstone: Turquoise, zircon, or tanzanite
• Flower: Narcissus or Holly
• Zodiac signs: Sagittarius or Capricorn

History:

December was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar. It gets its name from the Latin word "decem" which means tenth. However, when the Romans added January and February to the calendar, it became the twelfth month. They still kept the name, though.

December in Other Languages

• Chinese (Mandarin) - shí'èryuè
• Danish - december
• French - décembre
• Italian - dicembre
• Latin - December
• Spanish - diciembre
  

 

Historical Names:

• Roman: December
• Saxon: Giuli
•  Germanic: Heil-mond (Holy month)

 

Interesting Facts about December

• It is the first month of winter and the last month of the year.
• National Cookie Day is December 4th. Other snacks celebrated this month include pie, cotton candy, chocolate brownies (mmm!), cocoa, and cupcakes.
• December often marks the beginning of rain, snow, and cold weather.
• In the United States the month is associated with Christmas. There are Christmas decorations, sales, musicals, and parties. Many people spend their time Christmas shopping.
• A lot of people have days off around Christmas and before New Year's Eve.
• December in the Northern Hemisphere is similar to June in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The first day of Winter is on either December 21 or 22. This is the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It is called the Winter or Southern solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.