it will be
with cake for him
and soup for me!
happy chicken soup
from Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months
written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Harper & Row, 1962
My Februarys include four birthdays, and a wedding anniversary. Celebrations continue from March till the end of April when three more birthdays fall in line. The rest of the family are outliers, but no less important.
February kicks off celebration season, but I wondered about the month itself. Peculiarities abound, especially in our era of Climate Change. But where did the name come from? Why is it only 28 days long, usually? How did such a short month get three historical birthdays, three holidays, almost a whole week of birdwatching, and a month-long recognition of Black History?
Groundhog Day, President’s Day, and Valentine’s Day are ripe for celebration. You can spend four days counting birds during the Great Backyard Bird Count and learn Black history for four full weeks. Four historical birthdays, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony all line up in February. Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish Festival of Trees, and Lent sometimes fall in February. They follow the lunar calendar not the common solar one on which the US calendar is based.
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the world’s earliest calendars were made by noting the movement of stars, the moon, and Venus. Most used ten to twelve months divided into around thirty days each. It seems that every ancient culture from Australia to the Middle East to the Mayans and Celts kept track of time in various ways and by various means.
In the time of Rome’s dominance in the Hellenistic period (323 BCE-31 CE)
the calendar was named for the reigning ruler. Even as its influence was beginning to wane, the Julian Calendar was named for Julius Caesar who ruled from 46-44 BCE. Originally comprised of 304 days, the calendar was divided into 10 months starting with March. January and February were added later to help synchronize the days with the seasons. More adjustments were made by Augustus Caesar and the Julian Calendar stayed in use until 1582, when it was finally replaced by the Gregorian calendar devised by Pope Gregory XIII. It is still the most commonly used calendar in the world today.
In languages and countries all over the world February’s name can be translated into English as mud-month (Solmonath from Old English) and ice-pearl month (Helmikuu from Finnish).
The Latin word februa means “to cleanse.” February is named for Februalia, a month-long Roman purification celebration when community and personal atonement were practiced. Offers and sacrifices were made to the god of the dead. Since even numbers were seen as unlucky, the shortest month was designated the month of the dead, and given the least number of days.
Since February has 28 days, in non-leap years, it is possible that the whole month can pass without a full moon. The last time that happened was 2018, and it won’t happen again until 2037. For the same reason, February can miss its new moon, that tiny sliver that first appears at the beginning of the waxing cycle. February 2014, missed its new moon. That won’t occur again until 2033.
February was chosen as Black History Month in 1976, to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln.
Since 1998 when it was started as a citizen-science project, The Great Backyard Bird Count has grown into a world-wide activity.
February’s full moon is called the Snow Moon.
Its birth flowers are the violet, the primrose, and the iris.
Amethyst is February’s birthstone. It symbolizes piety, humility, spiritual wisdom, and sincerity.
But how do you *say* it?
It’s a little tricky, but the standard pronunciation is Fe BRU ary. Lots of people skip the first R because of a process called dissimilation. Sometimes people drop the first of two similar sounds in a word to avoid repeating that sound. Some people say LI Berry (library) for the same reason.
And, while I can’t verify where I saw the notice, (about 10 minutes ago) Feb U ary has gained traction and is now an accepted pronunciation.
Even as February 2023 is coming to a close, I still have lots of celebrations to celebrate, lots of birds to count, lots of history to learn, and sunny spring weather to look forward to.
-—be curious! (and celebrate)
While it has nothing to do with February, I’m listening to David Sedaris reading his book I Talk Pretty One Day (Hachette Audio, 2000). He’s one of the funniest people alive. While the book will make you laugh out loud (really, all of them will) hearing him read his own words is a treat!