January 7, 2010
Sidonie Gabrielle, celebrated 19th century French novelist, deemed January "the month of empty pockets" and suggested about all we can do is "endure this evil month."
It is also the month of little or no sun.
But surely there are reasons to enjoy the month. Surely?
I am not so sure there will be many reasons this year, however, because AccuWeather.com forecasters are saying this could be the worst winter in 25 years. "It'll be like the great winters of the '60s and '70s," said AccuWeather.com Chief Meteorologist and Expert Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.
That's cheery news. Not only are most of us typically broke in January, but we have no sun to warm us. Wonderful.
Consider that we are just a mere fortnight away from what we now recall as a lovely, sunny Christmas Day. The bad news--there is a long, long way to go yet before the gray, dreary month of January ends.
After researching the word January, mostly due to a moderate-to-serious bout of cabin fever, I learned that the word January in Roman mythology means the "door to the year", which is, granted, a favorable description.
However, in Finnish, January means "the heart of winter", and in Czech, the month is called "leden" or ice month.
In Ukranian, January means the month of cutting or slicing, referring perhaps to the bitter winds of January. And in the 16 th century, some European countries named January First as the "Feast of the Circumcision." I am not even going there or explain why they did that.
Ice month. Cutting-slicing-circumcision month.
You get my point.
Yet I wonder, are there any good reasons at all to celebrate this overcast and dismal month, the coldest month of the year in the northern hemisphere?
A few: January white sales, discounts on exercise classes, cheap gym memberships and diet books galore.
I also found quite a few holidays, special occasions and birthdays that cheered me up a bit and made me realize January has some high spots indeed.
· Birthdays to celebrate and remember, such as those of Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King. And special commemorative days honoring heroes such as Christa McAuliffe of Challenger fame and Amelia Earhart are January high spots.
· National Thank You month (we can't thank folks enough and good to highlight on our calendars).
· Epiphany--a commemorative Christian observance I don't want to forget.
· Plough Sunday. I didn't know about this holiday until I researched it. Plough Sunday is celebrated in England in January as the beginning of the agricultural year. I get that.
· Chinese New Year (the second new moon after the Winter Solstice and a lively holiday to boost our spirits). Take out any one?
· National Book Month--a great month to stay inside and read. Love it.
· The 100 th Day of School Month (teachers and students are going to "thumbs up" this occasion), but it doesn't float my boat much.
· And finally, a "Burns Supper Night" to be celebrated on January 25th. This is a special occasion in Scotland when friends gather for a formal supper and read the poetry of Robert Burns. In the beginning, gentlemen gathered without ladies present and drank Scotch whiskey. Today, women are allowed and dinners are informal. Ah, progress.
So there, you have it, some reasons to love January.
Don't forget, however that January is the month of empty pockets as I mentioned earlier. Therefore, I leave you with one word of caution from Mark Twain who warned against investing one's money in January in the stock market:
"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February."
Somehow, I find myself back at my original premise--empty pockets, no sun.
