February Celebrations.

[No Elephants]

I spent a ton of time doing a post on February celebrations and the computer ate it. So, here is a down and dirty version.


February is Bird Feeding Month in the U.S., Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada and GLBT History Month in the U.K.

Highlights of February: Dates that important in U.S. history, Groundhog's Day, Chinese New Year and Oscar Sunday. Since Chinese New Year lasts two weeks, you can probably find something to celebrate and/or observe almost every day this month. Also there will be many relevant PBS programs to watch, so check your local listings. www.pbs.org



February 1

1790. The SCOTUS convened for the very first time in NYC, then the nation's capital, not too long after ratification of the Constitution of the U.S., which had occurred in 1789. I was hoping that the first case decided would be interesting and/or amusing. Apparently not,though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases

Abe Lincoln signed the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. It had passed the Senate in April, 1864 and the House the day before Lincoln signed it. It was ratified in December 1865. Sadly, Lincoln did not live to see the ratification.

If you have not seen the movie Lincoln yet, this would be THE ideal day to see it. And it will probably figure prominently in the Oscars later in the month.

2013 Wear Red Friday. Women's Heart Health Awareness http://www.uwhealth.org/go-red/heart-disease-facts-and-symptoms/10627



February 2

Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances. The day of the bris?

Wiki believes that Candlemas may have been a precursor of Groundhog's Day.

Groundhog's Day.



February 10

The start of Chinese New Year, which lasts for two weeks. Google your own area to see if there are any festivities near you, like a dragon parade or fireworks. And google Chinese New Year customs. You have two weeks to have fun with it.



February 12

The anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln Read his wiki. Amazing




February 14

Valentine's Day--No excuses!






February 18

President's Day Read a blurb about each one. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents




February 22

The anniversary of the birth of George Washington Reak his wiki. Also amazing.



February 24

Oscars. The 85th Annual. There's both a website and an app for that. http://oscar.go.com/

Pick up Chinese food takeout and enjoy.

Apparently, acting is the most self-congratulatory profession, but America just loves her some celebrities and this is THE award show to watch if you watch any at all.

[Enthusiast]

1. You make good use out of a February, No Elephants.

I want to see the Lincoln movie.

We can no longer feed the birds. We live in a bad place for birds, except hummingbirds. We can have loads of Summer hummingbirds but little else besides sparrows. There are several nesting pairs of sparrows in our bushes out front in the summer. We hung a thistle feeder out an entire year but didn't get a single finch. We hung beef suit out for winter woodpeckers but had no takers. There are some of the smaller hawks in the vicinity. Maybe that is the problem. My mother always fed birds when we were kids. I miss watching birds.

Once in a while a giant Pileated woodpecker attacks the stump right outside our back door. He has made mincemeat out of that stump. And ate about a million termites.

[No Elephants]

4. Thanks. May as well learn to make good use of Februaries. Our lives are made up

Februaries. And Januaries, Marches, Aprils, etc.

And each day in every month is an excuse to learn something new, reflect and celebrate--being alive, if nothing else. To deck the halls for some season or holiday or another.

And for me, also to put away one set of dinnerware and pull out another. (I think I may have a dinnerware fetish. If I had more storage space, I'd probably have 20 sets of dishes.) Ordinarily, I'd wait until February to bring out my spring dinnerware but I already started pulling it out. Guess it's been so cold that I am trying to hurry Spring.

[No Elephants]

5. P.S. Stunning bird. Did you take that photo?

[Enthusiast]

6. I just snared it off the net.

But it looks exactly like the one on our stump. Even more impressive than their appearance, the Pileated Woodpeckers are noisy. They make a racket with their bill when they hammer the trees and their cry is really loud. The Pileated Woodpecker inspired the Woody Woodpecker cartoon character, which, as you can remember, was one noisy guy.

[Enthusiast]

2. I did not know this.

"Wiki believes that Candlemas may have been a precursor of Groundhog's Day."

http://youtu.be/gpNjbSzVoQ4

We have been watching the Downton Abbey series on PBS since its inception. And other stuff on PBS.

[No Elephants]

3. I wish that I had started watching at its inception I didn't and now feel it's too late to start.

[No Elephants]

7. Mea Culpa. I left out Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), which falls on February 12, followed, of course,

by Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, when we are supposed to sacrifice.

When I was in elementary school and high school, boys were fond of saying "I gave it up for Lent" when it did not fit.

For example, a teacher might say, "I didn't not see your homework assignment, Mr. Angelini. What happened?"

And Mr. Angelini would reply, "I gave it up for Lent."

[Enthusiast]

8. I lived the Lent thing.

As a young man growing up in a Catholic family and Catholic school Lent was a big deal.

[No Elephants]

9. Lent was one of the few times my church seemed lenient in comparison.

I did get ashes once though.

My best friend, who lived across the street, and I walked to high school together every day. She was Catholic, so on Ash Wednesday, we both left early enough for her to get ashes on the way to school. I would wait outside.

One year, it was very cold and she convinced me just to stand on line for ashes with the Catholics. I had intended just to pass by the priest without getting ashes, but he was praying as I approached. I did not want to interrupt to say I wasn't Catholic. So, instead, I just tried to hurry past him. He reached out and got me, though.

[Enthusiast]

10. That's funny.

You had a black forehead. I suspect you were the adventurous sort.

[No Elephants]

11. Not adventurous.