Today is THE Blue Monday.

[No Elephants]

Supposedly.


Not very long ago, conventional wisdom had it that the most depressing day of the year is the Monday of the last full week in January, when it sinks in that the bright, shiny New Year isn't that bright after all, no one is sticking to his or her resolutions, the holidays bills are coming in, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_%28date%29

But, we are an impatient species. So, now, the most depressing day of the year has been declared to be the Monday of the first full week back to work after the holidays.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/06/back-to-work-blues-make-the-post-christmas-return-to-work-better-with-these-simple-steps-4250622

Supposedly,

I don't really get that. If you are a student or work in a school, you've had a big vacation, but, even then, why would today be any more depressing than your first day back to school after about ten days off, which was last week?


Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you, in case you're looking for an excuse to be depressed.

Me? I'm thrilled today.

We've recently had a heavy snowstorm and wind chills of 30 below or more. And, supposedly, we ain't seen nuthin' yet because a colder snap is on its way.

However, temps yesterday were in the 30s and the forecast for today is 54 degrees. (It's 44 already.) That means melting snow AND no frostbite warnings. Sure, it's raining, but I have a big ole umbrella, boots, etc. So, I'll be singing in the rain.

Most of all, I am not afraid my face will turn white and fall off if I have to hit the convenience store for a quart of milk or some other item I feel I cannot do without.

So, I don't plan on being depressed today. And I recommend that you don't plan on it, either. Happy Monday morning.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXLqrGXeq4c

[No Elephants]

1. P.S.

The last link in the OP is to a clip from a movie entitled, Song of the Open Road. (The movie title is taken from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.)


This was singer/actress Jane Powell's first movie. She was 14.


She is shown in (supposedly) the U.S. Crops Corps, something I never heard of before this morning. I have not read up on it yet, but here is a link to some info about it.

https://archive.org/details/VictoryFarmVolunteersOfTheUsCropCorps


The U.S. Crops Corps was part of the World War II war effort, teens, women, seniors and other men not in the military taking care of crops for farmers at war. Back when Washington, D.C. knew how to pull the people of the nation together, instead of dividing us for their benefit.

If you google "images U.S. Crops Corps," Mr. Google will show you amazing posters and photos. Here are a couple of the posters:



http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/28722/bk0007s7k8v/FID3.jpg







The Women's Land Army was part of the Crops Corps.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Women%27s+Land+Army&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a


I never heard of the Women's Land Army before today, either. Between Rosie the Riveter (aka women who worked in factories), the movie, A League of Their Own and this information, I am beginning to get a better and better understanding of just how much women did in War War II, even exclusive of women in the military and civilian nurses. I understand better why a women born in 1921, as was Betty Friedan, did not want to go back to the pre-war state of things.


According to the movie, anyway, the U.S. Crops Corps apparently was connected with the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC.

I was already familiar with the CCC, which ws one of the earliest New Deal job programs and the most popular New Deal program. Back when Washington D.C. knew how to create jobs (without the Fed pumping trillions into banks, dwarfing the 2008 bailouts by quite a bit, yet still not creating many jobs for Main Street).

The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men, to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States while at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation program in every state and territory. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000; in nine years 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a small wage of $30 a month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families).<1>

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




(BTW, This is the blessing and curse of adult ADD, to start with Blue Monday and get to all this. And Mr. Google is my enabler.)

[Enthusiast]

3. I find all that to be interesting.

Jane Powell was certainly a little cutie pie with a great voice. I wish I felt good enough to "pitch in". That would be a wonderful feeling. Much better then being a useless eater.

[No Elephants]

4. During WWII, everyone had a way to pitch in, even if that meant

only using less of something or other or storing up used this or that.

Even Lucky Strike Green went to war. (There was something they used to make the green color of the pre-war packaging that the war effort needed.)

Was it all necessary? Who knows? But everyone of all ages thought he or she had a contribution to make. Now, we are told to spend money. 911? Go to NYC and spend. Katrina? Hit NOLA and spend. Gulf oil spill? Dash down to the Gulf and spend. (I don't recall hearing that about Sandy, though.)

Too bad they don't leave the 99% with much money for that purpose.

Speaking of which, the head of the IMF has said that growth cannot be sustained unless the 99% have money to spend. Duh?

[Enthusiast]

2. Now it's Tuesday. Sorry I'm late.

We have -17°! They have a wind chill advisory specifically for our county.

[No Elephants]

5. No worries, Enthusiast. Posting is not a job at which you have to clock in.

It should be an informative and/or enjoyable way to spend some time, not an obligation.

Well, yesterday at this time, it was around 48 degrees and raining; and then it climbed to the mid fifties. Today it is 13 degrees and partly cloudly, with a predicted high of 18.

Talk about a weather roller coster. How does the temp fall about 43 degrees in 16 or so hours?

I'd rather the relatively balmy rain, of course, but no one offered me a choice.

Luckily, I have an ample supply of very warm clothing items. If push comes to shove, I just wear two of almost everything from my warm clothing wardrobe.

When you don't drive, this is what you need to do. That, and live near, at a minimum, a convenience store.

[No Elephants]

6. If this past Monday was indeed my most depressing day this year, I'm going to love 2014.

[Enthusiast]

7. I hope you are not being sarcastic.

:-)

[No Elephants]

8. Nope. I had a very decent Monday. If that is the worst of my year, I am blessed.

Hazard of being a sarcastic poster is that no one knows when you mean what you are saying.

But, sarcasm is so much fun.

I try to aim it only at myself and public figures, though. When I was a kid, I did not make distinctions like that. In hindsight, I am lucky no one punched me.