I've always felt that February was the "Tuesday" of the year. Tuesday, as a day, is pretty useless. Monday is the beginning of the work week (for normal people anyway) so it's famous for the fact that people bemoan, dread, and hate it. Wednesday is the midpoint, "hump day", which leads the way to the weekend. Thursday is almost Friday, which makes it rather cheerful, and Friday is almost the weekend. Saturday and Sunday we all know and love. But Tuesday? Completely pointless. Boring. Nothing good ever happens on a Tuesday. When you're working a regular job, it's the longest day of the week.
February is like Tuesday. December and January got all the fun, cheerful holidays, and February got stuck with a fake holiday (ie: no days off from work) whose sole reason for existence is to commercialize romantic love. A holiday built around romance is unnecessary for those people who are actually in love, and it just causes anguish to those who are unwillingly single or in relationships with people that suck.
February is cold and grey and wet and nasty, and it's also the month that my father died, which makes it even more of a "calendar black spot".
As I have not yet devised an effective plan to have February banished, my only recourse has been to declare February a month of self-forgiveness. I do not attempt any great feats in February. I go dormant, quiet, and contemplative. I weather it, ride it out, and allow myself to drop below the normal activity level. I do not attempt anything which might cause great emotional distress or joy, and I do not berate myself for any failures. I avoid extremes. February is bad enough on its own, thank you very much.
I also watch Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" every February. It helps me get through my grief. Crying for, and with, Hamlet seems nobler and less selfish than crying for myself, and so I melt the two together. The sheer beauty and magnitude of that movie simultaneously pulls me through the darkness and lifts me up out of myself with the wonder of Shakespeare's words, his deep understanding of the human psyche.
And so, February begins.
Thank heavens that February is also the shortest month - as they say travel boggy ground with light feet!
ReplyDeleteAmen, sistah!
DeleteI always felt that way about February in England - now here its teh relentless dry heat of summer that we have to live through, the real beginning of a school year, as January is mostly faffing around. February is bush fires, smoke and 40 degree days, and where did January go?
ReplyDeleteLove your succinct summing up of Valentine's Day - I agree totally. Don't think we've ever been out for a meal on Valentine's Day or even exchanged cards - my husband is very Bah humbug about it!
But I don't mind Tuesdays - there is still all the week to go, so deadlines aren't too pressured, expectations not too high and you've got over the shock of Monday.
Kit, if there's any positive way to view either Tuesday OR February, I'd place all my bets on you finding it. 8-) You're my own little ray of sunshine.
DeleteI'm sorry February is such a downer for you, Marcheline. I've always looked forward to February, as it means the end of January (which-- no matter what the calendar says -- is interminable and actually about 64 days long.) But February in the Pacific Northwest is actually not all that bad. We often get nice little intervals of sunshine. Today was a case in point. A little foggy to start, but a beautiful sunny afternoon. We do get snow in February occasionally, but it never lasts long, so you can concentrate on how pretty it looks, instead of having to put up with it for weeks on end.
ReplyDeleteAnd when February finally arrives, all the Christmas detritus has finally been cleared away so that we can move on to something new.
CC - one year we left our holiday decorations up past Valentine's Day! Not because we were so gung-ho about Yuletide, but because we were a) lazy and b) afraid of the tree, which had folded in on itself and swallowed all the ornaments. HA!
DeleteLove that! The dog knocked over our Christmas tree one year, but I've never had a tree which actually swallowed the ornaments. There must be a horror story in there somewhere ... ! LOL
DeleteI look forward to February's Snowdrops. They peep through in early January and show their white by the end of the month. But it is during the first days of February that the first one opens. Spring may not be here yet but there is a little ray of sunshine (if not literally!).
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I agree - can't understand why Pompilius stuck it in the calendar in the first place.
January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar (about 713BC), since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. Numa Pompilius has a lot to answer for! And another thing - it was named for the washing ritual Februalia. Who's ever heard of Februalia? And even on those days folk washed other months as well!
I have never heard a Madonna song that appealed as much as this one. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Scriptor - if the Romans could come up with the concept of a monthless period, it's too bad they couldn't come up with a periodless month. I'd have signed up immediately! This is my favorite Madonna song, no question. Glad you like it too! That black Doberman gives me chills down my spine, in a good way. That's the dog for me, if only I had adequate yard space for running room...
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