Too Cold For Me
Hello World,
Happy March! Well, by now even the Winter Olympics are nothing but a fond memory, and it's getting harder and harder to have things to look forward to around here. Of course, this was a busy week on its own merits, including not only the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics, but also Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, all piling up on top of each other in giddy profusion. Well, I guess no one would refer to Ash Wednesday as "giddy," but the pile-up part of it is still true. Toward the end of the week, we even had more snow, which I think it's safe to say that no one wanted to see, or perhaps that was just me, but I've just about had it with snow for one winter, and that's all there is to it. In fact, it took an entire week of the snow melting before we ever found the newspaper that arrived on the Sunday of the blizzard, which I had assumed hadn't been delivered because I never saw any tire tracks when I went out into the winter wonderland to go look for it. And don't forget, I was up early that day so I could hurry to church and usher. I'll never know how they got through and brought us the newspaper in all that slop, but I give them a lot of credit for that. When the snow finally melted around it a week later, we found the news quaintly outdated, in light of further developments in many of the stories being covered, so it was sort of like a time capsule in our very own yard.
And then, just as our thoughts were starting to turn to Spring, suddenly here's more snow, with icy gusts bringing overnight wind chill temperatures near zero in many areas. Thanks so very much not! And while it's tempting to point at the red and the square, and blame Comrade Mischka for all of our troubles, I believe that we would discover a conspiracy afoot that is even deeper and wider, not to mention of far greater antiquity, than the Kremlin's infernal weather machine. Here, of course, I'm talking about Groundhog Day, and Bill was happy to pass along the following informative selections from AOL News:
=========================================
"The tradition is believed to have originated with a German superstition. The Germans believed that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early."
"Others latched on to the Phil frenzy for a publicity boost - for just about anything, from global warming to the lottery. The groundhog's brief emergence is televised on national news programs.
"The National Environmental Trust said its groundhog-suit-wearing human "will ignore his shadow and will instead rely on global warming evidence to forecast an early spring."
"The American Physiological Society was offering experts to discuss "What Punxsutawney Phil can teach us about surviving massive blood loss, preventing muscle atrophy, and more."
"The Pennsylvania Lottery even has Gus, "the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania," who implores lottery players to "keep on scratchin'."
=======================================
And what's all this about Candlemas, you might be wondering? Well, wonder no more:
=======================================
CandlemasFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Candlemas (Russian: Sretenie, Spanish: Candelaria) is a Christian feast commemorating the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple.
Candlemas is the last festival in the Christian year that is dated by reference to Christmas; subsequent holidays are calculated with reference to Easter, so Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphany season.
"Down with the rosemary, and so Down with the bays and misletoe ; Down with the holly, ivy, all, Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall" — Robert Herrick (1591-1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"
The term "Candlemas" comes from the tradition set forth in the Roman Missal whereby the celebrant of the Mass on February 2nd blesses the candles for use during the year (said candles must be of beeswax).
The date of Candlemas is established by the date set for the Nativity of Jesus, for it comes 40 days afterwards. Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification." Candlemas therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law (see Leviticus 12:2 - 8), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The gospel of Luke 2:22-39 relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, followed by Jesus' presentation in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival.
In the West, the date of Christmas is now fixed at December 25, and Candlemas therefore falls the following February 2. The dating is identical among Orthodox Christians, except that the ecclesiastic December 25th of most Orthodox Christians falls on January 6th of the civil calendar due to a theological dispute related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, meaning that most Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast on February 14th. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Feast, called "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple", is also celebrated on February 14.
The earliest reference to a celebration was when the intrepid pilgrim nun Egeria, travelling in the Holy Land, 381-384 AD, reported that February 14th was a day solemnly kept in Jerusalem with a procession to Constantine's Basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 (which makes the occasion perfectly clear), and a Liturgy. This so-called Itinerarium Peregrinatio ("Pilgrimage Itinerary") of Egeria does not offer a name for the Feast, however. The date, February 14 proves that in Jerusalem at that time, Christ's birth was celebrated on January 6, Epiphany.
=========================================
Say, maybe those Orthodox Greeks were onto something after all! And for those people out there who may still be unconvinced that all of this is part of a larger conspiracy, let me just point out that it is only now, on the coldest night of the year, that my birdbath heater decided to stop working, and the poor fountain is frozen solid and covered with snow. Coincidence? I think not! After all, let's not forget that it's the total lack of proof that only goes to show how well the conspiracy is working. And if you ask me, the groundhogs are in it up to their eyebrows, especially "Vladivostock Phil," who came out of his burrow in some secret KGB hideout, saw a vision of Sister Egeria, and predicted six more weeks of Greeks. But you didn't hear that from me.
Happy March! Well, by now even the Winter Olympics are nothing but a fond memory, and it's getting harder and harder to have things to look forward to around here. Of course, this was a busy week on its own merits, including not only the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics, but also Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, all piling up on top of each other in giddy profusion. Well, I guess no one would refer to Ash Wednesday as "giddy," but the pile-up part of it is still true. Toward the end of the week, we even had more snow, which I think it's safe to say that no one wanted to see, or perhaps that was just me, but I've just about had it with snow for one winter, and that's all there is to it. In fact, it took an entire week of the snow melting before we ever found the newspaper that arrived on the Sunday of the blizzard, which I had assumed hadn't been delivered because I never saw any tire tracks when I went out into the winter wonderland to go look for it. And don't forget, I was up early that day so I could hurry to church and usher. I'll never know how they got through and brought us the newspaper in all that slop, but I give them a lot of credit for that. When the snow finally melted around it a week later, we found the news quaintly outdated, in light of further developments in many of the stories being covered, so it was sort of like a time capsule in our very own yard.
And then, just as our thoughts were starting to turn to Spring, suddenly here's more snow, with icy gusts bringing overnight wind chill temperatures near zero in many areas. Thanks so very much not! And while it's tempting to point at the red and the square, and blame Comrade Mischka for all of our troubles, I believe that we would discover a conspiracy afoot that is even deeper and wider, not to mention of far greater antiquity, than the Kremlin's infernal weather machine. Here, of course, I'm talking about Groundhog Day, and Bill was happy to pass along the following informative selections from AOL News:
=========================================
"The tradition is believed to have originated with a German superstition. The Germans believed that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early."
"Others latched on to the Phil frenzy for a publicity boost - for just about anything, from global warming to the lottery. The groundhog's brief emergence is televised on national news programs.
"The National Environmental Trust said its groundhog-suit-wearing human "will ignore his shadow and will instead rely on global warming evidence to forecast an early spring."
"The American Physiological Society was offering experts to discuss "What Punxsutawney Phil can teach us about surviving massive blood loss, preventing muscle atrophy, and more."
"The Pennsylvania Lottery even has Gus, "the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania," who implores lottery players to "keep on scratchin'."
=======================================
And what's all this about Candlemas, you might be wondering? Well, wonder no more:
=======================================
CandlemasFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Candlemas (Russian: Sretenie, Spanish: Candelaria) is a Christian feast commemorating the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple.
Candlemas is the last festival in the Christian year that is dated by reference to Christmas; subsequent holidays are calculated with reference to Easter, so Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphany season.
"Down with the rosemary, and so Down with the bays and misletoe ; Down with the holly, ivy, all, Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall" — Robert Herrick (1591-1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"
The term "Candlemas" comes from the tradition set forth in the Roman Missal whereby the celebrant of the Mass on February 2nd blesses the candles for use during the year (said candles must be of beeswax).
The date of Candlemas is established by the date set for the Nativity of Jesus, for it comes 40 days afterwards. Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification." Candlemas therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law (see Leviticus 12:2 - 8), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The gospel of Luke 2:22-39 relates that Mary was purified according to the religious law, followed by Jesus' presentation in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival.
In the West, the date of Christmas is now fixed at December 25, and Candlemas therefore falls the following February 2. The dating is identical among Orthodox Christians, except that the ecclesiastic December 25th of most Orthodox Christians falls on January 6th of the civil calendar due to a theological dispute related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, meaning that most Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast on February 14th. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Feast, called "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple", is also celebrated on February 14.
The earliest reference to a celebration was when the intrepid pilgrim nun Egeria, travelling in the Holy Land, 381-384 AD, reported that February 14th was a day solemnly kept in Jerusalem with a procession to Constantine's Basilica of the Resurrection, a homily on Luke 2:22 (which makes the occasion perfectly clear), and a Liturgy. This so-called Itinerarium Peregrinatio ("Pilgrimage Itinerary") of Egeria does not offer a name for the Feast, however. The date, February 14 proves that in Jerusalem at that time, Christ's birth was celebrated on January 6, Epiphany.
=========================================
Say, maybe those Orthodox Greeks were onto something after all! And for those people out there who may still be unconvinced that all of this is part of a larger conspiracy, let me just point out that it is only now, on the coldest night of the year, that my birdbath heater decided to stop working, and the poor fountain is frozen solid and covered with snow. Coincidence? I think not! After all, let's not forget that it's the total lack of proof that only goes to show how well the conspiracy is working. And if you ask me, the groundhogs are in it up to their eyebrows, especially "Vladivostock Phil," who came out of his burrow in some secret KGB hideout, saw a vision of Sister Egeria, and predicted six more weeks of Greeks. But you didn't hear that from me.
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 10:58 AM
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