I get a kick out of reading history and discovering the origins of things that we take for granted day-to-day.
For example
the calendar that we in the “Western Culture” follow, was specifically
designed so that the vernal equinox would fall on March 21. Thereby
guaranteeing that all the churches would celebrate Easter on the same
day. (The customary practice in the 3rd century was for Christians to
consult their Jewish neighbors to determine when the week of Unleavened
Bread would fall, and to set Easter on the Sunday that fell within that
week.)
Easter is generally accepted as the Sunday following theFull Moon following thevernal equinox. (Figuring out how to fit 13 moons into a 12 month calendar, gets a bit tricky.)
What’s more,
I found out how we can calculate leap year, (which is used for
adjusting the calendar to reality). The way the Gregorian calendar does
this is to make leap years the years that are divisible by four, (with
the exception of the centuries that are divisible by 100), and for the
most part that works.
Not everyone
in every country welcomed this change because many of them had their
own particular calendars and feel that a universal calendar is an
imposition and an attack on their firmly held, though mostly incorrect,
beliefs.
Denmark for
example, (part of my ancestry), didn’t change their calendar
immediately. In fact, in 1700, they only changed the solar calendar to
the Gregorian calculations, but not the lunar calendar by which one
computes the date of Easter.
This from Wikipedia;
Denmark,
which then included Norway and some Protestant states of Germany,
adopted the solar portion of the new calendar on Monday, 1 March 1700,[22] following Sunday, 18 February 1700, because of the influence ofOle Rømer, but did not adopt thelunar portion.
Instead, they decided to calculate the date of Easter astronomically
using the instant of the vernal equinox and the full moon according toKepler'sRudolphine Tables of 1627. They finally adopted the lunar portion of the Gregorian calendar in 1776. The remaining provinces of theDutch Republic
also adopted the Gregorian calendar in July 1700 (Gelderland), December
1700 (Utrecht and Overijssel) and January 1701 (Friesland and
Groningen).
For a more complete and fascinating study of the Gregorian calendar, click here.
This is
the weekend of the bowl games. I can’t begin to name all the dozens of
different bowl games that have come about since the original Rose Bowl,
(The Cotton bowl and Orange Bowl are the only ones that come to mind).
One of
the reasons I can’t name these other bowl games as they keep changing
the names what was the Cotton Bowl is now Joe’s Tire Bowl, or some such
nonsense.
Luckily
they haven’t changed the name of the Rose Bowl or the Rose Parade, (at
least I hope not). I guess I’ll find out if I remember to turn on the TV
tomorrow.
In the meantime; I wish you and I, (and everyone we know), a happy new year.
Calendars
serve different purposes for different people. In my case I use a
calendar to cover up the fuse box in the kitchen. It’s actually not a
fuse box per se, but in fact a breaker box. Either way it tends to
uglify the wall and the calendar is a great way to cover it up.
This all began when I considered going to Borders while I was at OfficeMax getting a light magenta cartridge for the Epson printer.
I envisioned the selection of calendars that they always have at Borders, and realized they were not likely to have the size actually need to cover up the breaker box.
It was there
and then that I remembered a discussion that I had earlier in the day
with Sandi about this very thing. I had remarked how easy it would be
for me just to go ahead and make my own calendar. Now that I had ink to
get the Epson printer up and running there was nothing stopping me from a do-it-yourself calendar.
After I finished printing a couple of pieces of sheet music for the LMP Trio, I began the calendar project.
The reason
I went and got ink instead of waiting for the ink I ordered to arrive
in the mail is that the mail itself would not be going out for a few
days, and that would delay the sheet music by at least a week. This way,
it might arrive before Marian takes off on her Phoenix trip.
So, I got
another cartridge and I’m very glad I did, for the Epson printer is
clearly superior to the HP that I use in a pinch, and it helped make
this calendar a doable project.
I got the calendar template from the iWork community
online. You just put in the year you want and it automatically works
out the days of the week for each month. It’s the first time I’ve used
the software called, “numbers” in the iWork programs. Now that I know how it works, I can already see how I’m going to redesign it for my particular needs.
The main thing
is that I’ve got something that covers up the breaker box and I can
also keep track of appointments and schedules. Life is good, and I’m
happy with the results of my do-it-yourself calendar.
Soon
the door will be opening on 2012. We shall see what the start of the
new year, (according to the Gregorian calendar), has to bring to all of
us.
Some people
have decided that 2012 is the end of the Mayan long count calendar, and
we should be worried. I think we should be more worried about wasting
our time worrying.
The local forecast
calls for rain here in Redding. It certainly was dark today when I took
pictures of the flowers, but that sometimes brings out their color in
ways that the sun won’t.
This one rose
looked like it would taste like butterscotch it was so beautiful and
edible looking. I just had to get a real close-up shot so you can see
what I mean.
This sort of shows its tastiness, but I think I will put it through one of the enhancing programs and see what happens.
It’s kind of hard to decide, but I think I like it. I’ll keep both on here.
One of my favorite trees here, is one that I call the chocolate tree.
It turns from green to red to chocolate every year, and never ceases to fascinate me.
Today, it made an impressive sight against the gray sky.
Along
the driveway here at the Treehouse Apartments, there are a few scraggly
rose bushes that I have written about and shown photographs of ever
since I moved here four years ago.
This
bud, above, will soon be a beautiful flower similar to the rose at the
top of the page, but with it’s own distinct personality.
I find
them to be wonderful indicators of the power of nature. Of all the
rosebushes here, they consistently produce the most interesting and
beautiful roses I have ever seen.
The variety
and combination of colors, size, and shape is continuously changing,
developing, dying and being reborn. I am very fortunate in that I’ve
been capturing this phenomena over the years and I’m able to look here
in this blog in the past and see just what they’ve been doing. I find it
fascinating.
Equally fascinating to me, is looking back through this blog and seeing my own personal development.
When I first
moved here I was in relatively bad physical, mental, and spiritual
health. By reading older blog posts, I can follow the processes and
events that have helped me to recuperate, heal, regenerate, rediscover,
and reinvigorate this specimen I call me. What a terrific vehicle this
journal can be for objective information gathering. Thank you Marian for
suggesting that I put my writing in a journal.
I can read,
see the pictures, and in other ways observe how far I’ve come to this
stage of health and well-being that I am in now. Three years ago, on or
about this date, I was examining a bout of depression. (HERE)
Another thing that I’ve been observing successful results from, is my choice of good food.
Every once in a while I like to eat beef. Like about every six months. I think that’s healthy.
Not just any beef,
but happy beef. Organic. Living in a pasture. A cow with a name and
friends, so that the nutrition I derive from eating a piece of that cow
contains all the nutritional goodness possible.
I found some organic beef sirloin at Trader Joe’s that I tried tonight. It was very good and I should get two or three meals out of it.
Today
I felt a chill of winter for the first time this year, (which is kind
of funny since his year’s almost over), and I find myself turning up the
thermostat a degree at a time to keep that chill out of my bones.
I am talking to the Dragon Express
and having it write these words in my blog. That should warm me up a
bit. I have to admit that this talking out loud and having a ‘helper’
type for me is just great.
I finished reading the new Michael Moore book
today and I have to say it was an eye opener. If anybody was destined
to be an award winning documentary filmmaker, (that many people will
actually watch), it is him. He was present at many of the events that
put our country into the shape it is in today. This book should be
required reading in our public schools.
66 years ago
there was an intrepid group of virus molecular structures, that managed
to set foot, or what would be a foot in the molecule world, on new
land; the inside of my nose.
These
visitors had no intention of ever leaving my mucus membrane but
instead, like my ancestors that came to America, they planned to settle
in and call it home.
They evidently
did not take into account that there was already plenty of molecules
living in my mucous membrane before they arrived. Like most situations, a
war ensued. Some of the local hometown molecules were consumed or
destroyed but most of the invading, (let’s call it rhino virus), were
eliminated.
Those that survived
were captured and reprogrammed to fit in with the local molecular
entities. When future marauding bands of rhino virus would arrive on the
winds, (fingertips?), of chance, they would find themselves defeated by
an already educated and prepared populace with rhino virus spies ready
to go to work and undermine whatever plans the invaders might have had
to settle in the land of Philip's nose.
Sometimes
these wars take longer than other times. Typically, according to
scientific measurements, if an invading rhino virus manages to get a
foothold it takes about seven days to establish a standing army. Then
depending on the condition of the locals, repelling the invaders can
take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks or more.
So,
as I write this, there seems to be a new bunch of ‘settlers’ thinking
it’s their right to populate this 66-year-old land, (my nose). Currently
the local inhabitants are using the tried-and-true methods of defense
and copious amounts of fluids are being produced to wash away the enemy.
Since this is
my Army, I expect victory soon. In the meantime I’m going out to get
more Kleenex. I will also get some silver solution in case my troops
need a little help putting a prompt end to this latest invasion.
