February

Les Très Riches Heures
du
Duc de Berry Février

Yes, it's February, time for "The Very Rich Hours of the Duc de Berry in February". Um, no, not really but I digress.

Looking for a way to start the month without having to think of the insanity in DC and elsewhere in this (once?) great Nation of ours, I just "Googled" February. Lots of interesting stuff in Wikipedia about February, much of which is trivial but nonetheless interesting, at least to me. But what really caught my eye was the reproduction of that painting depicted above.

Wikipedia says that the painting "is possibly the best example of French Gothic manuscript illumination surviving to the present day". Furthermore, "The Très Riches Heures is a book of prayers to be said at canonical hours created for John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers between 1412 and 1416."

That may well be. It caught my eye primarily because of the painter's use of the color blue.

I like blue. Perhaps you knew that, if not go read this. At any rate, I thought the painting was exquisite. YMMV.

Trivial facts about February (from Wikipedia, naturellement):

February starts on the same day of the week as March and November in common years, and on the same day of the week as August in leap years. February ends on the same day of the week as October every year and on the same day of the week as January in common years only. In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday it begins. 

February starts on the same day of the week as both March and November in common years, and August in leap years. 

Having only 28 days in common years, it is the only month of the year that can pass without a single full moon. It is also the only month of the calendar that once every six years and twice every 11 years, will have only four full 7-day weeks. Where the first day of the month starts on a Monday and the last day ends on a Sunday, this was observed in 2010 and can be traced back 11 years to 1999, 6 years back to 1993, 11 years back to 1982, 11 years back to 1971 and 6 years back to 1965; and so on twice 11 years consecutively and once six years either forward into the future or back into the past. This works unless the pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100. (Years that are evenly divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they are also evenly divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years.) A year of this kind would be a common year starting on Friday. It cannot happen in a leap year.

Okay then. At any rate, welcome to February. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, I guess we'll see how much longer winter will last. Based on the prognostications of a large rodent.

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.

Whistle-pig? Land-beaver? Hhhmm, never heard those names before. Round these parts we call 'em woodchucks.

There used to be one resident in the backyard at Chez Sarge. The Missus Herself did not care for the beast as he enjoyed gorging himself on the various forms of flora which the Missus Herself has planted upon the grounds of the manse. And upon which she labors for long hours. To produce an effect most pleasing to the eye. Needless to say, the Missus Herself and the aforementioned woodchuck were not on the friendliest of terms. Perhaps come summer I will share some photos of said flora.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Groundhog Day.

The photo above? That's our very own meteorological prognosticating land-beaver himself, Punxsutawney Phil.  He's the one without the top hat. Looking rather bemused at being manhandled by a bunch of men wearing hats. (Hhhmm, if they were women, would one say "being womanhandled"? Food for thought. Or not.)

So over to you Phil? Will you see your shadow or not? Time will tell.