February 12, 2007

• Upcoming Holidays

  Do you know which holiday is coming soon?  While you think about it, here’s the latest on the Yukon Quest:

  Lance Mackey led into Pelly Crossing, YT, around 6 AM today, about twenty minutes ahead of Hugh Neff.  An hour or so later, Dave Dalton arrived.  Neff was back on the trail before Dalton pulled into Pelly Crossing.  With Mackey and Dalton in Pelly Crossing and several teams resting at McCabe Creek, the rest are strung out on the trail all the way back to Carmacks.

  
  Frank Turner and team between McCabe Creek and Pelly Crossing

  Last night was clear and cold along the trail (and here in the Susitna Valley, too) with brilliant and active Aurora Borealis.  Temps along the Quest trail were down around minus 35C (about -30F). 

  Doug and I did a water run yesterday afternoon, picking a great day for it.  The temperature was about twenty above when we were at the spring.  When I got up this morning, it was down to single digits below zero.

  Now, about that upcoming holiday….

  UPDATE (check it out)
  Thanks Snorri23!

  If you were thinking about a day off from school or work, you might have thought of Presidents Day.  Think again.  Officially, there is no such holiday.  When I was a kid in California and Kansas, we got out of school in February on both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays.  Then NATO (Why NATO, I wonder?) advocated for having fewer holidays and moving them to Mondays.

  Maybe a few states observe President’s Day (note the apostrophical placement) on the third Monday in February, but the U.S. federal holiday celebrated that day is officially George Washington’s Birthday.  Beginning in the late 1960s, Congress discussed combining Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays, but honoring the Great Emancipator didn’t go down well with legislators from the Old Confederacy, so we kept Washington’s birthday as a federal holiday and it was left up to individual states whether to honor Lincoln. 
  
  

  George Washington was born on Feb. 11, 1731, according to the Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and her colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, jumping ahead 11 days and making January the first month of the year instead of March. According to this calendar, Washington’s birthday occurred on Feb. 22, 1732. The federal holiday was celebrated on Feb. 22 until 1971, when it was moved to the third Monday in February.    (source:  infoplease.com,  more at snopes.com.)

  If you live in New Mexico, you might have thought about Extraterrestrial Culture Day tomorrow, the second Tuesday in February, but that’s only an observance, not a holiday.  Maybe someone in Roswell will take the day off, but probably not.  I’m guessing that, if anything, that’s a busy day in Roswell.  I wonder if the ET enclave up near Santa Fe is planning an open house or anything.

  

  Most of you probably thought of Valentine’s Day, but that one’s not a holiday, either.  The Roman Catholic saint known as Valentine was two or three or more men: priest(s) or bishop(s), martyrs all, which is just about the only thing everyone agrees about.

  St. Valentine was:

      a)  a priest in the Roman Empire who helped persecuted Christians during the reign of Claudius II, was thrown in jail and later beheaded on Feb. 14.

      b)  a Catholic bishop of Terni who was beheaded, also during the reign of Claudius II.

      c)  someone who secretly married couples when marriage was forbidden, or suffered in Africa, or wrote letters to his jailer’s daughter, and was probably beheaded.

      d)  all, some, or possibly none of the above.

  According to americancatholic.org, (d) is the correct answer.  The day never was a holiday in the strict sense, and since 1969 the Church hasn’t recognized it as a Saint’s Day.

  Whether it’s a true, unequivocal holiday or not, February 14th is a popular observance for romantically-inclined people.  In the U.S. most of its enthusiasts are women.  Men tend to view the day with trepidation like that for anniversaries, and feel that they ignore the occasion only at their peril.

  This Wednesday is also the anniversary of the massacre allegedly perpetrated by Al Capone in a garage on Clark Street in Chicago in 1929.  Seven associates of Bugs Moran were gunned down, and Moran said, “Only Capone kills guys like that.”

  
  

  Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is today, Feb.12,
  so if you’re in a state that wore blue in the War Between the States,
  this might be an official holiday.  Here in the Susitna Valley of
  Alaska, the schools and libraries will be closed next Monday for
  President’s Day. 

  Today, the second Monday in February, is Clean Out Your Computer Day.

  The 15th is Canada’s National Flag Day.

  The 19th is a day for remembrance of the Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

  The 20th is Fat Tuesday, last day of Mardi Gras.

  Today is Charles Darwin’s birthday.  That should be a holiday in my opinion, but then I’m someone who believes that there should be more days off than there are workdays.

  Tomorrow’s birthdays include Jerry Springer, Chuck Yeager, and L.L.Bean.

  Jimmy Hoffa and Jack Benny were born on Valentine’s Day.

  If he were still alive, Galileo Galilei would be 442 years old come Thursday Feb. 15, 2007.  Susan B. Anthony’s birthday is the 15th, Sonny Bono’s the 16th.

  Dr. Dre, Yoko Ono and Gahan Wilson were born on February 18th.

  Nicolas Copernicus would be 533 on the 19th, had he lived so long.

  Curt Cobain, Patty Hearst, Ansel Adams and Gloria Vanderbilt all share Feb. 20th as their birthday.

  Steve Irwin didn’t quite make it to his 44th on the 22nd.

  Steve Jobs will be 51 on the 24th.

  The 25th is replete with great birthdays, including George Harrison, Meher Baba (“Don’t worry.  Be happy.”), Zeppo Marx, and Pierre Auguste Renoir.

  Buffalo Bill Cody and Victor Hugo were born on the 26th.  Let’s make their day a holiday, too.

  Josh Groban of the great voice will be 25 on the 27th, Elizabeth Taylor of the violet eyes will be 74.  That was a great day for writers, too:  Steinbeck and Longfellow.

  Funny men Zero Mostel and Gilbert Gottfried were born on the 28th, along with Earl Scheib and Linus Pauling.

  Ja Rule, AKA Jeffrey Atkins, will have to wait until next year’s Leap Day for his 8th birthday, when my old friend Baron Peter von Olin will celebrate his 15th or 16th.  Ain’t it a bummer being born on February 29th?

  March 9th will be Cabin Fever Day (not really a holiday, but worth observing anyhow) and of course there’s St. Paddy’s day later next month, but is that a real holiday?  I don’t know.  I guess that whatever holiday is coming up next is a matter of opinion.

  

  • 5:32 pm
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