I’m posting this blog on Monday, February 28. Tomorrow, March 1, is Mardi Gras. Next Tuesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day. I mention this because the words Mardi Gras are instantly recognized as an amazing festival with parades, parties, and raucous behavior. But the words International Women’s Day exist
Every February I wonder how a chubby, winged boy-child with less than useful wings became a symbol for Valentine’s Day. The Ancient Greeks called Cupid Eros, and described him as a vengeful youth. The Hellenistic Greeks and the Romans shrank the slender young man into a chubby benign figure. A
The Year of the Tiger begins tomorrow, February 1st , but celebrations for the Lunar New Year take place from January 31st through February 15th. New Year —New Luck Prior to the first day of the new year, people deep clean their homes to remove huiqi [inauspicious breaths] and to
On December 31st did you, perhaps in an altered state, solemnly resolve, affirm, or swear that you would make positive changes in 2022? Last year 43 percent of Americans vowed to change in 2021; this year only 29 percent expected to take the plunge. Of those making new year’s resolutions,
Winter Solstice on December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere is both the shortest day of the year, and the first day of Winter. The word solstice finds its root in the Latin words sol for sun and sistere, meaning “to stand.” The term also refers to new birth, as a
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. These often over-looked lines from Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem about the night before Christmas raise at least two pertinent questions: Who was St. Nicholas? And, why does he need stockings? The
With December almost upon us, it’s time to think about decorating for the festive season — a custom with long roots in our cultural history. Among the songs of the season, Deck the Halls seems to be about decorating dwellings and shops for Christmas, but, like many customs, the song
Recent research for my current project has turned up a few interesting insights into how eighteenth century New Englanders celebrated Thanksgiving, which makes an interesting change for the annual stories about the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Over a hundred years since the Pilgrims stepped ashore, colonial Americans did not worry
In November 1928, Glen & Bessie Hyde disappeared while on an expedition to run all the rapids on the Colorado River. They were never seen again. The newlyweds were engaged in a publicity stunt they hoped would earn them fame and fortune. Obscure fame they still have; fortune, not so
I once had a professor who advised his graduate students that one should never chase rabbits while hunting for bear. The metaphor was his way of saying that while doing research, one should not follow enticing facts unless they are directly related to the current research project. Otherwise, the project
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