Writing a monthly column is interesting. Some months I know exactly what I am going to write about. Then, there are months like this one.

As I look around my house, I see the manger scene that has always been a major fixture since I was a child. Our fireplace mantle is decorated with greenery, ornaments and deer holding our stockings. There are candles in the windows and wreaths and garlands festooning the doors and porches. Tables are filled with candles, nutcrackers, Old Salem miniature homes, shops and the church. Our Christmas tree still stands bringing me joy and will until January 6th. 

You see my issue. For those reading this, it’s February for you, but just about to be January for me. I don’t have eyes to the future, so I can’t write about current news or weather. So, what should my topic be? Maybe, it’ll just be about this and that. I’ll start with the month itself. What do we know about February?

February – the only month with 28, except every four years, days. The only month with a groundhog predicting whether there will be an early spring or six more weeks of winter. Sadly, February finds a number of people suffering from seasonal affective depression caused by reduced sunlight and gloomier weather. This can manifest itself in sadness, loss of interest, sleeping and eating more, and difficulty concentrating. People who suffer from this find light therapy to help. My husband and I went to Iceland one November. Not only did it snow almost every day, but it was dark by 4:00 p.m. and didn’t get light until 10:00 a.m. We loved the country, but I’m not sure I would ever get used to the short days.

I never realized, until I was doing some research on the month, that there is something you can celebrate every day of the month. Besides Groundhog Day, Presidents’ Day and Valentine’s Day, there are 25 other options that might strike your fancy. These days include celebrations for carrot cake, homemade soup, pizza, dog biscuits, flannel, world hippo and changing your password. I think my favorite, however, is quiet day. There wasn’t anything listed for February 29th. Why waste something on a day that only comes around every four years? 

So, another question is, why did poor February not have 30 or 31 days like all the other months? Surely two of the seven that have 31 days could each have given one to February. This is the fault of the first king of Rome. The calendar used to begin in March and end in December. The days between the two had nothing to do with harvest so were considered unimportant. The second king made the calendar more accurate by lining it up with the lunar cycles. Apparently, Romans found even numbers to be unlucky, so January was granted 31 days leaving poor February with 28. This made the calendar 355 days. This led to the calendar being out of sync after several years. The Julian calendar added ten additional days making every month, except February, have 30 or 31 days. This made it a strictly solar calendar. To balance the then 365.25 days, every four years, February has 29 days or a leap year where there are 366 days. 

What do I do with all this new found information? Well, if any of my grandchildren ask why February is a messed up month with only 28 days, I’ll know how to answer. Asking on February 9th would be good – according to the calendar, that’s pizza day!