As far as I know, there’s nothing intrinsically important to celebrate about its being February.
Groundhog Day is tomorrow, and it might mean something if we had any groundhogs around here. (Prairie Dog Day just doesn’t have the same ring to it.) But I’m willing to bet that no matter whether a rodent sees its shadow or not, spring will come on the twentieth of March as it often does. Whatever the omens, February does bring us closer to the complaining-about-the-heat season, but that’s still a few months away.
Then there’s Valentine’s Day for those who celebrate whatever that day means to them. (Those of us who are without a romantic partner don’t see much point in it if we ever did, though I am delighted with any Valentine’s gifts I might receive.)
My parents’ birthdays were in February, but they’ve both been gone a long time, so those are now days of reflection rather than celebration.
There are also a couple of federal holidays. Or is it just one holiday now? It’s hard to remember when both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays are hardwired into my internal calendar. I loved February when I was a young schoolgirl — not only was February a short month but we had those two extra days off. I suppose all that’s worth acknowledging if only for the remembrance of childhood glee.
But truly, in my life now, none of that is any reason to celebrate the arrival of February. So what am I “yay”ing about? Well, because it is no longer January!!! That, for sure, is something to celebrate. January felt interminably long, as if several extra days — or even weeks — had been added to that generally quick-moving month.
It wasn’t really a bad month for me. Oh, there were a few frigid days and a night when it got down to seven below zero, and it did snow a couple of times, but for the most part, I’ve been inside reading (and fighting some sort of sinus thing), so it didn’t really matter how cold it was.
No, the only problem with January was that it dragged on way too long. But now the drag is finally over. So, yes — Yay! February!
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One.
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