Lots to celebrate

People have a pretty good idea what Christmas and Hanukkah are about, and may know about Kwanzaa or about pagan solstice traditions. New Year's Day, however, seems to have no actual festive content, unless you count the wearing of lampshades. It's like the big signs placed at arbitrary lines on the map: Welcome to New York, the Empire State. The line could be anywhere. But if you are feeling let down by the end of the holiday season, cheer up--the entire year is holiday season. Here are some reasons to celebrate in January.

Among other designations, January is officially Celebration of Life Month, and California Dried Prune Digestive Month, and International Wealth Mentality Month, and National Clean Up Your Computer Month, and National Hot Tea Month, and Oatmeal Month. For those with shorter attention spans, January encompasses the mysteriously named Silent Record Week, as well as Cuckoo Dancing Week, National Handwriting Analysis Week, World Leprosy Week, and National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week.

Or you can take your festivities one day at a time: the 3rd is Memento Mori (Remember You Die) Day; or Tolkien Day. The 5th is Fruitcake Toss Day, the 12th is Penguin Awareness Day. Not to omit imaginary creatures, the 16th is Appreciate a Dragon Day; also, it's Nothing Day. My list shows the 17th as Judgment Day, but we can hope that that's a typo. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shares the 21st this year with National Hugging Day, and Squirrel Appreciation Day. For those who find the notion of Celebration of Life Month too exhausting, they can just gear up for Celebration of Life Day on the 22nd. Next comes National Pie Day, the 23rd, cruelly followed by Women's Healthy Weight Day, the 24th. Or you just forget about what everyone else is celebrating, and throw a party on Freethinkers Day, January 29th.

In the family again

All week I have been looking at the home page at NCPR, seeing the holiday themed Photos of the Day, the winter reading list, a gingerbread house slideshow, the holiday specials schedule, etc. Everything you would expect for the holidays, except for the ongoing coverage of a dispute with our public radio neighbor to the south. I had planned to give the matter a rest today, and write some holiday anecdote here, such as an account of my marathon journey across the North Country in belated search of a Christmas tree.

Instead, a real holiday story has just fallen into my lap. As of 1:30 pm, NCPR has reached an agreement in principle with WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, that will settle the conflict to the benefit of all. Read the joint press release outlining the agreement.

Our warmest thanks to all who showed their concern and support. And best wishes to everyone for a joyous holiday season.

No picnic

Even with a late start, such as this winter got, by February the cold gets old. The brutality of northern February drives up depression rates, drinking, random acts of violence, self-slaughter. Clearly, a preternatural blowout holiday is called for. But the selection available to us is frankly depressing. Groundhog Day? Unpromising. We wish there were only six weeks left. There’s Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday, both now rolled together into something called Presidents Day, but where’s the party in that? Everyone has at least one president they wouldn’t celebrate at gunpoint; some have many. Discussing one’s views on the topic, particularly over strong drink, is not recommended. And then there’s Valentine’s Day, which is basically a bummer for anyone not deranged by the throes of new-found passion.

China and Tibet have the good sense to postpone their New Year into February. Dragons and fireworks—now there is something to work with. And Ottawa, on seeing nothing taller than a fencepost between them and the North Pole, wisely invented Winterlude. If you’re going to be hanging around outside chipping ice, you might as well eat some deep-fried dough. But if we’re going to borrow a celebration from foreign parts, I vote to borrow from the Buddhists. On their calendar, today is Nirvana Day. The possibilities are breathtaking.