Jan 6 2020 - Next Holiday Countdown

No wonder there's depression after Christmas with January and February being the least favourite months of the year.  The next holiday is Family Day/Valentine's Day.  It doesn't have a lot to offer in terms of traditions. While chocolate is an excellent main theme, it hasn't been able to create secular activities that rally our social life and communities.   Other countries have something to look forward to.  In China, we'd be gearing up for the Chinese New Year - Saturday, January 25th. January 1st as New Year's Day was officially recognized in China in 1912.  The Gregorian calendar came with Jesuit missionaries in 1582.  With Communism, there was a lapse of celebrations. In 1996, China instituted a week-long vacation called Spring Festival so that people could travel home to celebrate the new year. And then there is the big ice festival that is about to get underway -  the Harbin Ice Festival with displays of traditional ice-lantern exhibits, alpine skiing events, and enormous ice sculptures.   "More than 100 activities and events will be held in Harbin city for celebrating the 36th Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in 2020. The activities and events for ice and snow culture including Beidahuang Ice and Snow Culture Festival, ice and snow tourism photographic match, art exhibition about ice and snow spirit, poetry party (the theme of the party is "the rhyme of winter"), ice and snow photography, original poetry, international ice sculpture competition, transnational ice sculpture competition, international snow sculpture competition, match among the masters of international snow sculptors, family ice and snow sculpture competition (only for Harbin city resident), and some other more than 10 activities and events."  Niagara's Ice Wine Festival starts this weekend.  It is our best bet for continuing the celebration of the new year and a motivation for heading into pretty Niagara-on-the-Lake or seeing Niagara Falls.  Today our plants celebrate the East - the first is Jade Vine - found at Longwood Gardens.  The second is another picture of a Himalayan Poppy.

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2016 - Monkey Year Ahead

For those interested in following horoscopes and signs, this year will be the Year of the Monkey, starting Feb 8 2016, the Chinese New Year.   Why does the date of the Chinese New Year change every year?  The Chinese use the Lunar calendar for their festivals. The Lunar calendar is based on the time the moon takes to go around the Earth. (The Western calendar is based on the time it takes for the Earth to go around the Sun.) The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years.  The first day of each Chinese year will always fall sometime between January 21 and February 21, inclusive, and takes place at sunset on the day of the second (sometimes rarely on the third) New Moon following the winter solstice (21 or 22 December). How long do the New Year celebrations last for? Chinese New Year celebrations last for two weeks and end with Teng Chieh, the lantern festival, on the full moon about 15 days later. The Chinese Calendar Each year in the Chinese calendar is represented by one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, the Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Some people believe that people born in a particular year such as the year of the Rat will have some of the characteristics of that animal. It is said that "The animal hides in your heart." At the other end of the spectrum, the 2016 trends in the news seem to veer into the silly. CTV News says a culinary trendologist told The Canadian Press that her ingredient to watch in 2016 is toast. Today we have an abstract of Canna leaves, and a sunflower interpretation.