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South Side Muskie Hawks

                                               FEBRUARY – THE ODDBALL MONTH
      The month of February is a real oddball as months go. It is the only month with 28 days, and sometimes 29.
Right there, it starts off differently from the other months which all have either 30 or 31 days. It can’t even make
up its mind whether to have 28 or 29 days. Then too, there is some really archaic schedule that hardly anyone
remembers as to when February will have only 28 days, and when it will have 29. It is not simply every four years
that the 29th day will occur, as many people think. No, it has to be more difficult than that! It can’t just go along
calm as can be like the other months, but has to throw a monkey wrench in the works every now and then.
      The actual formula for when the month of February will have 28 days and when it will have 29 goes like this.
Approximately every fourth year is a leap year, one that will have 366 days, meaning that February will have 29
days in leap years. However, not every fourth year is a leap year. A leap year only occurs in those years that can
be divided evenly by four, except the years that mark the even hundreds, such as 1700 and 1900. In addition, the
only years marking the century that are leap years, are those that can be divided evenly by 400, such as 1600 and
2000.
      Leap years were added to the calendar to make the calendar year more closely coincide with the solar year,
which is the time that it takes for the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. Now that we have
that all straightened out, we can move on to some of the other oddities of the month of February.
     Though February is the shortest month, it is also the one with the greatest number of well-known
‘holidays’, even though they are not observed as ‘official’ holidays. First, there is Groundhog Day on the second
day of February. This is when Mr. Groundhog decides whether or not to poke his head out of his burrow, and thus
decide whether or not we will have six more weeks of winter. Though not an ‘official holiday’, it is nonetheless
amusing and seems to help make the month of February (one of the coldest and most miserable months) pass
more quickly, as it takes our minds off of looking forward to at least four more weeks of ugly weather.
      Next comes Valentine’s Day on the 14th of the month. This is when husbands and boyfriends/significant
others usually buy a heart-shaped box of chocolate candy for their wives or girlfriends, which they then proceed
to eat little-by-little until it is gone. The wife or girlfriend will be lucky if she gets two or three pieces out of the
whole box. However, this is to be expected, as men are always looking for some kind of munchies while they are
watching TV, and if their spouse has not done any baking, then the candy box is always handy. Most men do not
even realize that they do this, which is what makes it so funny. They just keep nibbling until the whole box of
chocolates is gone, and then blame their wives or girlfriends for eating all of the chocolates. Better still, some of
them, after giving the wife or girlfriend the box of chocolates, caution them about eating too many of them for
fear of getting fat.
      Hmmmm, this sounds like a plan from the devious male mind, if ever there was one. Don’t get me wrong
guys, but sometimes you make plans without even realizing you have made them! However, women also make
devious plans sometimes, Have you ever noticed that you sometimes get ‘rewarded’ hugely for doing some
distasteful task (or a few distasteful tasks) that your wife or girlfriend doesn’t want to do? She may ‘reward’ you
by making your favorite meal and a luscious dessert, or she may agree to do some of your paperwork for you
(paperwork that you have no patience for doing). There are other ways in which women ‘reward’ their spouses or
significant others, but we won’t go into them here.
      The month of February also contains two ‘used-to-be’ holidays, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on the 12th of
the month, and George Washington’s birthday on the 22nd of the month. I call them ‘used-to-be’ holidays
because they are no longer officially recognized as being holidays, even though some school systems and some
governmental entities still recognize them. Instead, our government decided to combine the two into what we
now call ‘Presidents’ Day’ in order to comply with the Monday holiday bill. Presidents’ Day always occurs on the
third Monday of the month of February, which means that it will be on the 20th this year.
      The history of Washington’s birthday being observed as a Federal holiday, goes back to the 1880’s, but
Lincoln’s birthday was never officially a Federal holiday, though it was observed as a holiday by many school
systems and businesses in many parts of the country, but not in the South. Lincoln’s birthday is still observed in
many places, but not in as many as before the Monday holiday bill was passed in order to give workers more long
weekends.
      The month of February also sometimes contains the Christian observance of Ash Wednesday, and with it, the
celebration in New Orleans known as Mardi Gras. While the observance of Ash Wednesday does not occur every
year in February; it does this year on the 22nd of the month. In fact, eight of the next thirteen occurrences of
Ash Wednesday are in February.
      With all of these things happening in February plus the fact that sports shows are still going on, it makes this
oddball month really fly by, and that makes spring that much closer, as once we get into the month of March, one
can definitely see the light at the end of the wintry tunnel. Yes, we will still have some blustery, cold, wet, and
maybe snowy weather, but the icy grip of winter is loosening, and before you know it, the ice on the lakes and
rivers will have melted, the sun will be shining, the flowers will start blooming, the grass will be turning green,
and it will be time to get out into the great outdoors again!