February

Mud month: Salmonath. Kale month. Named for Februa, the Roman purification festival, when people were ritually washed. Some years, February is the coldest month; Most years, only the second coldest. Always, it is the shortest month, even during leap years like 2024. Cabbage month. Mud month. A month whose name I practiced because I needed to get it right: that pesky first "r". It is the month my sister's birthday came, 94 times. She insisted it was on the 13th; clearly it was on the 12th. Mine is on 15 July. A 15 July 15 long years after her first February. Washington's birthday. Lincoln's birthday. Combined to President's day. Groundhog day. Valentine's day. ....Ahhhh....Valentine's day! Too much packed into such a cold, hard month -- one almost long enough to learn to write 2024 instead of 2023. Time, finally, to let go of all of last year's baggage. Dismal February days creep by; wintry February nights are long. They linger even longer than the solitary days of my natal mid-July.