Month of mud and cabbage

And here we are.   The first day of February.  Once more we have survived the seemingly endless days of January (alleviated for me, this year, by my brief, mid-month jaunt to Maui).

In considering a blog topic, I recalled past posts about the origins of January -- two-faced Janus and all that.  And about March, named after the Roman God of War, the month when warfare again became practical in snowbound countries.  Practical for primitive reasons that are about to be re-discovered by the armies of both Russia and Ukraine.

But February was virgin blogging terrain.  Or so I thought until a scan of my own blog revealed an extensive history of the month in 2017, just six years ago.  How confused our memories become as the years go by!

As pointed out in 2017, February was named after the Februa, the Roman ritual of purification held half way through the month.  I noted, meaningfully, that sometimes entire nations require purification, as suggested by the recent election of, well, never mind.  He Who Must Not be Named.  In addition, the Church designated February 2 as the Feast of the Purification, but purification in a different sense -- a ritual ceremony under Jewish law that women underwent forty days after birth of a child.  Or, in this case, a Child.

Our nation is no less in need of purification now than it was six years ago.  But enough.  You are subjected to sufficient political angst on TV and in the newspapers.  

Not all nations have dwelled on ethereal concepts of purification, either Roman or Christian, in naming February. Many nations are more earthy. The Ukrainians call it лютий (lyutiy), meaning the month of ice or hard frost -- a name they must find especially poignant this year. Other Eastern and Central European countries have a number of outlandish names for February, most of them focusing on aspects of snow, ice, icicles, ice floating in partially frozen rivers ... well, you get the idea. Try to picture Lower Slobbovia as portrayed in one of the old Al Capp "Li'l Abner" comics.

No, let's just focus on the good, old Anglo-Saxon terms for February. Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (cabbage month). They are both down-to-earth, and descriptive. It's where we of English descent descended from -- long cold, wet winters ending in mud and meals consisting of the last of the prior summer's cabbage, as our grandparents huddled shivering in their hovels.

At least they, like us, have March -- the month of War -- to look forward to. A little bloody excitement to bring us out of our long winter tedium. Things haven't changed much.