Solstices, Kalends, Nones, & Ides
It's been over a month since we've even bothered to blog. That's tragic. I can't even make the excuse that we've been busy. I mean, sure it's the holiday season and we work retail, but we still have enough time off to conjure up an occassional post. The sad truth is that we are just too lazy.I'm slightly motivated at the moment, however, so here I go.
Today is the Winter Solstice. It's, by some accounts, the first day of Winter, though that's contentious. You can read all about it on Wikipedia, so I'm not going to say much more about it. I will, however, take this opportunity to point out other fun days.
The first day of every month is, in the Roman calendar, the Kalends (I'll let you figure out the etymology of "calendar" on your own). The fifth (or sometimes seventh) of each month is the Nones. The Wikipedia article has a long mnemonic, but I learned a shorter one: "In March, July, October, May / The Nones fall on the seventh day." The Ides always falls eight days later. This is why the Ides of March is on the 15th, instead of the 13th (which is my birthday). If you're currently wondering to yourself, "Where have I heard of the 'Ides of March'?" I'll tell you: Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, a day that traditionally had all sorts of weird stuff going on. I specifically mention the play as where you've heard it because Shakespeare spends quite a few lines talking about the Ides.
So what is the purpose of this whole discussion? With three named days out of the month, plus four days of the year (Winter and Summer Solstices, Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes), you now have 40 days of the year in which to dazzle people with your knowledge of trivia. When January 5th comes around, you can proudly tell people that it's the Nones of January. (I realize I skipped the Kalends, but I think January 1st has enough date-oriented things going on that nobody would care.
[Listening to: "Blame It On The Tetons" · Modest Mouse · Good News For People Who Love Bad News (5:24)]