It isn't the New Year atall.

My good friend, Shawn, gave me a wonderful present for Christmas. Well, he gave me the amazing gift of pipes that don't freeze when it gets to be less than 15 degrees, but he was even more generous and gave me a gift as well. He chose his gift wisely, as we share a passion for history, historical homes, and agronomics of the homestead. A book. An agronomic primer of sorts. The book is called Seasons of America, by Eric Sloane. I have already absorbed the amazing information in the book about barns written by Sloane, An Age of Barns. But I had not heard of this book. Now, this is not a novel to be read cover to cover. Not atall, atall, in my opinion. This is a book to be savored and mused over, bit by bit. So, over the past few weeks, I have read the first few chapters, ones that deal with life on American soil, prior to this age of ease. And, I have had many revelations. Each one  I thought worthy of rambling about to you seven. (welcome Madame Klodell).

But, none have set so strongly with me, with it's pure right-ness, as the notion that January 1, is not New Year's Day. Now, the calendar we currently use was put together in 1582 by Pope Gregory. When you think about the slow dissemination of information in that era, you know that the calendar was by no means an instant adoption. So, in the New World, of the Americas, the Gregorian Calendar was not truly adopted until about 200 years later. Indeed, for some time folks used both calendars. The calendar that made the most sense, and the one most widely still used in the 1600's when the colonies were born was a calendar that made the first day of the new year March 25! The New Year begins, quite sensibly, on the agrarian calendar, on March 25!

How correct. The winter of our lives is the end. The winter of the year is as well, and believe me, judging by the current temperature of 9 degrees, winter is by no means over, here on January 9. We should still be at the last part of the year. Spring should indeed begin the newness of a year. It is the time for new beginnings, naturally. March 25 is perfect. The garden should be being worked- the soil just chill enough at night to start the crops that can still withstand a bit of frost; the peas, early spring lettuces, the asparagus will be thinking of peeking up and the rhubarb will start to bluster and get red. Here in January, I can still be dormant, waiting for the new year to begin 11 weeks hence. So, I guess I'll have to plan another New Year's Day party, this time at the logical change in the year.

March 26, 2011, New Year's Day!