Monday, January 01, 2007

Through the doorway


Well, the holidays are over, spent. Now it’s on to the new year.

According to Wikipedia, January is named for Janus, the god of the doorway, or "the beginning" in Roman mythology, which makes January the door to the new year.

Historical names for January include Ianuarius (Roman); Wulf-monath, which means wolf-month (Saxon); and Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month), as it was called by Charlemagne. In Finnish, the month is called tammikuu, meaning "month of the oak"; and in Czech, it’s called leden, meaning ice month.

Other uses of January: There’s January Jones, actress; it’s the name of a pop-rock band from the U.K.; a blog featuring book reviews (januarymagazine.com); and a blog featuring art news and reviews (januaryblog.com). It’s also the month when C, my sister, and my mom celebrate their birthdays, all Aquarians.

So, through the doorway of January we go, day by day, step by step, hoping for the best.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Every doorway, every intersection has a story.
~ Katherine Dunn

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