Banner County News, Notes & Nonsense

Hello out there in Banner County and to our friends and neighbors. We still have snow on the ground and is it ever a welcome sight--although we could do without these freezing temperatures!

News is going in early this week and so I have very little of it. We will be having a baby shower at the Harrisburg Community Church which I will have to cover in next week’s news. The shower is for Sierra Sue Johnson and her mom Stacy.

School also will be resuming tomorrow Friday, January 4. I seriously cannot say that I feel terrible about that. It is great to have them home, but it sure is noisy!

Well here we are sitting in 2013. How did you bring in the New Year? My usual routine did not change one little bit. I don’t feel bad about that either. Definitely, I must be getting older…or maybe just smarter. And if that is the case, it sure has taken a long time.

Just a short note on the history of this New Year business. The beginning of the 365 day calendar began in the year 46 BCE when Julius Caesar developed a calendar to more accurately coincide with the seasonal weather changes. In the Middle Ages Christians changed the date of the New Year, which Julius began as January 1, to December 25, the date they used as the birth of Jesus. Later the Christians changed the date of the New Year once more, to March 25 and called it Annunciation.

In the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII decided to revise this calendar and he renamed it the ‘Gregorian’ calendar and he moved the New Year day date once more to January 1.

If a person was born during any of these time periods, how in the world would you really know when your birthday was, or how old you really were? Anyway, some folks do not use this calendar, but use instead a lunar calendar. These calendars have less than 365 days because they are based on the phases of the moon. The New Year for these begins sometime after the 1st full moon of the year--usually sometime between January 19 and February 21 (which is after the sun enters Aquarius on the solar calendar).

So if your birthday is January 19 and the New Year starts on February 20, you get to stay a little younger for a little while.

Guess I will just stick the calendar that we have. The one with 365 days, nice pictures, and ends each year without any threats of the world coming to an end!

Birthdays this week are: Bethany Cooper, Spencer Lease, Jennifer Bohnsack, Brady Lind, Teagan McGowan, Ariel Whelchel, and Lori Hostetler. Happy Birthday!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Knaub on your wedding anniversary!

Once again, happy New Year to you all in this 2013, great health, and lots of moisture! Until next time, take care. 436-7152,641-1335, [email protected].