Happy New Year!

Let's hope it is a better one than 2005, or we are all so screwed!!!

I've been nursing a cold since yesterday, with soup and wine (the bottle was open, and you just can't let a 19 year old Mendoza cabernet sauvignon go to waste!) I'm a bit too groggy to write much, so have been nestled at home editing photos (check out the South Dakota pics on my .Mac site).

I've been watching the birds at the feeder. They came all day yesterday, despite the wet snow. The house sparrows have finally found the feeder, and have been coming en mass (as they seem to do everything). If the blue jays are feeding when they arrive, they will sit quietly on the spruce, in their little group, waiting their turn. No one messes with the jays--I even saw them dive-bomb a squirrel once.

Too lazy to write, I am stealing this list from Steve Gilliard. I found it interesting. Hope you do, too.

1 January: The first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar used by most developed countries.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a celebration that occurs 163 days following Pesach (Passover) (See Hebrew Calendar). In the Gregorian calendar at present, Rosh Hashanah cannot occur before 5 September, when it occurred in 1899 and will occur again in 2013. After the year 2089, the differences between the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar will force Rosh Hashanah to be not earlier than 6 September. Rosh Hashanah cannot occur later than 5 October, when it occurred in 1967 and will again occur in 2043.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, New Years is on 14 January (1 January in the Julian Calendar). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Years.

The Chinese New Year occurs every year at a new moon during the winter. The exact date can fall anytime between 21 January and 21 February inclusive, on the Gregorian Calendar. Because the Chinese calendar is astronomically defined, unlike the Gregorian Calendar, the drift of the seasons will change the range. Each year is symbolized by one of 12 animals and one of five elements, with the combinations of animals and elements (or stems) cycling every 60 years. It is perhaps the most important Chinese holiday. The Chinese New Year is generally celebrated with firecrackers, and in some places with a parade.

The Vietnamese New Year is the Tet Nguyen Dan. It is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year.

The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz.

The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of Lunar year this day.

The Thai New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April by throwing water.

The Cambodian New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April.

The Bengali New Year Poila Baisakh is celebrated on 14 April or 15 April in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal.

The Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, is celebrated on 11 September. It is currently 1998 on the Ethiopian calendar.

Some neo-pagans celebrate Samhain (a festival of the ancient Celts, held around November 1) as a new year's day representing the new cycle of the Wheel of the Year, although they do not use a different calendar that starts on this day.

The Hindu New Year is celebrated usually two days after the festival of Diwali (held in mid-November).

The Islamic New Year is celebrated on 1 Muharram. Since the Muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months amounting to about 354 days, the Gregorian date of this is earlier each year. 2008 will see two Muslim New Years.

The Iranian New Year, called Norouz, is celebrated at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring season.