Pictured above: Roses are red, Amaryllises too (Photo: Wendy Parker-Wood)
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ABQ Weather or Not
(Source:weather.com)
Gather your rosebuds, er...or in this case, amaryllises, while ye may: Tuesday and Wednesday reach the 60s and who knows when temps will tilt in that direction again? If you're social distancing, this is lunch-on-the-back-porch weather - or at least a game of backgammon with a friend. On the bright side, the dip into the 50s comes with plenty of sun - February is off to a great start.
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A Fresh Look at an Oft Maligned Month
I am a February child, and that also means for many of us, an Aquarian. That's a good thing. But February often gets a bad rap because it can be the cruelest of months as far as weather is concerned. Whether or not the Big Dump forecast for the Eastern Seaboard today and tomorrow materializes, the weather in this, the shortest of months, can pack a wallop.
I'm also an advocate for taking a fresh look at things these days (e.g., If life is a projection of our minds, maybe we ALL need to contemplate loading a fresh reel). Where better to begin than the present: February. And why not have a little fun with it as well?
You may think that Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day and Presidents Day are the only holidays of note this month - but that's just scratchin' the surface. While by no means hitting all of the high notes, the following should give you a sampling and a greater appreciation of February, from Day 1:
2/1: National Baked Alaska Day and World Play Your Ukulele Day
2/4: National Thank a Mail Carrier Day (coinciding this year with the 1st Thurs in Feb holiday: National Optimist Day)
2/7: National Fetticine Alfredo Day, along with my friend Tina Francken's birthday (which was also Mummy's)
2/9: 80th Birthday, Steve Seplow, former Inquirer Metropolitan Editor
2/11: A particular favorite: National Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
2/14: Valentine's Day, National Ferris Wheel Day
2/15: World Hippo Day
2/16: Fat Tuesday- my annual reminder to put a hold on booze and sugar beginning Ash Wednesday
2/17: Ash Wednesday (easy to remember this year, because it's the same day as National Cabbage Day)
2/20: National Love Your Pet Day
2/24: National Tortilla Chip Day and World Bartender Day [ sounds like Make Mine a Margarita Day! :-) ]
2/25: National Clam Chowder Day(Be careful today, it's also National Covered Nut Day...uh-oh....)
2/27: National Anosmia Day (aka National Good to have a Dictionary Handy Day)
2/28: National Tooth Fairy Day
2/29: National Only Every Four Years Day (I made that up - can you believe there's not a Leap Day?)
OTHER Notable February Events:
National Canned Fruit Month
National Kraut and Frankfurter Week (2nd week of Feb)
Westminster Dog Show (the week of Valentine's Day)
The Great Backyard Bird Count (begins Friday the week or weekend of Valentine's Day)
National Library Lovers Month
National Black History Month
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Editor's note: Happy February! Be Happy!
Take a screen shot, stick it on your mirror and Celebrate February holidays, and every day in between!
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The i'S Have iT
iWatch
IN & OF ITSELF Derek DelGaudio - on Hulu. Read about this amazing performance
THE DIG (Now available on Netflix) - An excavator (finally acknowledged) and his team discover a wooden ship from the Dark Ages while digging up a burial ground on a woman's estate (with a bit of classicism thrown in: Peggy Piggott, unheralded and...well, kind of treated like dirt.)
CALL MY AGENT - Season 4 is now available on Netflix
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iListen - A free online Concert
Olga Kern: QUICK!!! Only online until 6pm Tues Feb 2nd. Olga Kern playing from her home in Prague - an amazing concert. Please consider a donation.
A Van Cliburn Winner, and lover of NM - We love you back, Olga!
So click on this link to learn how Chamber Music Albuquerque is making this happen and then visit their Home Page. Here's a peek at the program:
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iEat
Baked Alaska isn't a commentary on the impact of climate change on the Last Frontier, and you really don't have to wait until National Polar Bear Day (Feb 27th) to explore the unknown - Today is the Day! Strike while the oven is hot!!
To learn how a Norwegian Omelet became a Baked Alaska, click here.
Make it with Alton Brown beside you (recipe) or google a YouTube.
As they say:
ᐊᔪᙱᒋᐊᕐᓗᑎᑦ (Pronounced: Ajunngigiarlutit)
( "Good Luck" in conversational Inuktituk...)
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iWish
Everyone would wake up to Lady Gaga singing the Star Spangled Banner and read The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman before they turn out the light.
Unconventional? Sure, but we need to start thinking outside the box if we're going to connect the Left and the Right and get this country functional again.
Look up "unity." That's a start. Give it some thought. Are you in? Or are you out? C'mon: we're all in this together and it's February, Our Better Selves Month (I just coined that one...)
Take a Baked Alaska to your neighbor. Play them "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on your ukulele. But don't cry over spilled milk - make some lemonade with those lemons!
Get a headstart - 3 days until National Optimist Day - time to suit up!
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Parting Shot
ᐅᒥᐊᕐᔫᑉ ᐳᓪᓕᓕᒫᐸᒐ ᑕᑦᑕᕐᓂᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᔭᖅ
Rough translation: "My hovercraft is full of eels."
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