Welcome and Hello February
The nature has bestowed our habitat Earth, with four seasons; spring, summer, Autumn, Winter, and all of them have its own colours, sounds and vibes. We are now in the month of February, which is 2nd month of year and last of Winter seasons and continuation of snow fall causing chill cold weather in northern hemisphere. This write up is to say “Hello and Welcome February." “The reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they had to stand one more blasted day.” ― Katherine Paterson
In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Welcome and Hello February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. March was the first month in ancient Roman calendar, which consisted of 10 months only and January and February were added by Numa Pompilius in about 713 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs in abou 450 BC, when it was declared the second month. Thus February is the 2nd month of the year since 53 BCE and is also the third and last month of Winter season in Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the third and last month of meteorological summer (being the seasonal equivalent of what is August in the Northern Hemisphere). Let's welcome and say hello to February with Algernon Charles Swinburne quote "Wan February with weeping cheer, Whose cold hand guides the youngling year; Down misty roads of mire and rime." Anna Quindlen has taken a different path to describe the month as “February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long.”
The name "February" is derived from the Roman month "Februarius" which was taken from the Latin term " Februum" means "purification", via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar Roman calendar. The Latin word februa, a Roman god which means “to cleanse.” It was named after Februalia, the Roman festival of purification, which was a month-long festival of purification and atonement. Patience Strong says that “In February there is everything to hope for and nothing to regret;” and Fred Bruemmer says about the month as “The Polar Intuit of northwest Greenland, the northernmost people, call February ‘seqinniaq’, ‘the month when the sun appears’.”
The month of February has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the leap day. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (the other four being April, June, September, and November) and the only one to have fewer than 30 days. February is the only month of the year that can pass without a single full moon. Using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis for determining the date and time of a full moon, this last happened in 2018 and will next happen in 2037. The same is true regarding a new moon: again using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis, this last happened in 2014 and will next happen in 2033. Gladys Hasty Carroll says about this month as “February is the uncertain month, neither black nor white but all shades between by turns. Nothing is sure.” Moreover, “The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within" as said by William Cullen Bryant.
February is also the only month of the calendar that, at intervals alternating between one of six years and two of eleven years, has exactly four full 7-day weeks. In countries that start their week on a Monday, it occurs as part of a common year starting on Friday, in which February 1st is a Monday and the 28th is a Sunday; this occurred in 1965, 1971, 1982, 1993, 1999, 2010 and 2021, and will occur again in 2027. In countries that start their week on a Sunday, it occurs in a common year starting on Thursday, with the next occurrence in 2026, and previous occurrences in 1987, 1998, 2009 and 2015. The pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100. Lemony Snickett has guided correctly about this month as “February is the shortest month, so if you’re having a miserable month, try to schedule it for February.”
Historical names for February include the Old English terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice. In Polish and Ukrainian, respectively, the month is called luty or лютий (lyutiy), meaning the month of ice or hard frost. In Macedonian the month is sechko (сечко), meaning month of cutting (wood). In Czech, it is called únor, meaning month of submerging (of river ice). Percy Bysshe Shelley says that “February… Bending from Heaven, in azure mirth, It kissed the forehead of the Earth, And smiled upon the silent sea, And bade the frozen streams be free, And waked to music all their fountains, And breathed upon the frozen mountains.”
In Slovene, February is traditionally called svečan, related to icicles or Candlemas. This name originates from sičan, written as svičan in the New Carniolan Almanac from 1775 and changed to its final form by Franc Metelko in his New Almanac from 1824. The name was also spelled sečan, meaning "the month of cutting down of trees". Edgar Fawcett says that “February, a form pale-vestured, wildly fair. One of the North Wind’s daughters with icicles in her hair;” and Emma Lazarus further adds that “Thick February mists cling heavily to the dead earth and to each leafless tree.” Moreover “Late February days; and now, at last, Might you have thought that winter’s woe was past; So fair the sky was and so soft the air” said by William Morris
February is famous also due to " Valentine's Day" celebrations in a big way. Tom Robbins says it so beautifully that “The only bubble in the flat champagne of February is Valentine’s Day. It was no accident that our ancestors pinned Valentine’s Day on February’s shirt: he or she lucky enough to have a lover in frigid, antsy February has cause for celebration, indeed.” Dinesh Kumar Biran further adds by saying that “February—the month of love! No wonder the shortest one in the calendar.” Euginia Herlihy rings for “Okay love birds -listen up! I have an announcement to make. Today is the 14th of February and it is a special day for you. Try to loosen up and love each other like you inhale the last breath of your life. Make it exciting and enjoyable. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
February is last month of winters and Linda Ellerbee has rightly guided that “In the coldest February, as in every other month in every other year, the best thing to hold on to in this world is each other.” Therefore; “Though, February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises” as aid by Charmaine J Forde. We must remember that February is the month of love – a time for Valentine's Day and remembering love – emphasizing the importance of love in our lives. “At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.” Someone said that “February is the uncertain month, neither black nor white, but all shades between by turns. Nothing is sure.” However; Eric Lies highlighted that “Freezing cold winds, biting chills, and white snow fluffed hills Valentine’s day, oh how gay! Presidents’ Day is coming our way. February, sweet and small, the greatest month of all.”
Individuals with February birthdays are known for their creativity, compassion, and originality. As winter gradually gives way to spring, February-born individuals bring warmth and innovation to the world. People born in February are influenced by two zodiac signs: Aquarius and Pisces. February babies are blessed with a wealth of creativity. They like intellectual discussions, but abhor shallow people. They are free in spirit and are quite bohemian in their outlook towards life. They love travelling and adventures and feel at home with nature.
The Brook in February by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
A snowy path for squirrel and fox,
It winds between the wintry firs.
Snow-muffled are its iron rocks,
And o'er its stillness nothing stirs.
But low, bend low a listening ear!
Beneath the mask of moveless white
A babbling whisper you shall hear—
Of birds and blossoms, leaves and light.
February by Rebecca Hey
Though Winter still asserts his right to reign,
He sways his sceptre now with gentler hand;
Nay, sometimes softens to a zephyr bland
The hurrying blast, which erst along the plain
Drove the skin-piercing sleet and pelting rain
In headlong rage; while, ever and anon,
He draws aside his veil of vapours dun,
That the bright sun may smile on us again.
To-day 'twould seem (so soft the west wind's sigh)
That the mild spirit of the infant Spring
Was brooding o'er the spots where hidden lie
Such early flowers as are the first to fling
On earth's green lap their wreaths of various dye—
Flowers, round whose forms sweet hopes and sweeter memories cling.
February Gems by Allen R. Darrow
To wandering children in the ages old,
I've often heard that mystic tales were told
Of fairy lands, where oft on trees and bowers
There fell from heaven pure crystal gems in showers.
Well, I believe, and so I think must you
That myths are shadows sometimes of the true;
For going forth upon a winter morn
A wondrous glory did the day adorn,
On every tree along the city street,
What matchless splendor did my vision greet.
Pendant from silver-coated branch and stem,
In argent beauty hung a brilliant gem;
Sparkling in candescent glory bright,
Shone myriad diamonds in the morning light.
Nature from its exhaustless wealth and store,
Through every street and by-way o'er and o'er,
Prodigal alike to all the rich and poor
Had scattered rivals to the Khoinoor.
February by Jane [Goodwin] Austin
I thought the world was cold in death;
The flowers, the birds, all life was gone,
For January's bitter breath
Had slain the bloom and hushed the song.
And still the earth is cold and white,
And mead and forest yet are bare;
But there's a something in the light
That says the germ of life is there.
Deep down within the frozen brook
I hear a murmur, faint and sweet,
And lo! the ice breaks as I look,
And living waters touch my feet.
Within the forest's leafless shade
I hear a spring-bird's hopeful lay:
O life to frozen death betrayed
Thy death shall end in life to-day.
And in my still heart's frozen cell
The pulses struggle to be free;
While sweet the bird sings, who can tell
But life may bloom again for thee!
February Rain by Charles Turner Dazey
O lonely day! No sounds are heard
Save winds and floods that downward pour,
And timid fluting of a bird,
That pipes one low note o'er and o'er.
Before the blast the bare trees lean,
The ragged clouds sail low and gray,
And all the wild and wintry scene
Is but one blur of driving spray.
O day most meet for memories,
For musing by a vacant hearth
On that which was and that which is,
And those who walk no more on earth!
And yet this dark and dreary day
Some brighter lesson still can bring,
For it is herald of the May,
A faint foretoken of the spring.
Beneath the ceaseless-beating rain
Earth's snowy shroud fast disappears,
As sorrow pressing on the brain,
Fades in a flood of happy tears.
And thus in darkness oft is wrought,
Through lonely days of tears and grief,
The gradual change by which is brought
To shadowed lives some sweet relief.
Leap Year by Annette Wynne
Little month of February,
You are small, but worthy—very!
Will you grow up like the others,
Like your sister months and brothers?
Every four years with a bound
With a leap up from the ground,
Trying to grow tall as they—
All you stretch is one small day!
Even then you're not so tall
But just the shortest month of all.
