by

On January 2015

Embed from Getty Images

January, named after Janus, the God of beginnings and transitions

January wasn’t always the first month because March was in the old Roman calendar

January Symbols

  • Flowers: Carnation, Snowdrop
  • Birthstone: Garnet
  • Zodiac: Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) and Aquarius (January 20th into February)

January has also been referred to as Ianuarius (Romans), Wulf-monath (Saxons wolf month), Wintarmanoth (Charlemagne’s winter/cold month), Tammikuu (Finnish, month of the oak moon), Leden (Czech ice month), Prosinec (Slovene)

The names for January’s moon are Old Moon, Moon after Yule, and Storm Moon

Depending on your location, the moon will be full on January 4th/5th, and the new moon will be January 20th

January starts on the same day of the week as October in common years, and starts on the same day of the week as April and July in leap years

January ends on the same day of the week as February and October in a common year, and ends on the same day of the week as July in a leap year

On average, January is the coldest month of the year for most of the Northern Hemisphere, but the warmest month of the year for most of the Southern Hemisphere … thus January and July are seasonal equivalents

Movie titles include movies Captain January (1936), The January Man (1989), and The Two Faces of January (2014)

January promotes teen driving awareness, unchaining a dog, bath safety, books, getting organized, wealth mentality, hobbies, learning to ski & snowboard, mail order gardening, letter writing, thank you, radon action, mentoring, slavery & human trafficking prevention, fat-free living, staying healthy, slow cooking, and getting over it

January celebrates walking a dog, worldwide rising star, creativity, quality of life, polka music, self-love, OK to be different, blended families, printing, high-tech, stamp collectors, crime stoppers, and yours mine & ours

January is the month to enjoy oatmeal, prunes, candy, gourmet coffee, hot tea, soup, wheat bread, swapping soup, bread machine making, brain teasers, and making bread in a bread machine

January is the time to embrace training your dog, adopting a rescued bird, celebrating life, dried prune digestion, balancing life, changing your stars, skating, being on purpose, finding your way, shaping up, reaching your potential, voluntarily donating blood, and watching bald eagles

January is the month to increase awareness about stalking, the thyroid gland, personal trainers, birth defects, cervical health, financial wellness, Braille literacy, child-centered divorce, glaucoma, birth defect prevention, poverty, eye health, clinical trials, autism, and self-help groups

Have a great January. Which songs did you enjoy?

75 thoughts on “On January 2015”

  2. Hi Frank – Happy January! I hope I’m not being difficult – but I didn’t enjoy any of those songs. The opening music was okay, but it’s too hot here to appreciate it! Every day is a good day to hug your dog! – I should probably go do that now ……. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  4. I like Julie London. January is living up to its hot reputation here in Brisbane, it is hot and humid and horrible! I am trying to stay in my air conditioned work room. At least I am getting lots of sewing done.
    I look forward to February when I return to the cold in Italy.

    Like

    Reply

  5. well i’m doing the right january things but it isn’t working too well.. oatmeal for breakfast, purple matzo ball soup a few hours ago, peach tea now & then the lid was stuck to the pot,when it cooled. i had to google what to do. answer: heat it back up.

    Like

    Reply

  8. I listened to all of them, but I’m always a sucker for Julie London, Frank. I am also a big oatmeal fan, but it’s a production to prepare so I only treat myself to it on holidays and weekends. But, I particularly enjoy it in winter when the temperature feels like the interior of a freezer outside.

    Like

    Reply

  10. Happy New Year! Hope 2015 brings you lots of fun surprises and wonderful wishes to come true. 🙂 Loved the post, it’s always interesting to find out the meaning behind a month.

    Like

    Reply

  14. Sting…this is also going to happen…

    “…shaping up, reaching your potential, voluntarily donating blood, and watching bald eagles”

    Got a blood platelet donation appt tomorrow and eagles are always along the river in town.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Living near some of the best ski resorts in the world, I love January, Frank. It signals the beginning of ski season – and it should be a good one here. We’re getting lots of snow. Come to think of it, celebrating life and skiing go hand-in-hand for me! Skiing is exhilarating, and I’m so grateful to enjoy good health and a strong body – a great way to celebrate life in January!

    Great post as always. Happy New Year!

    Like

    Reply

  18. I really love that potted January. If I thought that Stevie-boy would appreciate it for his 50th (celebrated in January) I would create it for him. Alas, all of his focus (pun completely intended) is taken up with his new camera baby so I am afeared that this glorious display would have to play second fiddle and that just wouldn’t be cricket now would it? Febrary is our hottest month here in Tassie but of late, it has become March. January is when things just start to heat up a bit and our tomatoes start to realise that they are actually plants, not just slug-a-beds and throw out a few flowers and do that fruiting thing. There might be something in that “January promotion” but I fear it is predominately to do with that old furphy, “The New Years Resolution”. The magic cleansing eraser that sweeps in on January the 1st and by February 1st it is a spent husk of an idea ;). I started the year out by hammering beer bottle caps into discs to make a beer bottle cap bunting for Stevie-boys music room and putting holes in 108 more to make a matching beer bottle cap lamp shade. The height of fashion is our Stevie-boys music room ;). I learned about nailbinding, an ancient Nordic method of stringing fibres together to make various items of clothing and Stevie-boy made me a drop spindle in order to learn how to spin a couple of big bags of alpaca fleece that I was gifted. I don’t agree with fat free living. Our bodies need healthy fat. Without it we can’t metabolise properly and our skin, nails and hair suffer incredibly. Staying healthy I am on board with and it starts with buying a dog and walking it every day (or if you are me…enduring a crazy and unpredictable aerobic routine of dubious outcome at the end of a taut lead with a highly motivated furry “personal trainer” who appears to be on crack cocaine instructing me). Getting over it? Yes. I love that. I think that the best thing that we can do for 2015 “resolutions” is to Get over it. Stop thinking that we need to be someone else, something else, have something else, live another life before we start living THIS life that we have been given. Getting over our perceived needs, our cossetted grudges and our need to always be first and right gives us the freedom to really live our lives. Yes Mr Frank, I salute “Getting over it” :). I am going to have to get out my leiderhosen (HAHAHA! Spell checker just wanted me to change that to “leaseholder” 😉 )and my Weird Al Yankovic CD’s in order to get stuck into polka music again. This is a most interesting month looking at all of the things that we have to do! I don’t eat oatmeal, I now make a savoury version of rice porridge with brown rice for my breakfast, I adore prunes but not for their societal use, just because. I love the smell of coffee more than the taste, OH HOT TEA YOU ARE MY FOREVER LOVE (get the picture? 😉 ). Wheat bread is the bomb but real sourdough wheat bread that is going to do your intestines a power of good. Swapping soup? That intrigues me. How is this soup swap meant to be facilitated? Hopefully not out of the back of a pick-up truck on a dark back alley…I gave my bread machine away when we installed Brunhilda. She is my almighty bread machine. She proves the bread, bakes the bread and delivers a house full of delicious scent. I take it you like bread made in a bread machine as it features twice here ;). Brain teasers are amazing things. Not only do they tease and tantalise your brain, but apparently, they keep your brain moving, growing and learning which is a wonderful thing for those of us on the wrong side of 50.

    We tried to embrace training our dogs. They ended up training us. Nuff said :(. We feed the birds, is that good enough? Every day is a celebration of life (more prunes…REALLY?!). Life balancing should be the first thing we think of every day rather than a coda to life. It’s what makes life round and meaningful. Not sure how you change stars but the only way that I can see is to up-sticks and move to another hemisphere…I tried skating…once…I think I am allergic to it. Purpose is a great thing. A life without purpose is a sad thing. Everyone has a purpose and its up to us to find out what it is. What an adventure! :). I would hate to “reach my potential” because what is there after that?! Yes to donating blood but I am afraid if I head out with my trusty binoculucles and attempt to go bald eagle watching it is going to end in narfish tears.

    A most interesting list Mr Frank and entirely tiring! How could anyone get stuck into all of that in only 31 days! What is child centred divorce?! Is that where kids divorce their parents? My kids did that every Tuesday when they weren’t allowed to watch television after 7pm. No-one can eliminate poverty but it’s the old “If you give a man a fish” thing, teach people how to live within poverty, to manage, to educate themselves, how to feed themselves, show them possibilities and suddenly “poverty” can become a challenge rather than a sentence. When the poor form communities, raise their voices as one, learn to speak up and out they become an amazing vehicle for change. Poverty is rife in many countries in the world but some of the poorest people are also the happiest because they have learned to live within their lives.

    Thank you for that final video Mr Frank. How did you know that I asked Santa for the Goo-goo dolls for Christmas? He didn’t stuff them into my waiting stocking but you just did the next best thing 🙂

    Like

    Reply

      • “Taswegian” is the preferred term but as a born and bred native West Aussie, I think I will pass on being labelled “Tasmanian” for now ;). Thank you for that ear worm Mr Frank. I think the left hand side of my brain has now retired and is wearing socks and sandals and a hat with a feather in it. Your job here is done! 😉

        Like

        Reply

  21. Ah, what a month!!! So many celebrations! Julie London and Elton John [can’t choose].
    0 degrees here and we expect further drop of temperature accompanied with strong icy winds and snow. Yes, all this in Athens! 😉 Happy January, my dear Frank! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  22. January, you bring it on so well, from your wonderful video selections and interesting facts…had to check who that beautiful singer Julie London was…great voice and yes, a classic entertainer. all the best in 2015, Frank! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  23. True to my eclectic nature, I can’t decide on a favorite song. You and I do have similar musical tastes, I think. Happy New Year, Frank. I am a big Julie London fan, too. January is usually my “recovery” month, but this year we have more going on in January than December. Beginnings and transitions–interesting! Happy New Year, Frank. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  24. Each time I visit here Frank.. I learn something new.. and you remind me of what I forgot.. 🙂

    Especially liked this sentence..”January is the month to enjoy oatmeal, prunes, candy, gourmet coffee, hot tea, soup, wheat bread, swapping soup, bread machine making, brain teasers, and making bread in a bread machine..

    Well I had home made stew today.. and oatmeal this morning 🙂 the bread I made day before yesterday 🙂 ..
    Happy New Year to you Frank.. may it bring you blessings in abundance.. in Health and Happiness..
    Sue

    Like

    Reply

  26. Janus, the perfect symbol of the month! Great post, Frank. “Captain January” caught my attention – I can still hear Shirley Temple calling out “Cap! Cap!” when being separated from her beloved Capt. January. Still a sucker for Shirley Temple movies 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  27. This will be a very cold month for us – when we wake up Thursday morning it will average around 17. Love January, time for homemade soups and breads – comfort foods. Have a wonderful 2015!

    Like

    Reply

Comment with respect.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.