Tag: new year

Raccoon’s New Year

Today marks yet another of theAbysmal Calendar’s interlocking New Years.

This past year I’ve been developing a novel calendar system, which divides the year into 363 + 2 days. The 363 days are divided into 11 months of 33 days each. Each month is made up of three weeks of 11 days. There are also three terms of 121 days.

The first day of the year is today, Jun 22 (21 in a leap year).

 

image of concentric circles. The outermost circle is made of eleven "months" of thirty three days arranged as three by eleven rectangles. Each rectangle contains thirty three circles representing the days of the year. Each circle is shaded from white at the top through greyscale to black at the bottom. The next circle in numbers the months 0 to 10 from top right clockwise to top left. The next circle in numbers the terms 0 to 2, beginning at the top right, ending top left. The central circle has the number 363.
Northern Hemisphere

 

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Global Time

It’s Northern Winter and Southern Summer. How do you figure a global calendar?

The question of the different ways we experience the year has been an interesting challenge, but fortunately, the Sun and Earth provide us with a complementary reflection.

13 months shaded for daylight Northern Hemisphere

Above we have the 13 months of the Year for the Northern Hemisphere. The Year begins at the bottom at the Winter Solstice (dec 21), and progresses clockwise through the year.

13 Months shaded for daylight, Southern Hemisphere

Above, the equivalent calendar for the Southern Hemisphere. The dark days of Winter stay at bottom, so the Year begins at the Southern Solstice at top, and progresses counter-clockwise aka widdershins, throughout the year.

In the North, if we face the path of the Sun, then we face South. The Sun rises in the East (to the left) and sets in the West (to the right) describing a clockwise direction.

In the South, if we face the path of the Sun, then we face North. The Sun rises in the East (to the right) and sets in the West (to the left) describing a counterclockwise direction.

I imagine a global game of catch, where at the Summer Solstice, we pass the sun back over the Equator, where our counterparts pass it back at the Winter Solstice.

The point being, I don’t understand Christmas, or any Winter Celebrations, that take place at the height of Summer (Australia, New Zealand, I’m looking at you).

But local customs aren’t for me to understand, just to enjoy or avoid, depending on the details.

Have a happy year, regardless of when it begins, how long it lasts, and how you dance it.

Jour de l’Indépendance

215 Years of Haitian Independence

This date will always be meaningful as Haiti’s Independence Day. It was the island first colonized by Columbus, and of the lands of North America, it was the first to free itself from slavery – and has been made to pay for it ever since.

To all my Haitian friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and community, Joyeux Jour de ‘An et de l’Indépendance.