February Baby

As a February baby - born, indeed, on the first day of the month - I've always tended to think rather proprietorially of this month.  It's a transition month, often - you begin to notice at last that the evenings are opening out a bit, and snowdrops and celandines, primroses, perhaps even a few early daffodils signal the spring days that are not too far around the corner.  The shortness of February was always a relief, too, particularly in the days when my income barely kept pace with our family expenditure.


February gets its name from the Latin Februa, the purification festival held on the fifteenth day of the month, as designated in the old lunar calendar. I presume that there is some connection between this pagan ritual and the Feast of the Purification (or Candlemas) which falls on February 2nd in the Church calendar and signals the end of the Christmas / Epiphany season.  It is possible there might also be a connection with fever (febris), and certainly this is a month when many of us find ourselves laid up with the flu!

A few years ago I prepared a talk about this month for one of our local ladies' clubs.  February is the month chosen to vary in length so as to correct the calendar, and I was able to discover and share some interesting facts about February's varying length - there have been, in various places, Februarys with anything from 24 to 32 days, as calendars were brought in line with each other. Normally, of course, the variation is between 28 and 29 days, and, as our oldest child was born on 29th February, this has directly impacted on us.  She had a decision to make, since her 'real' birthday only comes round every four years.  On the other three years, should she go for 28th February (and thus remain a February baby), or  opt for 1st March (which of course would be the full year on from her previous birthday)?  Wisely, she decided to go for both, reckoning that two substitute birthdays might atone for the lack of one real one.

This year, February started cold, then got a bit warmer - it's been quite mild here today - and, glancing ahead over the next few days, looks as though it's getting colder again.  There may even be a bit more snow.  But it's still light at tea time, the bulbs are growing in the garden, and I'm happy with whatever my little month sends my way.  Anyway, in three and a bit weeks' time, it'll be March!