Recipe for a Happy New Year

Take twelve whole months. Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate, and jealousy. Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one different parts, but don't make up the whole batch at once. Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.

Mix well into each day one part of faith, one part of patience, one part of courage, and one part of work. Add to each day one part of hope, faithfulness, generosity, and kindness. Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation, and one good deed. Season the whole with a dash of good spirits, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play, and a cupful of good humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love. Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile, and serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness. You're bound to have a happy new year.  

Author Unknown

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Psalm 90:4

TIME: Other Names

In an earlier Time fact I mentioned Calendar reform. The calendar has always been in reform and today there still is a movement to reform the calendar.

During the French Revolution a reformed calendar was used. The French revolution attempted to remove religion from the lives of the people. Man and reason reigned. To prevent religious ideas from appearing in the calendar, a new calendar was designed and adopted. A 10-day week and 12 months of 30 days calendar was used. The days left at year's end were given over to vacations and celebrations. The calendar began on Sept. 22, 1792, the day the republic was proclaimed.

The 10 day week made worship on the Sabbath or the first day of the week difficult to keep track of. The months were renamed so that no association with gods of any kind would be mentioned.

The months were called :

1. Vendemiaire (vintage),
   
2. Brumaire (mist),
   
3. Frimaire (frost),
   
4. Nivose (snow),
   
5. Pluviose,
   
6. Ventose (wind),
   
7. Germinal (sprouting time),
   
8. Floreal (blossom),
   
9. Prairial (meadow),
   
10. Messidor (harvest),
    
11. Thermidor (heat), and
    
12. Fructidor (fruit).

France returned to the Gregorian calendar on Jan. 1, 1806, under Napoleon I. . 

Sources: The Handy Science Answer Book - Visible Ink|
Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. |

A New Year Quotation

The Unknown Future

Life is a book in volumes three--
The past, the present, and the yet-to-be.
The past is written and laid away,
The present we're writing every day,
And the last and best of volumes three
Is locked from sight -- God keeps the key.

Author unknown