小雪
We are having some very cold (for the Northwest) days, but no snow. In fact, the weather is sunny and crisp. There is some frost in the mornings but no fog.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Small Snow
In the Chinese calendar, today is the first day of the Small Snow (pinyin: xiǎoxuě) solar term:
We are having some very cold (for the Northwest) days, but no snow. In fact, the weather is sunny and crisp. There is some frost in the mornings but no fog.
We are having some very cold (for the Northwest) days, but no snow. In fact, the weather is sunny and crisp. There is some frost in the mornings but no fog.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Gettysburg Address
Today, November 19th, is the anniversary of Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address - 150 years to the day. The speech is famous for its conciseness. On that day in 1863, it followed another speech, now totally forgotten, that lasted for two hours.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Day of Saint Martin
Today, November 11th, is the day of St. Martin (of Tours, to be precise).
The day lends its name to the "estate di San Martino", which is the Italian name for Indian Summer.
It is also marked in Sweden as Mårtengås. Gås is a goose, and Mårten is, of course, the Swedish form of Martin. The association with the goose is specific to Nordic countries and is not rooted in the legend of the saint. Instead, I guess it stems from the fact that this is a good time to slaughter domestic geese (the wild ones have left the Nordic countries a couple of months ago). Geese eat grass, and accumulate fat in late summer. By now, green grass begins to be in short supply, because there has been frost for several weeks already, so there is no hope to fatten the geese any further.
Traditionally, a dish made of goose blood is served in Sweden on this day (I suppose that the reason is that blood does not keep very well, so it was probably consumed first; the meat can be kept longer, especially in cold weather; and geese are large enough to justify preserving the meat, as in the goose sausages and salted legs that are traditional in several places).
The day lends its name to the "estate di San Martino", which is the Italian name for Indian Summer.
It is also marked in Sweden as Mårtengås. Gås is a goose, and Mårten is, of course, the Swedish form of Martin. The association with the goose is specific to Nordic countries and is not rooted in the legend of the saint. Instead, I guess it stems from the fact that this is a good time to slaughter domestic geese (the wild ones have left the Nordic countries a couple of months ago). Geese eat grass, and accumulate fat in late summer. By now, green grass begins to be in short supply, because there has been frost for several weeks already, so there is no hope to fatten the geese any further.
Traditionally, a dish made of goose blood is served in Sweden on this day (I suppose that the reason is that blood does not keep very well, so it was probably consumed first; the meat can be kept longer, especially in cold weather; and geese are large enough to justify preserving the meat, as in the goose sausages and salted legs that are traditional in several places).
Start of Winter Solar Term
Last Thursday, November 8th, was the first day of the Start of
Winter (pinyin: lìdōng) solar term:
立冬
As usual, this is the start of the season from a weather
point of view; the winter solstice is marked by another solar term later in the
year.
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