The Blaisdell Blog

  The selection of January 1 as the first day of each New Year is a purely human contrivance.   It is not related to any natural marker.   The collective “we” of the human population simply fixed January 1 as the date.   Five decades before the birth of Christ, the Julian calendar (created by and for Julius Caesar) set January 1 as the start of a new year.   The first day of January (named for the Roman god Janus) was the date that Rome’s two consuls assumed their yearlong offices.   These were the two most important elected officials in the Republic; the term of their reign was significant.   But for all of the depth, breadth and political sway of the Roman Empire, the Julian calendar was not universally adopted.   During the Medieval Period, the Catholic Church viewed the January 1 celebration as a pagan festival and eventually set the New Year on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25 th .   It was not until 1570, when Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian with the Gregorian

  A Christmas tree always makes me smile.   I enjoy decking the halls and planning Christmas dinner.   I love seeing packages under the tree but hate unwrapping them.   But when it comes down to it, Christmas cards are my favorite part of the holiday season.   I look forward to picking them out for others and I eagerly anticipate getting them from friends, and family, even businesses and charities.   When it comes to cards, I am an equal opportunity receiver.   But, since they get so much attention from me, and because my mind works in this way, years ago, I started noticing patterns.   It turns out that there is a yearly tendency to prefer one color over another in Christmas cards.   There is always the usual array of Nativity scenes, snowmen, decorated trees, wreaths, birds and cute animals, but all of these exist on a background of various colors.   There are borders, ribbons, and nebulous splashes of color that predominate in a way that gives an impression of one general color.

  At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945 United State Navy Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor set off from Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station on a routine bombing and navigation exercise.   The flight involved a total of five Grumman Avenger type aircraft.             The fate of Flight 19 is well known in aviation history, a favorite topic of conspiracy theorists, paranormal devotees, and writers of fiction.   It makes good reading for anyone who likes a mystery, though the deaths of good men deserve a bit more probity.   Here is what we do know.           The three-hour mission was supposed to take the five planes due east for 120 miles, then north for 73 miles and then hard west for the final leg home.   Two hours in, Taylor’s compass and back-up compass failed.   Despite being familiar with the area the squadron leader stated that his position was unknown.   The other planes experienced similar malfunctions.   There followed two more hours of confused messages from the fliers.   At 6: