New View Askew

Huh, odd place to build a mental institution . . . Despite what you may think, I don't write just to bore you. Well, not intentionally. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before - I’m old and tend to repeat myself – but I write a lot: letters to the editor, this blog, long tedious emails. There was a time I even fancied myself a poet.  But mostly I  just  write to figure out what I’m really thinking.  I will often be curious about something, do some Googling (or an occasional AI search) and begin to write about it. Then as I go along, writing and thinking, thinking and writing, I will often arrive at a completely different place. Thus, you always end up getting my well developed and eloquently expressed thoughts.   Okay, maybe not always.  Anyway here’s a special post this month. The depth of winter tends to send we hearty Minnesotans into a sort of cold-induced meditative torpor (when not interrupted by whistles!) I mean what else do we have to do but hunker dow...

  January,   N amed After the G od of Doors,   Janus  (Duh!)   Factoid: The first month of the year, as well as February, were created in 713 BCE by some old Roman. Apparently  before that  they just  went straight from  December to March (something I think we should consider bringing back.) With two faces he could see both the future and the past so n aming the first month after him  makes sense .  As it turns  out, a LOT of interesting stuff has happened the first month of the year. (Of course, lots of stuff happens every month we just don't hear about it.) Here's January's abbreviated list along with clarifying comments by moi. (Come on, you can spare 10 min's to learn a lot!) When Immigration was simple . . . January 1,  1892 - Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened. Over 20 million new arrivals to Ameri c a were processed until its closing in 1954. Sign on Statue of Liberty:  “Give me your tired, your poor, You...