Faces of January

 

Janus is the ancient Roman god of beginnings, transitions, doorways, and endings, famously depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions—one to the past, one to the future—symbolizing change, duality, and passage (past to future, war to peace, etc.). 

 

January is named after the Roman god Janus, who is depicted with two faces, You can imagine the classic face, but it's also like a Picasso face. You can read more about Janus on Wikipedia, here.

So here we are in January, marking new beginnings and transitions. Didn't we just wish each other Peace On Earth and Best wishes for the New Year?  Yet there are still wars and plagues, they don't take a holiday, and chaos has been working overtime, with Venezuela and ICE in Minneapolis.  And still, the Epstein Files...And the 5th  Anniversary of January6.

 

Here, the colorful holiday lights have been taken down, there are evergreens in the alleys. The trees can make shelters for birds and other animals in the winter. There is no need to throw them away.

Right now, the streets and sidewalks are clear of snow.  As the weather people say, it is seasonably cold today, but it was quite warm for the season a few days ago.  The rain on January 8th was torrential! There was flooding in  Chicago.

 

 But there is plenty of winter left. The daylight may be increasing after the December Solstice, but the coldest temperatures of the year come in January. We could get blizzards, snow squalls,   ice storms, freezing rain, sleet and graupel. Even thundersnow!  

January is the many faces of winter---gray and cold, sometimes dazzling blue sky and sun on snow..

 

We are making transitons, the overcast gray sky and the calls of geese, heard not seen.

People are thinking of gardens and green leaves.