Ah yes, 30 days hath September and all that. We are in the four -ber months, with October lurking in the wings, suffering stage fright at what tomorrow may bring when she takes the baton from September and runs with it for the next 31 days until Halloween. Then she passes it to glorious November in this four-way relay that continues until January, regardless of pace.
“Glorious November?” I hear you demur at such description of the beloved month “of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. Okay, Keats was referring to autumn, but is November not in autumn? Allowing for the fact that in Ireland we now have just two seasons: the wet season and the wetter one.
November is my birth month. And, let it be known that I am not at the prickly Scorpio-end, but belong to the nobler part of November where Sagittarius – that joyful, fun-loving, and utterly irresponsible star sign – reigns. Sagittarians do not sting.
How did I get here? Ah, those 30 days. Same as November. Maybe the rhyme should read: “30 days hath November/April, June, and September/All the rest have 31, save February at 28/but leap year, coming once in four/February then has one day more.” So much better, with the months lined properly, from the superior down to poor little also-ran February.
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Let’s be very clear, February – if shorter – is equal in every way to all other months. It may not measure up in certain departments but that makes no difference. As Randy Newman sang, “short people are just the same/As you and I” which, while some might say “me” as opposed to “I”, refers as much to February as to people.
Just because the month does not make 30-31 days – even in a leap year – does not mean February should be disadvantaged in any way.
How did I get here? Ah. That “30 days hath September” rhyme. It’s believed to date from the early 15th century when, in Old English, it read: “Thirty days have November/April, June, and September/Of 28 is but one/And all the remnant 30 and 1.”
Note the correct order, too.
Days, plural of Old English dæg, for `when sun is above the horizon’
