HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    Look around. It's no wonder I'm
confused!
    According to the calendar it's
Spring. According to the thermometer
it's still Winter.
    The Green lines can still be seen on
the streets of Scranton and Pittston and
Saint Patrick's Parade marchers were
still strutting through Giradville on
Saturday and Stroudsburg on Sunday!
    So why should I be so surprised to
find out that today, March 25th., is
"Old New Year's Day?"
    Here's the story.
    Although the Gregorian calendar was
created in 1582, many countries chose to
ignore it for several hundred years.
   Instead, they used “Annunciation Style
dating,” which recognized the Feast of the
Annunciation (March 25) as New Year’s
Day! That's today!
    England didn’t adopt our modern-day
Gregorian calendar until 1751. Russia held
out until 1918! In fact, people in Russia,
Switzerland, Macedonia, Georgia, Belarus,
and Serbia still celebrate the Old New Year.
    I wonder if somebody dropped a ball
from the top of the Kremlin last Midnight?
    How come Dick Clark never told us
about this?
   We could have enjoyed one heck of a
party between December 31st and today!
    Anyway, whatever calendar you're
using...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
    Hope all your NEWS is good!