Happy Chinese New Year

 Do they celebrate in China?

yes, and according to Wikipedia:

“ The festival was traditionally a time to honour deities and ancestors. Throughout China, different regions celebrate the New Year with distinct local customs and traditions. Chinese New Year's Eve is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. Traditionally, every family would thoroughly clean their house, symbolically sweeping away any ill fortune to make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors may be decorated with red paper-cuts and couplets representing themes such as good fortune, happiness, wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red envelopes.

So the posts on Facebook have offered these forecasts.

What do you think?

It's also the season of Mardi Gras. And in Tampa FL, the Gasparilla parades.

Lots of fun celebrations.

I can't wait to see the Chinese parades with Fire Horses!

Wikipedia offers this info:

Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, this festival takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve (the evening preceding the first day of the year) to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.

The Chinese calendar defines the lunisolar month containing the winter solstice as the eleventh month, meaning that Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice

Chinese New Year is also celebrated worldwide in regions and countries with significant overseas Chinese or Sinophone populations.

"happy-chinese-new-year-2026-horse-zodiac-sign-with-flower lantern asian-elements-red-gold-color-paper-cut-style-color-background"

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I was born 84 years ago in The Year of the Horse - just not a Fire Horse!

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February 17, -celebrated as Random Acts of Kindness Day in the U.S.

Also Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Also first day of Ramadan.

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We can all fall into the motions of life, trying something exciting can be just the spice you need.

Year of the Snake

If you celebrate Chinese New Year, or the lunar new year, have fun today with a new start, a beginning where there are so many choices available.

I read a newsletter by Jay Kuo, who comments on current events, and his personal life.

Jay Kuo's sister informed him that:

 ...snakes are not feared but revered in China: “As symbols of wisdom, these ‘little dragons’ are celebrated in Chinese culture for their intuition, transformational power, protection, prosperity, and good luck!”

Jay continues in his substack publication:

 My family and I are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and we are under attack as never before. From my rights as a gay father, to the queer-identifying nieces in the next Kuo generation, to even my trans nephew’s rights to identify as the gender he truly is, everything is on the line.

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Regarding the political changes, I have already drawn on my own line in the sand...as expressed in a blog several days ago,

 'I will not "work together" to remove civil rights from anyone.' See blog Taking a Stand.

Today's quote:

It’s really easy to be kind to others when I remember that none of us came into this world with a manual about how to get it all right.

JILL BOLTE TAYLOR

Today's Art:

by Tina Schart Hyman

Last of Chinese "Year of the Dragon"

 On Jan. 29, 2025, the lunar new year will begin what is called the Chinese New Year , the year of the snake. So I sadly say goodbye to the dragons I've been collecting for the last year. I don't collect snake photos, nor make them in clay. I don't like snakes.

Dragon Sled, made of dragon wood. Posted on Just Dragons FB page

Susan Seddon Boulet, Dragon Boat

Welsh dragon (Y Ddraig Goch)

A taste for Oriental decorations. The Casa Bruno Cuadros of Barcelona, known by locals as the Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas) built 1883

Perhaps this was a regular monster, not a dragon...

Dragon book reader puzzle

Photo by Cloudia, Fairy tales are more than true

Reluctant Dragon by American Golden Age illustrator Maxfield Parrish

Susan Seddon Boulet - Child with Dragon

Another wooden dragon creation posted to Just Dragons FB page

Sharing with Eileen's Saturday's Critters

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Today's quote:

So much of living a quality life relates in some way to spending your time so that you are in harmony with the current of energy that underlies your life. The objective is live in such a way that your psychic energy, your physical, intellectual and spiritual energy are enhanced by all that you do. Or almost all. Every path has its setbacks and challenges. You need to be prepared for those, and not get discouraged and give up. Especially early on.

Heron Dance Art Journal

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No more art today, as I've already posted what I had of dragons!