Such a wet, dreary day. Yesterday, a calendar arrived in the mail from Australia. It was from Jeanette R, who self has known since grade school. Jeanette went to the University of the Philippines, married a fellow student, then emigrated with him to Australia. She’s been teaching in the University of New South Wales for decades. Every year, for the past 20 years — maybe more — a calendar comes from Australia. Beautiful, gorgeous calendars.
Self has never been to Australia. Perhaps she should put that on her bucket list for 2012.
Self already has a 2012 calendar: she bought this one months ago (because it was on sale — bwah, ha, ha!) The calendar she bought was a calendar of Zen Buddhist sayings such as:
- When we are trying to be active and special and to accomplish something, we cannot express ourselves. Small self will be expressed, but big self will not appear from the emptiness. From the emptiness only great self appears (February 2012)
- To open your innate nature and to feel something from the bottom of your heart, it is necessary to remain silent. (March 2012)
The Australian calendar has very little by way of description, just the photographs themselves with one-line captions: The Usual Suspects on the Monaro Plain (a photograph of great, big, woolly sheep — or are those rams?); Pastoral country near Bowraville; St. Savious’s Cathedral, Goulburn (The camera angle, the sky, the church — this photograph is spectacular); Tulip Top Gardens on the Old Federal Highway; Camel Rock near Bermagui; Campbell Rhododendron Gardens, Blackheath.
Australian holidays and other special days are marked:
- Australia Day (First Fleet arrives at Sydney Cove, 1788): January 26
- Queen Elizabeth II born (1926): April 21
- Cook lands at Botany Bay (1770): April 29
- Father’s Day: September 2
- Armistice Day (1918): November 11
- Boxing Day: December 26
What an interesting calendar!
On the other hand, referring back to the Zen Buddhist calendar, days not marked on the Australian calendar are:
- Chinese New Year – Year of the Dragon (January 23)
- International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27)
- Groundhog Day (February 2)
- Mardi Gras (February 21)
- Tax Day (April 17)
- Arbor Day (April 27)
- Annual Solar Eclipse (May 20) — Mis-spelled as “Annular Solar Eclipse”
- Ascension of Baha’u’llah (May 29)
- World Environment Day (June 5)
- Flag Day (June 14)
- World Refugee Day (June 20)
- Dalai Lama’s Birthday (July 6)
- Ramadan Begins (July 20)
- International Literacy Day (September 8)
- Grandparents Day (September 9)
- International Day of Peace (September 21)
- Moon Festival (September 29)
- Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday (October 2)
- United Nations Day (October 24)
- Election Day (November 6)
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7)
- Human Rights Day (December 10)
- Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
Hmmm, perhaps self will stick to the Zen Buddhist calendar after all.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.