ust about every group or culture develops some kind of calendar in the earliest stage of their development. The practical needs of when to plant crops, when to stock up for winter, when to anticipate spring are among the reasons. Both the sun and the moon provide readily observable phenomena that provide markers to divide up the passage of time. From early on, the shortening of the days in the winter, and the lengthening of days in summer were known to all. As for the moon, the repeated cycle of full moons and new moons were equally obvious.
So one could say, the solar cycle defines what we now call a year, and the lunar cycle defines the month, and calendars based on these are called solar calendars and lunar calendars. Unfortunately, the two cycles don’t synchronize very well, since 12 lunar months is only about 354 days — about 11 days short of a solar year.
What to do? Well the Romans, who gave us our western calendar, gave up on lunar months and made “artificial” months of various lengths to fill out the solar year (remember, “30 days has September …”). And then they threw in an extra day every 4 years to fix things up since 365 days is a little short.
The Chinese, and a number of other cultures, kept to true lunar months, each beginning on a new moon, and then every few years, they add an extra month (a “leap month”) to stay in synch with the sun.
strology was a way early people kept track of the movements of the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets and assigned names to them — and tried to determine how the movements and positions influenced our lives. Some influences were huge and undeniable, such as the length of the days and the passage of the seasons (influences from the sun) and the tides (from the moon). Other affects such as the positions of the planets were more subtle and harder to determine, but there was no lack of trying — thus developed the practice of astrology.
In the west, astrology is followed by a diminishing number of people, mostly for its amusement. Perhaps the abandonment of the true lunar month, several thousand years ago, and the development of science based disciplines such as astronomy, medicine and psychology may explain this. The fact that the calendar no longer uses astrological names for either years or months may also be part of the reason.
The Chinese calendar, however, does use astrological signs for the naming of years, months, etc. and so the connection is still alive. The years are named for twelve animal signs of the zodiac (the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig). These signs were originally derived from the passage of the planet Jupiter through these 12 constellations. Jupiter circles the sun in just about 12 years. The sequence of years is divided up into 12 year cycles, always starting with the year of the Rat. After each cycle, the next cycle begins again with the Rat.
The following table gives the zodiacal signs for the current 12 year cycle and part of the last one:
| No. | Sign | Animal | Dates |
| 5 | 辰 | Dragon | Feb 05, 2000 |
| 6 | 巳 | Snake | Jan 24, 2001 |
| 7 | 午 | Horse | Feb 12, 2002 |
| 8 | 未 | Ram | Feb 01, 2003 |
| 9 | 申 | Monkey | Jan 22, 2004 |
| 10 | 酉 | Rooster | Feb 09, 2005 |
| 11 | 戌 | Dog | Jan 29, 2006 |
| 12 | 亥 | Boar | Feb 18, 2007 |
| 1 | 子 | Rat | Feb 07, 2008 |
| 2 | 丑 | Ox | Jan 26, 2009 |
| 3 | 寅 | Tiger | Feb 14, 2010 |
| 4 | 卯 | Rabbit | Feb 03, 2011 |
| 5 | 辰 | Dragon | Jan 23, 2012 |
| 6 | 巳 | Snake | Feb 10, 2013 |
| 7 | 午 | Horse | Jan 31, 2014 |
| 8 | 未 | Ram | Feb 19, 2015 |
| 9 | 申 | Monkey | Feb 08, 2016 |
| 10 | 酉 | Rooster | Jan 28, 2017 |
| 11 | 戌 | Dog | Feb 19, 2018 |
| 12 | 亥 | Boar | Feb 05, 2019 |
So this year, Chinese New Year arrives on February 3rd, and it will be the year of the Rabbit or 卯.
新年快乐 — Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Come on, you know what that means.)
It was actually just a special case of the post-speedwork gatherings that were regular in those days. After the workouts, folks would go back to the school to get their stuff, and then head over to a local bar. For years, from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, it was a very popular thing to do on Wednesday, then Tuesday nights. In fact, some folks would just come to the bar and skip speedwork for the socializing.
Around that time, Andy Margolin, Ed Chai and I would often do the organizing. The New Year Celebration was held at Lili’s, in the back on the balcony level, and it’s been there ever since. By the Way, there actually is no Lili – the place is owned by a man named Victor – yes, he is Chinese. He also owned a place downtown in the Financial District which was closed by the 9/11 episode and unfortunately never reopened.
There have been a few of us — Ed Altman, Sandy Altman, Susan Hecht, and maybe a few others – that have pretty much come to them all, although we don’t keep records. Then maybe around 5 years ago we started making the Traditional Chinese New Year Banquet an option. For those interested in special foods served family style, and costing a bit more, we would have the big round table and all the special foods prepared in the traditional way.
Most folks would just order from the menu, but we did have special extras every year, like rice wine, special appetizers and desserts, and of course special gifts, sometimes little envelopes with “money” or special trinkets. And of course the most special dessert of all — It's a secret! This dessert may not be exactly authentic, but it has become a much anticipated hallmark of the Flyer tradition. Click Here for the Secret Dessert!
This year, 2011, will be the 12th year of the Flyer tradition. This means we will have gone through the complete Chinese zodiac with the 12 traditional animals. Next year (2012) would be once again the Year of the Dragon, so 12 years is the magic number for the complete cycle. The Chinese count the cycles beginning with the year of the Rat, but for the Flyers we started with the Dragon — a very strong sign, and I would say a worthy one for a running club like ours.
Want to come this year (Febuary 8th)? Sign up here, right now:
And Here's where Lili's is located: Click for Map