Still Fascinated by the Printed Calendars

Our new calendar placed over the 2020 calendar hung on our door. 

New year. We always connect this to new life, new beginnings. We associate this to time for change. We are given another 365 days to change or improve our lives. Maybe some of us have the traditions to wear new clothes or change the positions of tables, chairs, and frames. Maybe some of us have purchased new appliances or lucky charms to start the year right. As we move forward to 2021, there is still one thing that we really need: a printed calendar.

In this age where smartphones and computers dominate, we still looking for a printed calendar to be posted on the wall. Even that I have a digital calendar on my phone, I still love to check the date on a calendar with blue and red prints.

In our locality, we get free calendars after purchasing products from a grocery store or in lumber and hardware establishment. The enterprises here usually distribute this freebie during Christmas break as many consumers buy food for their noche buena and media noche or buy construction materials as they use the vacation time to start a house or do renovations in their homes. Yearly, my parents brought printed calendars in different sizes and in different materials (some are printed in paper and some are printed in cardboard).

When I was a child, I became curious on the details present in a printed calendar. I learned how to determine the days and dates. I also learned how to distinguish holidays. Among the features of a calendar, I became interested on high tide and low tide. I am amazed on how others identify the movement of tides. Of course, I familiarized myself with the phases of the moon. Because of the calendar, I appreciated my Science subjects in elementary days. Whenever I see full moon reminder on the paper, I keep it on my mind, memorizing the date, and when that night comes the moon will appear full, I go outside and look up in the sky to see the celestial body's beauty.

Our Chinese calendar for this year. 

My love for printed calendars never ceased. It is one of the things I love to have every year. As of now, we only have two new calendars at home. One has Chinese designs while the other one is the usual calendar with blue and red prints. My parents were saddened that they were not able to get big calendars. I also feel sad that we only received two small calendars. They narrated to us that the stores they went in our municipality and in Alaminos told that they already distributed big calendars earlier and they do not have stocks anymore. Still, we are thankful that we have new calendars at home. It is also notable the COVID-19 pandemic affected the operations of these business establishments. Some of them turned into small calendars for this year. It is one of their ways to continue their business in this time of uncertainties. I pray that all of us can bounce back this year.

UPDATE: I found the three unrolled calendars, and a calendar from liquified petroleum gas (LPG) store in the living room, not yet displayed. We have now six calendars at home. 

As the years change, changes are inevitable. We expect there are massive innovations and advancements in our daily lives. Even there are new things to come in my life, I will still look for printed calendar. There is joy of pointing a finger on a digit enclosed in a square. There is joy of turning paper like page of a book. There is joy in writing important notes in memorandum section. There is joy in tearing of calendar's leaf for another month.