when eight = ten

Rome’s first king, Romulus (753–716 BC), is said to have established a 304-day year starting in March and ending with December. The months we now call January and February were left unnamed then because they had no agricultural significance. In this ten-month calendar, October (Octo), was the eighth month. However, the number of days per year didn’t quite line up with the solar cycle, and over time seasonal markers such as equinoxes shifted enough that it became necessary to insert one or more days at intervals to bring the calendar into accord with the orbit of the sun (also known as intercalation).

While our current Gregorian calendar is off by 26 seconds per year, it is an improvement over the previously used Julian calendar that was off by 11 minutes per year. From 325 AD to 1582 AD (1,257 years) those 11 minutes per year had accumulated to making the calendar off by ten days. The fix? An official declaration that the day after October 4, 1582 was followed by October 15.¹ It has been a mere 444 years since that correction, so we’ve got some time before days will need to be “disappeared” to keep up with our orbit (we are currently adrift by about 3 hours.)

a trail by any other name

It makes sense that aspects of experience go unnamed when they are outside of our awareness. The act of naming something may not on its own make it meaningful, but the awareness that draws us to name indicates that it is.

I’ve lived in Bellingham since 2012 and have been exploring trails in the Samish Crest ever since. My family and I started calling the crest “fairy forest”; a once-obscure trail, “secret trail” (now quite popular) and an offshoot “secret-secret”. Others included “sleeping beauties,” “darkwood” and “obstacle course” (I’ve since learned many call this “the hobbit trail” and that the person who originally built it named it after his dog, Sunday²).

The City of Bellingham is planning to improve trails in the Samish Crest and add signage, which will include assigning names. Likely these will be functional, ie “Samish Crest Trail,” “Racine Connector” etc. Memories of the homespun names will fade over time in favor of the official ones, but contained within those homespun names are feet-on-the-ground experiences of being in the place. The names hint at a person, a story and a relationship to a place that allowed it to stick. The individuals who name a place are just as much a part of the story of the place as the place is a part of the story of that person.

On this eve of October 5th I’m thinking about those ten days that “disappeared” back in 1582, those winter months that went unnamed for (hundreds?) of years and calling on the power of naming to signal the significance of the trails of the Samish Crest to this community.

Do you have names for trails or features in the Samish Crest? Look for trail logs on your next walk / hike / run / ride or download a map, comment online, or submit here.

1. I had no idea how complicated calendars were until looking into the meaning of “october”… ↩︎
2. or Sundae? ↩︎