My “New” Wall Calendar

Because it’s March 31, I began thinking about changing the month on the calendar hanging on my wall. Last year, I didn’t find a calendar that excited me, so I settled for a free AARP calendar with pleasant nature pictures and large, easily read dates. It was not a calendar that excited me, but it seemed adequate. Unfortunately, the paper on which it is printed is thin, and the top edges tend to curl.

For many years. I purchased railroad-themed calendars. Occasionally, I bought a calendar with another theme, such as my 2019 “Dance: The Art of Movement” calendar. I had kept more than a dozen such calendars with particularly attractive pictures. I decided to remove my calendar collection from its bookshelf and search for a calendar that would work for 2025.

I discovered two calendars with days numbered as my AARP calendar: a 1986 “Those Magnificent Trains” calendar and a 2003 “Ted Rose: Images of Railroading” calendar. I chose the Ted Rose calendar as my AARP replacement. (Ted Rose, 1940–2002, painted beautiful watercolor railroad-related scenes.) The year “2003” appears each month in relatively small type. Unlike my 1986 calendar, this one does not indicate moon phases, which I assume are different in 2025 from 1986. Many significant dates, such as St. Patrick’s Day, are properly marked in the 2003 calendar. I was surprised to see that the date of Easter is the same in 2003 and 2025. The date of the transition to Daylight Saving Time, which is noted on the Ted Rose calendar) occurred much later in 2003. The calendar, like all my purchased calendars, is printed on heavy paper.

I look forward to the month of April, in which a beautiful watercolor of an N&W Y6—probably a Y6b—will be staring down at my desk.