Snail Mail

Snail Mail

Two-faced every January

Looking back, looking ahead, and a monastery photowalk

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John Pattison
Jan 02, 2024
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Mt. Angel Abbey on a foggy New Years Eve.

The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, of doors, thresholds, and passageways. Janus is often depicted as having two faces looking in opposite directions — one toward the past and the other toward the future. It’s fitting then that we often take time in Januarius (“the …

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