Year of the (Drowning) Rat

Fourteen straight days of rain and seven more predicted, and Oregon is…hard to believe…wetter than usual. The weather is so intense and the snow so deep in the mountains that the ski resorts had to close. Now the creeks are flowing fast and there are avalanche postings everywhere. So we usher in the Year of the (Drowning) Rat.

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar it is Year 4706. The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first day of the First Moon of the lunar calendar. The corresponding date in the solar calendar varies from as early as January 21st to as late as February 19th. Chinese New Year, as the Western New Year, signifies turning over a new leaf.

You are a Rat if you were born between

02/05/1924 - 01/24/1925 (Wood)
01/24/1936 - 02/10/1937 (Fire)
02/10/1948 - 01/28/1949 (Earth)
01/28/1960 - 02/14/1961 (Metal)
02/15/1972 - 02/02/1973 (Water)
02/02/1984 - 02/19/1985 (Wood)
02/19/1996 - 02/06/1997 (Fire)
02/07/2008 - 01/25/2009 (Earth)

A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well-prepared and resourceful. The best way to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly and make the most of every opening you can find. People born in an Earth Rat Year are said to be logical realists, shrewd, charming, ambitious, and inventive.