Don’t Undersell Labor Day

Holiday Cousins
or
Labor Day Appreciation Post

 

Our vast range of holidays are far from equal, varying widely in celebration, reverence, and/or fun. Many lack defining characteristics given to the more ostentatious holidays: Halloween with its costumes and jack-o-lanterns, Thanksgiving with its turkeys and overeating, St. Patrick’s Day with its shamrocks and drunkenness, and Christmas with its two month commercialization and capitalist excess. Other holidays, despite an absence of set traditions, are blessed with a self-explanatory name: Mother’s Day, Veterans Day, New Year’s Day. But some holidays can be harder to keep track of or to understand their significance; two American holidays which fit this description are Memorial Day and Labor Day. 

     
Can you tell which picture is of Labor Day and which is of Memorial Day?

Similar in our  minds, we often get Memorial Day and Labor Day confused; we interchange them, sometimes saying one when we mean the other. These somewhat vague holidays share two common traits: they both involve a three-day week created by a Monday off from work, and they both bookend the summer season. Memorial Day, falling on the last Monday in May, is the unofficial first Day of Summer, while Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is the unofficial last day of Summer.

I like to think of these two days as “Holiday Cousins.”

Six Broadway Shows – One Long Weekend

Recently I visited New York City and had the good fortune to see six Broadway shows over the course of my stay. After viewing each show I logged my various thoughts on the production. With the Tony Awards upcoming, I’m presenting these thoughts for those of you interested in such things.

Five of the six productions I attended are up for multiple awards at this year’s Tonys (and the sixth, My Fair Lady, was nominated for best revival last year).

Also, if you’re wondering how the heck anyone can afford to see six Broadway shows, I’ve included the methods I used to obtain cheap tickets to each production.

An Introduction to National Politics: The Time I Shook Hands with Bill Clinton

1992

Every second Monday, after leaving the wild exuberance of the lunchtime playground and returning to the dark confines of the classroom, my third grade class would find a magazine waiting on each of our desks. We universally loved these magazines. Not only did they interrupt the monotony of our regular lessons, they were the only printed words available to us in school that didn’t come from a textbook, worksheet, or classroom reader. The magazine was exotic; it looked like something adults would read. And, being in 3rd grade and nearing adulthood ourselves, we felt certain we should be reading more grown-up material. The magazine contained four pages and was titled “Keeping Up With Current Events (2nd/3rd Grade Edition).”

Here’s a modern version of a school news magazine, not unlike what we had 25 years ago

Each student took a turn reading one paragraph aloud until we finished the magazine, becoming well-versed in society’s vital issues in the process. The last page contained five questions which we answered on a separate sheet of lined paper using cursive handwriting and complete sentences. With the questions completed, we submitted our work and forgot the world existed outside our own ten-foot radius until two weeks later when the latest issue of “Current Events” arrived.

Then came the day when the cover of “Current Events” piqued my interest far beyond the bi-weekly novelty of reading a magazine in school. Apparently, the United States had a presidential election in the works. Being too young to remember the previous election four years prior, here was my introduction to presidential politics. Despite my ignorance, I knew this much: presidents were important. Inspired by the gravity of such an event, I decided it was high time I got involved.

Dawn to Dusk at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market

Rejoice, for springtime is here! The arduous, soul-crushing slog through winter is behind us! And while there are ample reasons to be excited about the upcoming months of warm weather, let us start by appreciating one of the truly great springtime rituals: the opening of the Kalamazoo Farmers Market. After five agonizing months, the outdoor market reopens this coming Saturday! 

There are few institutions that I cherish more than the Kalamazoo Farmers Market. For years I’ve been making the weekly pilgrimage (typically by bicycle) every Saturday morning starting in May and ending in November. Only an out-of-town vacation or a debilitating sickness can keep me from a market Saturday. And while the market is certainly a convenient place to buy fresh, local produce and meats, it also serves as a social event, a weekly community gathering where one enjoys seeing friends and acquaintances from around the Kalamazoo area. You could even say the farmers market is my church. But instead of communion bread and wine I have an almond croissant and iced coffee.

The Market opens May 4th and runs every Saturday through November. Starting in June, the market is also open on Tuesdays from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and on Thursdays from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

Though the market is open from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm each Saturday, I aim to arrive between 9:00 am and 10:30. I realized in all my years of attending the market I’ve never seen what happens at 7:00 am. How do the vendors set up? Are there many customers that early? I’ve also never been at the market much later than noon. Do people actually show up as late as 1:45? What does the ebb and flow of a seven-hour market day feel like? With these questions in mind, I decided one Saturday to spend the entire day at the market. Here is my experience:

Summer: Glorious Champion of Seasons

 

Summer is once again ending and, once again, all too quickly. Labor Day brings an annual melancholy as my favorite time of year starts slipping away against my will.

Thanks to the earth’s tilt we have changing seasons to help us mark our slow but inevitable decay into eventual death. Despite this constant reminder of our mortality, each season brings its own unique and enjoyable aspects: Autumn has colorful leaves and football and Halloween spookiness, the first snow of Winter is magical, the Spring thaw after a long winter brings excitement and rebirth.

But none of those seasons can match summer. Sweet, wonderful summer. You magnificent queen of sunshine. You brilliant bearer of warmth and flip flops and patio beers. You are my forever love.

The Best of Summer:

30. Sleeping with the bedroom windows open
I haven’t shut my window since May. That’s over four months of fresh air circulating into my bedroom and through my lungs. 

La Croix – Ranking All 13 Flavors

If you’re like me and all my friends, La Croix is not only a big part of your life, but an indispensable facet of your very being. You probably drink at least four La Croixs each day and buy at least two cases each week. You probably have a growing pile of empty, brightly-colored cans littered about a section of your car you’ve named “La Croix Canyon.” You probably discuss your favorite flavors and inevitably start arguing whether Lime or Lemon tastes better or whether or not Coconut is undrinkable swill. 

Luckily for you, I’m here to put all such debates to rest.

A Dozen Female-Authored Books

About two years ago I looked over the list of every book I’ve ever read and realized, “Damn, what a sausage fest.” Much like the higher-ups at a tech company or a group of legislators signing an anti-abortion bill, my list of authors had approximately one female for every 50 males. I resolved to change my habits and started by reading ten consecutive books written by females.

Looking for a new book to read? Here’s a synopsis and brief review of one dozen female-authored books I’ve recently read. I consciously chose books that varied in genre, era, and style.

A Plea to Change Our National Anthem

 

July – the month of my favorite holiday: Independence Day, AKA The 4th of July. The barbecues, the sunshine, the 10:30 pm dusk, the beach, the booze, and the fireworks. My God, the fireworks! This year, however, I have a confession to make.

This is probably what Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin had in mind.

Usually my blogs aren’t controversial. My most contentious opinion thus far is that the Harry Potter movies are frustratingly terrible. But in our current, polarizing political climate people are taking hard stances and choosing sides. Thus, I too have joined the fray. Unpopular as my opinion may be, I am compelled to state it:

“The Star-Spangled Banner” kinda sucks.

Harry Potter 7 – Still a Virgin

Thus begins the end of my Harry Potter journey.  4,100 pages. Damn. No doubt I will be sad once I finish this book, but for now I am excited and impatient to start! 

I started this series last June. I was supposed to finish it by the end of summer

 

Ch 1 – Well Malfoy family, looks like your house is now headquarters for the Legion of Death Eaters. Maybe you shouldn’t have been all in love with Voldemort if you didn’t want him and his snake living in your house and treating you like dirt.

Harry Potter and the Infinite Snogging

What was it like to read a Harry Potter book and then patiently wait years until the next book was published? I imagine that experience was just a bit different than closing book 5, making a cup of coffee, and opening book 6.

Ch 1 – Aha! So the wizard government and muggle government do communicate with each other. I’ve been wondering about that from early on in the series. (And now I’m having a fun time imagining Trump dealing with a high-ranking wizard official.)

Ch 2 – What?! Snape is dealing directly with Voldemort!? And he makes an unbreakable vow to keep helping him?! But also he’s in the Order of the Phoenix and has helped them too. But he gives good excuses to Bellatrix for why he only seems to be on Dumbledore’s side… Ahhh what to believe?!

So is Snape a double agent? Or like a…double DOUBLE agent maybe?

Here’s what I think the odds are: