Category Holidays

Merry Ghosties

Michael Leave a comment

There are 33 days until Halloween.  That’s an important number to keep in mind.  Thirty-three days.  Just last week on a news report, we were told that Americans would spend about $7 billion on Halloween this season.  There is one local couple who won’t be in that spending frenzy.  They were spotted last weekend buying a Christmas tree.  For them, Halloween must have been purchased sometime in July!

We all know that the stores have Christmas merchandise out already.  Folks are perusing the aisles with shopping carts filled with fall decorations and often will stop to ogle the rows of pre-lit, pre-decorated, pre-gifted Christmas trees before moving on to the motion activated ghoul door ornament.  But nobody buys those things yet.  The Christmas trees, not the ghouls.

If people start buying Christmas now where will the analysts be next year when predicting Halloween spending?  They could be out of jobs and then who will buy their door knocker embellishments be they ghoulies or evergreens for them?  If we have any plans on reading how much we’ll be spending on Halloween 2015, we have a lot of shopping to do now for 2014!

To make the predictors close to being right we need to spend about $3 million in costumes, $2 billion in candy, another $2 billion in decorations, and a couple hundred million on pet costumes and goodies.  How do we think we’re going to manage those sums if people are out there already buying Christmas trees?  It’s enough to make you think if you need more eggs for Easter.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Rockets Glaring Red

Michael Leave a comment

It would be too easy to write up a quick post on the Fourth of July and what it means to us.  Instead, here’s a quick post on what it could have meant to us.  Actually there were two big holidays this year that fall into this “could have been” category:  Independence Day and yes, Groundhog Day.

Groundhog Day is a big deal around here, “here” being the very tight confines of our residences and work places and mostly only when we are there.  Somebody has to keep up a tradition.  Type “Groundhog Day” into our search box and see how many posts will pop up.  It’s so special that it’s the only topic that hosts our only post of a photograph.

What made it very special this year is that it fell on a weekend.  Legitimately that could have meant a trip to the rascal’s lair so we could have seen for ourselves how this ball of fur became the world’s greatest meteorologist.  True, you need a good 3 or 4 year advance plan to get a hotel room but a slightly worn, rented RV could have done the job.   But He’s health just wasn’t going to cooperate and it was a plan better not even brought up.

And now, it the same year, the Fourth of July sits on Friday just begging to be the start of a terrific three day weekend.  Where we live is a pretty good place for fireworks.  Some of the best are put on several times a year within a handful of miles from either of our houses.   But it is the Fourth of July.  No matter how good the ones in our own backyards may be, doesn’t the thought of seeing the display at our nation’s birthplace in Philadelphia or exploding over the same Fort McHenry that Francis Scott Key kept in sight before writing the words for the Star Spangled Banner make you want to check hotel reservations (or RV rental agreements)?  But again, no good cooperation from that package of skin and bones that he keeps dragging around every day.

Strangely, the two holidays aren’t that dissimilar.  It’s because of the actions taken on the Fourth of July some 238 years ago that we can make fools of ourselves on the Second of February.  The cynic in all of us is going to raise its ugly head and ask if that’s the only thing we can relate freedom to, some silly fur-lined frenzy.  Actually, no, it’s not.

We’re quite thankful for the freedoms we have and for those who continue to work to keep them for us.  In fact, He was one of those for some years some years ago doing just that.  So maybe that’s why when we talk about what freedom means to us we’re willing to take a few liberties with our liberties.  Be as serious as you want this weekend and be mindful that freedom doesn’t come easy.  Be as thankful as you can be for those who aren’t going to get to see the artificial displays that we’ll Ooh and Ahh over. But if you really want to thank those who are doing the hard work so you can enjoy the rockets’ multicolor displays, do something special with it.

Maybe make plans to go visit your favorite rodent or your favorite spot on the beach.  And go ahead and selfishly enjoy them.  That’s what they are there for.  The ones making sure they are won’t mind.

We think that because of the cycle of leap years between now and then that Groundhog Day and Independence Day will both be on weekends again in a mere five years.  Maybe if we start planning now…  Hmm.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Sights Unseen

Michael Leave a comment

Our most recent post noting that the days have now begun to get shorter (very slightly, but shorter) notwithstanding, tomorrow is National Sunglasses Day!

Probably National Sunglasses Day is the brainchild of one, another, several, or all of the sunglass companies to sell more sunglasses.  We wonder why a company would have to encourage the purchase and use of sunglasses in the middle of summer.  That’s one of the best times for them.  But we digress.

People who bother to write about these kinds of things (present posters excluded) seem to relish in mentioning that 14th century Chinese judges shielded their eyes with smoked quartz so as to not give away their emotions.   Not unlike 21st century poker players who do just about the same thing although more probably with hundreds of dollars designer glasses.

However, all those writers (again, present posters excluded) fail to mention that even before written records were made, Inuit hunters were wearing goggle type shields made of walrus ivory to protect their eyes from the harsh rays of the prehistoric sun.  Since that is after all the same sun we stare at, we should take a cue from those northern hunters and shield our eyes when we are outside because sun damage really isn’t cool.  Take it from the breakfast sausage people’s television commercial – didn’t anybody ever tell you not to stare at the sun?

Even on cloudy days you can experience some sun damage to your eyes if they aren’t properly protected.  A light or amber tint can help filter UVA and UVB rays (just like a sunscreen) without impairing your visual acuity.  The same goes for needing protection at dawn and dusk.

National Sunglasses Day might come at the end of June but your eyes need protection during the winter months also.  So if you’re going to invest in a new pair of sunglasses tomorrow, make it a double, pick up a sun visor clip for your car, mount one of your new pair on the clip, and be ready for some stylish protection whether day, evening, June, or January.

The last thing you want is to make your visual searches return sights unseen.  While you’re protecting your skin from those harmful sun rays don’t forget to pamper your eyes.  You can’t rub sunscreen onto your eyeballs but you can go out and pick up some physical protection.  And look cool while doing it!

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Don’t Forget

Michael Leave a comment

Today, all across America people will wake up, raise their flags to half-staff, pray for and remember those who have sacrificed time, bodies, and lives from the earliest battles of the American Revolution for the very freedom that allows us to raise our flags, then return to them at noon and raise those flags fully as we look forward to continued freedom throughout our county.

That’s the ideal for Memorial Day.  The unfortunate reality is that this holiday as with all the others has become a reason for a day off from work, to complain about not getting a day off from work, another weeklong sale for every retailer from car dealerships to drug stores, and to raise gasoline prices.  Are we being cynical?  Maybe a little.  But…

You only have to have been watching television for the past two weeks.  At least a quarter of the ads have featured Memorial Day Sales.  Special deals, special financing, special purchases, special hours.  It’s all happening this day only but because the savings are so big they’re making this one day sale stretch over most of May and half of June.

Yet while all this was going on, where were the Memorial Day stories?  Finally on Friday the national news outlets squeezed in a feature to close the newscast spotlighting a returning serviceman or how flags are made.   The local news might have picked up two stories spotlighting a returning serviceman and a part of a highway dedicated to a World War II fighting unit.

Today will start with the local news repeating those couple of stories they’ve been playing all weekend long.  But then there will be parades and at the end someone will play Taps.  There will be an honor roll read, cemeteries will get visitors, churches will hold memorial services.  And some will have not forgotten and raise their flags to freedom.

You see, what society has forgotten, people will remember.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Happy February

Michael Leave a comment

For such a short month, February is packed full of special observances and holidays.  It started on February 1 with National Freedom Day celebrating the release of slaves.  Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865 and in 1948 Harry Truman proclaimed February 1 as National Freedom Day.  Then we moved on to February 2 with the most useful holiday of the year, Groundhog Day.  (We understand there was supposed to be a football game on that day also but only one team showed up.  And for that they wouldn’t let the NHL schedule any hockey games.  Go figure!)  Add Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day and you would think for a month with only 28 days those few events would be plenty.  But no, February has to be an over achiever.

There is no way we can list all the February observances.  A cursory search of the Internet revealed 382 special days, weeks, and months starting on Feb. 1 with Freedom Day and not stopping until you get to National Tooth Fairy Day on Feb. 28.  Some are well known and widely celebrated.  February has traditionally been Black History Month and now that you know the origin of Freedom Day it makes sense.  With Valentine’s Day stuck right in the middle of it, February is a natural to host American Heart Month.

But even to a couple of confirmed quirks like us, we are confused by some of the observances.  For example, although the entire month celebrates National Hot Breakfast Month (and buried within is Pride in Food Service Week), the first Saturday of February each year is set aside as Ice Cream for Breakfast Day.  Not to be outdone by the heart, February also covers other illnesses and maladies including among others National Cancer Day, Week, and Month (all three!), HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Toothache Day, Low Vision Month, and World Day of the Sick.

There are happy celebrations also.  Take a Child to a Library Day, Laugh and Get Rich Day, and Give Kids a Smile Day are just a few.  And don’t leave out the pets.  Every week has several animal related observances and some time during every February you will be able to watch the Westminster Dog Show.

We’re wondering if they’ve gone too far.  With so many observances will people find themselves waiting for their special day/week/month and lose the meaning of the really important days?  Of course, every day is important to somebody.  To us, the most important day is the one you’re living today.   Not to say that Curling is Cool Day isn’t cool.  It just isn’t as cool as making it from morning to night with a good plan of doing it again tomorrow.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Revolving Resolutions

Michael 1 Comment

For the last two years we have explained why we don’t get around to making our New Year’s resolutions until sometime in March.  No, procrastination has nothing to do with it.  Out logic is flawless.  The holiday season stretching all the way back to Halloween is just too hectic during which to make logical, sustaining, life altering decisions.  (See “Be It Resolved,” Jan. 2, 2012 in Life.)

The rule is about to have an exception.  A couple of them even.  She and He have both already resolved at least once for 2014.  He started planning changes for 2014 at the end of October.  She reached her epiphany while doing some between holiday cleaning and verbalized a resolution for next year almost before Christmas was over.  That’s when the light bulb went off, the penny dropped, and realization came into focus.  It’s never the wrong time of the year to improve oneself.

Holy resolutions! What a profound statement.  It’s never the wrong time of the year to improve oneself.  When something significant arises it would be silly to wait until March – or January – to do something about it.  And that’s another reason we’re against New Year’s resolutions at the start of the New Year.  One can’t just pick once a year to start improving.

Now there are always going to be those non-resolution resolutions.  Eat less, exercise more, stay off the couch, don’t nag, don’t drink, lose weight, gain height, avoid sharp objects, don’t insult the boss in public particularly when the boss is part of the public.  Some people just can’t make it through a New Year’s Eve celebration without spouting something seemingly profound in the cloud of champagne and confetti.  Go ahead and make those.  They are the ones that die on January 2 anyway.  (Hopefully at least the one about the boss.)

But real life changing challenges shouldn’t be restricted to one day.  It’s never the wrong time of the year to improve oneself.  Except maybe January 1.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Happy Boxing Day?

Michael Leave a comment

Happy Boxing Day!

That may be the first time we’ve ever verbalized that sentiment.  The last time we even mentioned Boxing Day was in a post from two years back (On the Second Day of Christmas, Dec. 26, 2011, in Life).  There was no “Happy” with it because it wasn’t a salutation.  It was just a mention.

Just a mention is about as much thought as Boxing Day gets in the U.S.  Other than being a cousin to St. Stephen’s Day, what is Boxing Day?  If you’re one of our regular readers from Canada, England, or Belize you can probably skip ahead a paragraph.  Or not.  That way you tell us how far afield we are.

To us it seems to be a fine example of the Christmas spirit.  Apparently it started out as the rich and powerful, landowners, gentry, or what have you in whatever country you are, planned their Christmas feasts.  They found themselves in need of those to serve said feast along with answering the doors, passing the appetizers, mixing the drinks, preparing accommodations for overnight guests, and other things that would go along with a proper celebration.  Since those doing the serving were thus tied up on Christmas Day, the well to do would give them the following day off to be with their families, often sending them home with boxes of gifts and perhaps even leftovers.  Thus, Boxing Day.

Today, if you were to ask someone in America about this tradition you might get answers like “They got paid for working the holiday, didn’t they?” But that’s just why it’s such a great Christmas story.  Of course they received whatever recompense they would for serving their employers and their employers’ guests.  But in a time when money meant more then than now they also knew that their real pay came in the gratitude of those they served.  The boxes of presents were more tips than payment, more appreciation than obligation, more friendship between those who ask and those who do than charity between those who have and those who don’t.

Boxing Day may be a tradition America could learn from.  We may live in a time and place that great household holiday festivals aren’t the norm even for the very rich.  But there are plenty of people who give up their holiday to serve.  Fireman, police, paramedics, and hospital workers are the essential servants in our time and place.  When their shifts are over on Christmas or any other holiday, they may take home boxes of presents but they do take home our gratitude for being there for us every day.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Let It Snow

Michael Leave a comment

We’re writing this on December 21.  That’s the first day of winter.  In fact, according to the weather people here it was sometime a bit after 12:30pm that the earth was at its absolute farthest from the sun making that day the shortest, the darkest, and the least absorbing of the sun’s warmth.  It’s going to be 61 degrees today.

Sixty-one degrees might be an ok temperature for Florida for the first day of winter but we’re north of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Our average temperature for this date is 30 degrees.  Three days ago when it was still fall it was 18 degrees during the day, 10 or so at night.  There was also snow.  Lots of snow covering every non-driving surface around.  (What can we say?  We have some decent road crews.)  Today there is only rain and it has melted all of the snow.

The day before the first day of winter the weather people were predicting highs in the 40’s for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Not nearly cold enough to make for a white Christmas.  And that’s exactly how all of them led off their reports.  “They’ll be no white Christmas this year,” they all said.  One could almost hear the collective wails of every child in the greater metropolitan area.  How will Santa get their booty to them?

Then on the first day of winter, the one with a predicted high in the 60’s, the one on which the local weather people had less than 12 hours earlier declared no white Christmas, the local forecasts now called for temps in the 20’s on Christmas Eve including the possibility of snow and perhaps accumulated snow for Christmas morning.  We think it’s a conspiracy.  Somebody from the North Pole got to those weather people and made them change their forecast.  So what if they turn out wrong.  They usually do!

Actually, what we really think is, does it really matter.  Will the children find the holiday less holiday-ish without snow?  The parents will appreciate being able to drive to church and then to Granma’s on snow-free roads even if their town doesn’t have a crack road crew.  And the road crews will get to enjoy the holiday too.  Speaking of church, even though there was some snow there a few weeks ago, snow isn’t the norm in Bethlehem.  If those on the first Christmas were able to do without the white stuff, we can manage also.

Christmas isn’t about how white it can be, how many presents are under the tree, or how many new cookies were thought up for the year.  It’s a time to be with family and with cherished friends and companions.  It’s a time to unwrap one of the best gifts of all, love.  And it’s a time to wish a very special One happy birthday.  Snow or no.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Dear Santa

Michael Leave a comment

Dear Santa,

We know it’s late and we’re sorry about that.  We know you’ve been busy yourself getting all the things put together for your big ride coming up next week.  How do you do it year after year?  We’d be exhausted and retired by now.  Anyway, we have a couple of last minute gift requests we’d like to see if you could help with.

We’d like for those televised football games, which are all of them, that consist of four 15 minute quarters to take less than 3 & ½ hours of television time.  That way when we want to watch something on Sunday night we don’t have to guess when our shows are going to start or where they are in the program if we happen across one that’s already on.  It’s getting so bad that the only thing you can count on starting on time is the Sunday night football game.  But who wants to stay up until midnight the day before you have to go to work?  We always have to go to work the next day.

We’d like a ream of parking instruction pamphlets that we can put on the windshields of cars driven by people who still don’t get what the lines drawn in the parking lots are for.  You probably don’t have that problem as late as you come on Christmas Eve but it’s getting ridiculous trying to find a parking space.  Actually, we can find the spaces, they’re just being taken up by these monster SUVs everyone is driving.  They all seem to think that just because they are driving a truck the size of the space shuttle that they can leave it however they put it, even if it is taking up two or sometimes three spaces.

We’d like to work for people who value us.  That might be a tall order but if you could drop something into their eggnog that makes bosses a little more personable, or at least polite, we’d really appreciate it.  And that probably goes for us when we have to take on the boss role every now and then.

We’d like fire-proof outdoor lights.  Unfortunately both of us have had outside Christmas lights that sputtered, sparked, flared, and scared the heck out of us.  We’re fine and nothing too terrible happened.  When He’s went poof he was standing in the doorway looking at it and said to himself, “Did I just see a spark,” and then out loud, “Whoa! I just saw a spark,” just as the pole lamp became a match stick.  She’s mishap happened when a strong north wind blew so hard it rubbed the cord against the house right through the insulation starting a fire at the highest point of her roof.  We don’t want to sound nasty about it but could you keep your north wind to yourself.  You probably are used to dealing with it and know how to secure stuff around your roof better than we do down here.  Anyway, “proof” versus “resistant” sure would put our minds at ease.  Probably Underwriter’s Laboratory has something to do with this too but things sometimes slip through the cracks.

We’d like a little variety in the television ads here in the lower 48.  Do you know that we sometimes have to sit through the same aging singer singing the same two lines of some made up song 10 or 12 times in a half-hour show?  Better yet, how about some commercial free television.  Probably the guys who own the commercial television stations are asking you for more advertising time but maybe you can work out a deal with everybody.  If you were able to find kids who accepted the toys from the Island of Misfits you should be able to mediate something with those misfits.

We’d like calorie free Christmas cookies.  We’ve noticed that every year you make millions of stops delivering presents and most of them have milk and cookies waiting for you.  All of the pictures we’ve ever seen show an empty plate when you leave.  Ok, those pictures are on usually on Christmas cards but if you can’t trust Hallmark, who can you trust?  You eat all those cookies all in one night and even though you are a little portly (we hate to be the ones to say that) you never get any bigger.  You must have some calorie zapper or something that lets you relish in the billions and billions of chocolate chips you consume.  How about sharing that technology?  If it works for everybody we’ll see what we can do about getting you on Shark Tank next year.  You could make a fortune with that!

And before we forget, we’d like peace on earth.  Sorry if we left the hardest one for last.

Merry Christmas,

She and He

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Seasons Eatings

Michael Leave a comment

Last week the company for which He of We works sent out Christmas presents to the 3,000 and some employees it has across the country – turkeys! Not live turkeys, frozen turkeys. And as such demonstrations of largesse do so often, controversy immediately arose.

The most heard complaint (who complains about free anything?) was “What am I going to do with a turkey after Thanksgiving?” Taking a cue from perhaps the greatest Christmas movie ever released, “A Christmas Story,” the obvious answer would be to have it for Christmas. Now these birds weren’t anywhere near the size of the turkey Ralphie’s father dreams of every yule. A modest 10 or 12 pounds were these. But they were big enough to spark discussions throughout the building.

Apparently almost 40% of those in that building never had, don’t currently have, or will not have plans for turkey for Christmas. What do these people eat? A very informal poll revealed that about half of that group has ham, about half has some cut of roast beef, and about half has lobster, crab, shrimp or some other seafood. Some have sausage. A few have duck. One claimed venison if the hunting season was successful. Nobody has the classic Christmas goose. You will notice that there are well over four halves for that 40%. That’s because almost nobody admitted to only one protein at the Christmas table. Everyone, including the turkey eaters, at the very minimum double dips on the meats at Christmas.

Unlike Thanksgiving where turkey is still the biggest centerpiece on most tables, Christmas food traditions are taking a diverse path. Even the side dishes are more varied than the earlier holiday table sees. Many menus still include sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, corn, squashes, and green beans (although the green bean casserole is losing favor in our area). But next to those traditional offerings will sit root vegetables, pastas, rices, pomegranates, mac and cheese, and even quinoa.

The one consistent thing about the Christmas feast, with or without an accompanying Christmas Eve feast, is that Christmas also ends up with many people in food comas spread across sofas watching old movies and munching on the ever present Christmas cookies.

No matter how you carve it, it’s a wonderful time of the year!

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?