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It’s Labor Day Time Again!

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This coming weekend marks American holiday Labor Day.  Though the official holiday is Monday, September 7th, for many the celebrations will begin this Friday and continue throughout the extended weekend.

Photo by Aaron Schwartz on Pexels.com

What a year it’s been!  At this time last year, most of us were planning to celebrate this American holiday in our own style-with family and neighborhood gatherings, cookouts, and fireworks shows.  What a difference a year can make!  Now, many of us fear, not unreasonably so, to venture out unless absolutely necessary.

Labor Day, officially a federal holiday celebrating the efforts of American workers, and unofficially the” last hurrah of summer,” means many things to different people.  Some take it as a welcome break from work, as federal and state offices will be closed, as well as many businesses.  For others, it’s about shopping the big sales, or an excuse to party, or just a last summer blowout as children are returning to school.

This year, though many schools are finally back in session, albeit many are using a method of staggered attendance, the holiday doesn’t have quite the same meaning.  Many, my husband included, are still working at home and will be for the foreseeable future. 

However, for many, including the adults in my family, it is still a paid holiday we intend to enjoy.  While we are planning a cookout, we will be having a smaller crowd this year, and any shopping we do will probably be accomplished online.  Still, the day gives us a perfect excuse to pull out our smoker, and prepare too much good food, which will furnish leftovers for a few days at least.

Labor Day also means that autumn is just around the corner, and I’m already looking forward to cooler temperatures, putting up fall and Halloween decorations, and planning autumn treats to bake and share.

While the world is a vastly different place right now, we still can take joy in the day and wherever else we can find it.  I choose to be optimistic that things will get better.  In the meantime, we need to continue about our lives as best we can.  This means planning as near a normal holiday celebration as possible, and rejoicing in the time we have as a family.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Amy

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Happy Labor Day!

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photo of fireworks display
All across the country, many cities will be having their last, and most spectacular fireworks shows of the year this weekend.  Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com

Today is the day we Americans celebrate the national holiday Labor Day, the official celebration of laborers and the collective power of unions, and the unofficial end of summer.

Many Americans use Labor Day as the excuse to hold one last barbecue, or go on one last camping or fishing trip, or just plan a picnic and a trip to the nearest firework show.   My family plans to grill out at home this year, and just enjoy a day off from jobs and normal responsibilities.

While many employers are giving their employees a much-deserved break, just as many companies will be promoting wares and holding massive sales to attract consumers.  I need a new stove, so perhaps I will venture out later myself.

While the official beginning of autumn is still a few weeks away, most school children have just or will be starting back to school this week, and kids and adults alike have fall on their minds.  What that means to individuals varies, though many focus on the beginning of football season, and getting ready for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow, I will think about taking down the red-white-and-blue decorations I’ve had out around the house since Memorial Day, and pulling out my own stashes of orange candles and harvest decorations.  September is still warm here, though the nights have cooled down into the sixties and even fifties a few times, and the garden, which was so dry and wilting in the August heat, is coming back to life.

Fall and Halloween decorations have already made appearances in many stores, and fall flowers like chrysanthemums and ornamental cabbages are ready to take home and plant in gardens that will very soon be festooned with pumpkins and gourds off all types, dried cornstalks, and bales of hay.  Autumn is my favorite time of year, and I look forward to the colors, the scents of fall baking, and the cooler temperatures.

However, all of that can wait till tomorrow.  Today is about relaxing, and spending time with family, and eating some good food, preferably outdoors.

I hope you and yours have a very Happy Labor Day!

Summer’s End

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The summer heat has been slightly less oppressive in the last week, as August winds down and we realize autumn is right around the corner.  While there are still tomatoes growing on the vine and my petunias haven’t yet bloomed their last, many of us are already consumed with thoughts of back-to-school time.  Soon we’ll be dealing with a barrage of colorful leaves covering the lawn, and looking forward to tailgate parties and bonfires.

First, though, summer has one last hurrah in the coming weeks- Labor Day is almost here.  For many of us, this national holiday, a tribute to the labor unions and the American worker, means a rest day off from work, a time to spend with family, a last chance to visit an amusement park or the lake before the end of the season.

Girl, Sitting, Happy, Pretty, Dock, Water, Lake
It’s time for the last blissful days of summer.  Photo on Foter.com

This year the holiday falls on September 3rd, and all over the country people will be breaking out corn hole boards and s’mores supplies, packing up the RV or the four-wheelers, and setting out to enjoy one last weekend of summertime fun.

For myself, my family will most likely stay home this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t celebrate.  I’ve already started going through recipes and deciding the menu for our cookout.  Which of our favorites have I used this year, and which will be the best to cap off this summer?

Burgers, brats, or something more exotic?  I’ll have to poll the guests, and check what’s on sale this week.

Potato salad?  Done it, but it’s always worth repeating.

Fried green tomatoes?  Done that a couple of times too, so put that on the maybe list.

Homemade cherry pie with homemade filling?  I haven’t actually made that this year, so this might be the time, while the cherries are still in season.  Or maybe peach cobbler would be better?  Decisions, decisions.

Nothing like a picnic in the great outdoors!  Photo by derbon on TrendHype / CC BY-NC-SA

I’ve got some time to work on the menu.  After all, the most important part of the day is not the food, or the activities, or even the location, but the time spent together.  Labor Day, and any holiday really, is first and foremost a time for families to reconnect.  Everything else is really secondary as we visit, relax, and let the stress of jobs and outside activities melt away.

I hope however you spend your holiday you enjoy yourself, and have the opportunity for some quality time with those you love.

Amy