Everything Old Is...Just Old.

The last couple of weeks have been nice. I've had the chance to spend time with Little Suzy. Halloween, Doughnuts for Dads and just hanging out with Play-Doh has been really good. Suzy is on the express for eight years old. Mario was different (I know they're all different) at seven,  with the ensuing Asperger's diagnosis just down the road.

source: Wikipedia

Saturday, Suzy was doing her Play-Doh thing at the kitchen table while I was cutting vegetables for crock-pot stew. T.V. was in a time-out due to a joint venture between Suzy and Mario. I took the opportunity to indulge and queued up "Beatles For Sale". The boys hadn't even reached the bridge in "No Reply" when Suzy said, "Dad, why don't you play music kids like, like the stuff on Bob-FM." Bob-FM is the local we're so cool we play whatever we want format station.
     I said, "Suzy, they play the Beatles on Bob-FM".
Suzy said, "No they don't."
     "Suzy", I said, "Everything they play on Bob-FM started with the Beatles".
Suzy said, "No it didn't".
At that point I stopped talking and enjoyed the music.  Later, Little Suzy said, "Eight Days A Week doesn't make sense. Everyone knows there are only seven days in a week." At that point my head blew up.

I realize Suzy is still too young to understand that much of what we see, feel and hear is based on what others have seen, felt and heard before us. I assume as Little Suzy grows, she will gain perspective. Then again, she might subject her kids to the musical stylings of "Lemonade Mouth."

Happy Holidays. Nominations Are Now Being Taken.

Lest anyone think I might be secularizing a sacred holiday commemorating the birth of their Lord celebrated on December 25, Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays to the rest of us.

Something For Everyone.

source: morgueFile

Halloween is the de facto end of the fall season and with it's passing, the end of year holiday cycle begins. Think about it, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all within 40 days. There is also Hannukah and Kwanzaa. For the pagan community there is the celebration of the winter solstice and Bodhi Day for the Buddhists.  The seasonal fluctuation of the Islamic lunar calendar doesn't leave a Muslim holiday specific to winter. Still, for the Muslims that live and work in the US, at least there are some days off of work. Ditto for the atheists and agnostics. This time of year holds something for everyone, although for Native Americans the season doesn't begin until December (Think about it. Have you ever seen the TV special, "Thanksgiving at the Reservation"?)

Lesser Holidays, At Least In The U.S.

The winter season also includes some recent and/or additional holidays:

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday are retail invented holidays. Hallmark should have the cards out soon.
• There's Boxing Day if you can sell it to your supervisor.
• College Football offers the week long build up to the National Football Championship, with the two highest selected football teams playing each other. I still remember when college football concluded on Jan1. and only four (Cotton, Orange, Sugar and Rose) bowl games were played.
• "Seinfeld" offered Festivus to celebrate...frankly I'm unsure as to what there is to celebrate when the holiday has it's origin in a sitcom about nothing.

Despite the plethora of holidays, and let's face it any day is a good day to skip work and spend with family, I want to add one more.

And One More.

Within a week of Halloween, there is a very special day. It's a day that offers something for almost everyone, yet asks nothing in return. Snooz-a-pa-gain-a is celebrated in the US on the 1st Sunday in November. Precisely at 2:00 AM on the 1st Sunday in November almost everyone in the USA is to set their clocks back one hour. This gives everyone an extra hour of sleep, provided they don't actually get up at 2AM to change their clocks. The technical name of the ceremony of changing the time is called "falling back" (festive, don't you think?). Of course, there is Snooz-a-pa-looz-a in the early spring, but that's months away.

So very early this coming Sunday Morning, don't forget to fall back. Happy Snooz-a-pa-gain-a.

Are there any other should-be holidays you would like to add?

Facial Hair Means You Care.

Happy Halloween. October 31st is an important day and the candy collection-athon is the perfect transition from October to November.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Given the downturn in breast cancer mortality BCAM appears to have a positive effect. This year BCAM was very prominent. Professional football players wore pink gloves, pink shoes, pink sweat towels and pink jock straps (OK I made up the pink sweat towel and did no research about the pink jock strap).  There were Breast Cancer Awareness walks, with seas of pink clad warriors educating communities one step at a time. There were even free market Breast Cancer Awareness opportunities. The message of knowledge (ignorance is not bliss) and community (don't go it alone) was everywhere.

Show Your 'Stache.

source: morgueFile

Tomorrow is the 1st day of November or should I say Movember. Just as October has become as pink as a bay girl's nursery for breast cancer awareness, the movement is for Movember to be full of facial hair for prostate cancer (and other men specific cancers) awareness. Just as families should be aware and supportive of issues surrounding breast cancer, families should be aware and supportive regarding prostate cancer. So grow, groom or apply your mustache and give prostate cancer the finger. Just don't give prostate cancer the finger the way my doctor does.  My doctor uses a glove and lubricant. I don't really like the way my doctor gives prostate cancer the finger, but so far for me, it works.

Weekend Magazine: Spooky Hubby Halloween.

The scariest sentence in the English language.

Hallowhen?

As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Bush administration made one of it's wisest decisions of either term (the list of wise decisions of the Bush administration is a short list, but I digress). Beginning in 2007, the end of daylight saving time was pushed back one week, from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November. The big deal? It allowed another hour of daylight for trick or treat. An extra hour of sunlight means it's a bit warmer for trick or treat. It's also one less hour of kids daring between parked cars. Now, it's time to complete the task started in 2005.

source: morgueFile

Consider The Source.

The observance of Halloween has a long history. Here in the western world there is a tie to All Saints Day (November 1) with All Hallows Eve (Halloween, October 31) being the night before All Saints Day.  The modern practice of kids running around the neighborhood collecting a month's worth of sugar fix or college kids dressed in "costumes" that hide nothing is not a celebration of saints or the hallowed. I'm not against kids and candy or college kids and body paint; to each their own. It's time to change the date of the modern celebration of Halloween. Why not the last
Saturday/Sunday/weekend in October?

The Calendar Can Be Changed.

Some of the most sacred days on our calendar are not fixed to a date. Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving do not have a fixed date. For most of my life Veterans Day was celebrated on the Monday closest to November 11.  Washington's Birthday has morphed into Presidents Day, celebrated on the third Monday in February. So why do we have young children out after dark on a school night merely to collect candy?

Disclaimer.

By no means do I espouse changing the day or celebration of All Saints Day and the accompanying All Hallows Eve for those that celebrate All Saints Day. As for the rest of us, move Halloween to the weekend.

Summer Solstice.

Today is the 1st day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Officially it's the Summer Solstice. Many say this is the longest day of the year and they're all wrong. Days are 24 hours along (approx) every day of the year. The Summer Solstice is the day with the more daylight than any other day of the year. Today there will be 15 hours, 16 minutes and 28 seconds of daylight. That's 2 more seconds of daylight than yesterday or tomorrow. It may not sound like much but those 2 seconds become more than 2 seconds and add up quickly. By December those 15 hours 16 minutes 28 seconds of daylight will become 9 hours 5 minutes 10seconds of daylight. 6+ hours of less daylight is significant.

It's been great this month going outside after 8 PM with the sky still light.  July 4th fireworks will wait until after 9 PM to make sure the sky is completely dark.  Soon enough, though the sky will be dark at 7:30 PM, 7 PM and even earlier.  So no matter how grand the Summer Solstice may be it has a melancholy lining. It's a warning that the daylight party is coming to an end.  There is still lots of really really good. Evening barbeques,
backyard firepits and glorious late summer/early fall afternoons. Still, the Summer Solstice warns us that soon enough the cold winter nights will be here. Don't overlook a minute of those long summer days.

I know that I have already reached my Summer Solstice. Whether I'm between July 4th and Labor Day or between Labor Day and Halloween is unknown. I hope I'm not yet close to Thanksgiving or Christmas. I still have too much left to accomplish, too much left I want to experience. For me the Summer Solstice is a reminder reminder to cherish every day. It's important I make every day count. Not only must I recognize each ray of sunshine, I must seek out those rays of sunshine. Whether I like it or not Winter will find me. Winter is always a bit easier with great summer memories.