Tag: holidays

Labor Day 2017

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> Labor Day
Hurricane Harvey near peak intensity prior to landfall in southern Texas on August 25

For those actually celebrating this Labor Day weekend, Happy Labor Day! Today marks the unofficial end of summer.

However, those living in Houston Texas, or anywhere within the path of Hurricane Harvey, are probably still laboring in one way or another, either to mop up damage, or just to figure out what to do now that the storm if over and the recovery has barely begun.

We have friends in the Houston area, and are grateful that their ride through the hurricane was relatively mild. Their house is on high ground, and they suffered only minor damage to one car. They were lucky, when so many people were not.

Ironically, at this time last year, when I wrote my Labor Day post we were tracking the path of Hurricane Hermine. As trends go, this one sucks. And very, very definitely blows.

Stay safe, wherever you are spending your Labor Day.

Labor Day 2016

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> Labor Day

hurricane hermine

Welcome to the unofficial end of summer.

Once upon a time, Labor Day weekend was the last free weekend kids had before school started and homework began. Today many schools start in August, and Labor Day weekend isn’t quite what it used to be. But it is still a 3-day weekend and most places usually have good weather.

Although when we lived in Anchorage, Labor Day Weekend usually heralded the sighting of “Termination Dust” – the first visible snowfall on the Chugach Mountains that surround the Anchorage bowl. It was an unmistakable, but unwelcome, sign that winter was coming.

This year might be different. As I write this on Thursday, Hurricane Hermine is headed for the Florida Gulf Coast, which means a whole lotta rain in the southeast as it tracks its way across Florida and south Georgia heading for the Carolinas. Atlanta is a bit too far north for the actual hurricane, but I expect plenty of stormy weather on its fringe.

I also want to know who is responsible for the name “Hermine”. It should be Hermione. She brought plenty of bad weather to the forces of darkness in the Harry Potter books. A hurricane named in her honor would be totally appropriate.

I hope you are having a terrific Labor Day Weekend, wet or dry.

 

Fourth of July 2016

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> Independence Day
July 4 Fireworks, Duluth GA
July 4 Fireworks, Duluth GA

Today is the 240th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was the beginning of the “American Experiment” which has mostly worked, but has certainly had its ups and downs in the intervening two plus centuries. Which years are the “ups” and which ones are the “downs” is something that history will have to decide.

For those of you in the U.S., I hope you have a fantastic three-day weekend. We can see the village fireworks, just like in the picture above, from our front yard. The cats will be cowering somewhere in the house, wishing for the “night of big booms” to finish up and leave them to their late evening naps.

 

New Year’s Day 2016

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> New Year's Day

duluth new years eve fireworks

Better late than never.

Consider this message a belated New Year’s Day post. My webhost was down on January 1, suffering from a Denial of Service (DOS) attack. While I often pre-schedule posts so that I don’t have to sit down at my computer every day, not being able to post is no fun. It’s good to be back. Hopefully for good!

Even a day late for New Years, it is never too late to thank everyone who reads these pages for being a loyal follower, and to wish everyone a safe, happy and of course bookish New Year.

The picture above is from the annual New Year’s Eve celebration here in Duluth Georgia. A good and not too cold time was had by all. And I always love a good fireworks show!

Happy Holidays 2015

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Christmas> Hanukkah> Holidays

grumpy cat xmas

As someone who does not celebrate Christmas, my attitude is sometimes a lot like the one that Grumpy Cat exhibits above. Some of my fondest Christmas memories are of driving around Chicago at Christmastime, listening to a compilation of Dr. Demento Christmas carols and hunting out the most outrageous and over-the-top Christmas light displays in the neighborhood.

This year, no one seems to be dashing through the snow – mostly because there isn’t any snow! Except, of course, for Anchorage, none of the places that we have lived are remotely cold enough to snow this year. Not even Chicago! And the northeast is having a heat wave. (We’ll be in Boston in a couple of weeks, and I’m crossing my fingers for the unseasonable warmth to continue!)

But seriously, even though Christmas is not everyone’s holiday, this year, just like every year, we could all use a little more “peace on earth and goodwill to all”.

So Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and best wishes for whatever you celebrate this year. Including the two lovely four day weekends in a row!

Labor Day 2015

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> Labor Day

rosie the riveter poster

Today is Labor Day in the U.S., and Labour Day in Canada. It’s a holiday that traditionally marks the end of summer in this part of the northern hemisphere. In the U.S., it also marks one of the last three-day weekends of the year that lots of people get. Columbus Day isn’t as widely observed, and Veterans Day is always November 11. This year it’s a Wednesday.

So here we are, the last weekend of Summer. This also used to be the last day that it was fashionable to wear white until next Memorial Day. How things have changed on the fashion front!

In Atlanta, it means that the daily temperatures have dropped from the mid-90s to the mid-80s. The outside is getting more tolerable again. Whoopee!

I was tempted to just post a “Gone Fishing” notice for today, but I don’t think I could catch anything as adorable as the kittens those two fishermen caught in Alabama last week.

So in case you missed it on YouTube, here is the video of two guys who turned fishing for catfish into fishing for kittenfish:

New Year’s Day 2015

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> New Year's Day

happy 2015

Happy 2015! 

Last night at midnight, wherever you are and whenever that was, is when the big celebration took place.

Peach Drop 2009We’re back in Atlanta, and they drop a giant PEACH at midnight here. Considering just how many streets in the metro area are named Peachtree something-or-other, the big peach is not a big surprise.

But our peach and New York’s crystal ball aren’t the only things falling at midnight. Wikipedia has a big list, but here’s some of the ones that caught my attention:

There’s a place in Bermuda where they drop a paper-mache Bermuda onion.

Lots of places in Florida drop citrus fruit. Not just the Oranges that get dropped in Orlando and Miami, but Sarasota drops a pineapple and Brooksville drops a tangerine.

In Maine, Bangor drops a beach ball, and Eastport drops both a maple leaf and a sardine. A sardine!

But my favorite is my own hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. I wish they still did this, but it doesn’t look like they do. They used to fly a pig, so that once a year, it could be said that pigs do fly.

But only once a year.

I hope that each and every one of you has a happy 2015.

Chrismukkah 2014

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Christmas> Hanukkah> Holidays

christmas-vs-hanukkah

Today may be Christmas as well as the last day of Hanukkah, but there are plenty of holidays to celebrate in late December.

And if none of the others appeal, there’s always Festivus.

But seriously, whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Solstice or simply that the days have started getting longer again, have a happy whatever you are having, and a safe and prosperous New Year.

Labor Day 2014

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Holidays> Labor Day

In the U.S. the first Monday in September is designated as a holiday. For Labor Day, a whole lot of us get the day off from, well, labor. Or at least the kind that generates a paycheck.

681px-LABOR_DAY_1942_-_NARA_-_535654

The image above is from Wikimedia Commons, and was created by the Office for Emergency Management, Office of War Information, Domestic Operations Branch for Labor Day in 1942.

Which makes it both a terrific poster and domestic war propaganda at the same time.

Also very apropos for today, over the weekend we went to MOHAI, the Seattle Museum of History and Industry. While we went for the tasty Chocolate exhibition, MOHAI has many marvelous exhibits about the industrial history of Seattle, including galleries devoted to the Seattle General Strike of 1919. Fascinating!