Happy Belated Back-to-School Day

With the official holiday of Christmas on December 25th, we usually get the day before as a bonus holiday (unless you work retail.) And with the official holiday of Easter, we get the preceding Friday as a matching holiday (although we Americans don’t take it as seriously as they do in Europe.) I was thinking today that we should lump the past two days together as another bonus two-fer deal.

My thinking was prompted by a comment made at Tuesday evening’s Porch discussion. One of the well-spoken attendees told us about that very day being his favorite (by far) holiday. Christmas is o.k. as a holiday, he said, but the Back-to-School holiday trumps them all. The joy of seeing all the little munchkins march off to school is far better than anything he could envision under any Christmas tree. What a delightful day—it even makes the passing of summer seem worth it.

So, whereas most of us got to take off work the Monday of this week in celebration of Labor Day, the higher holiday—the one all parents revere—came on Tuesday. So next year, as you try to squeeze in one more day at the Minnesota State Fair, remember that this day of labor is a mere “eve” of that greater day of freedom, the first Tuesday of September. Maybe we should start calling it “Freedom Day.”