This day has many meanings. When I was little it meant the last day the pool was open. I never understood that one... not like it wasn't going to be hot for at least another month. It meant that it was almost time to go back to school. It meant hot dogs and a long weekend at the beach and all those cheesy American things that you probably think it meant. I hope it still means some of those things to some of you. Now, for reasons I find very sad, for me it just has symbolic meaning as the end of summer.
Why? My current institution of higher education does not observe Labor Day. WHAT? Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently the nerds who go to my school complained that Labor Day came too early in the year, and since they are paying top dollar for an education, it's disruptive and wasteful to have a day off so soon after the semester starts. Again, WHAT? That's the whole point of the day, from a student perspective: so you can ease back into the routine. No such luck here.
In any case, TMH had the day off, and we did our best to observe the holiday, and I did my best to avoid work- until he left town, at least. Not surprisingly, I am feeling a bit sad now. It's for the usual reasons, plus the Labor Day feeling- like summer went too quickly. He's gone- I had been looking forward to his visit for so long, my pretend birthday is over (though it was excellent-such a nice evening), it was over in a flash, the week is going to be busy (but my mom is coming at the end of it), I am getting old, etc, etc. You know the drill. The good news is that I spent the better half of the day (after he left) getting organized for the week and the semester ahead. I three-hole-punched stuff, organized notebooks, cleaned up my office, did my schedule, and even finished my reading. Yep, I did it. Bring on the week, and the semester ahead....
In our haste, though, let's just take a moment to acknowledge the symbolic end of the summer. It was certainly a good one.
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