THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

OK.....OK....the summer months are gone I am told.  The other day my partner and I took a drive to Cobleskill.  On the way back we stopped at a wonderful place for lunch.  When we walked in we came face to face with a beautiful display shouting out all sorts of Halloween goodies.  You know the type......glittered pumpkins of all sizes, candles, signs, motion detection scary stuff.  It was a reality check......or was it?!  Of course the meal was great and we meandered the building amazed at the wonderful things they had to offer but that display "haunted" me.  On the way home we had a marvelous discussion of Halloween childhood memories.  This is what we decided.

Time has gotten away from us because we rush it.......the calendar went like this.  Labor Day announced the beginning of school.  You were ahead of the game if your parents shopped for new clothing two weeks before.  And, you got one, maybe two outfits.  Halloween wasn't even thought about until around October 1st, and marked by the first  mention of local pumpkins for sale.  Most of us went as a ghost and if you had a costume, it was a mask of some superhero or princess or something of the like.  It was one late afternoon/early evening of running around getting lots of candy, going home to eat it and giving back the sheet your mother had given you.  Halloween fun but done!  Next came Thanksgiving which was a wonderful holiday of food, fun and family.  It was such a great holiday where we would wait anxiously for our grandparents to show up.  Now Thanksgiving would last a couple of days because of the leftovers!  And we can't forget the Macy's Day parade. Christmas was the next holiday which wasn't even thought about until the first week or second week of December.  The tree in our family never went up until Christmas eve.  That's it.  the only Christmas lights were the ones on the tree.  (Now, some of you know that I was born in the city and spent a great deal of time there as well.  The holiday lights were quite spectacular and usually went up the week after Thanksgiving.)  The tree came down January 5th.  New years was a family holiday. Nice meal, beginning of the new year and the holiday spree is over.  Valentines day, St. Patty's day were cursory holidays.  Only to be followed by Memorial Day which was the next real holiday.  Forth of July picnic and fireworks and then all would be quiet until Labor Day.  There was no hint whatever that a holiday was approaching because it was still A LONG WAY OFF.  Halloween NEVER showed up in the middle of August.

Now, Thanksgiving, which to me is the most important time of the year, is crushed by Halloween and Christmas.

So, there it is.  To me it begs the question.  Is time really going by more quickly or is it our refusal to stay in the moment, enjoying the quiet until the next celebration comes?  Be in the moment.  Don't let  marketing techniques push you faster than you are ready to go.  I can't celebrate Halloween  until the pumpkins mature.  I do confess however, that I celebrate Thanksgiving every day because every day I am so Thankful.