Holiday Lineup
Seems like a good time to go through the holiday lineup.
We always begin with the first and last holiday of the year, Groundhog Day:
| Date | Name | Celebration | Cuisine | Status |
| 02-Feb | Groundhog Day | Visit to Wiarton on even numbered years. | Pancake Breakfast | Major |
| 14-Feb | Beginning of One Month Countdown to Pi Day | Meeting to Plan Pi Day Celebration | Chocolate | Minor |
| 14-Mar | Pi Day | Serve Pie at 1:59. | Pie | Major |
| 30-Apr | Halfoween Eve | Watch Horror Movie/Fiscal Year End activities | Popcorn | Minor |
| 04-May | Star Wars Day | Use Star Wars Name | None | Major |
| 05-May | Revenge of the Fifth | Reflect on early childhood education | Hard Candy | Minor |
| 03-Jun | Egg Day | Read dissertation chapter | Egg Dinner | Major |
| 22-Jul | Almost Pi Day | Pi Day planning, review Facebook friend list | None | Minor |
| 19-Sep | International Talk Like a Pirate Day | Talk like a pirate, wear a colander to dinner | Spaghetti | Major |
| 31-Oct | Halloween | Attend Rocky Horror Picture Show, shadow cast performance, ruminate on length of time to next major holiday | Middle Eastern | Major |
Major vs. Minor
A major holiday would be the equivalent of a civic or statutory holiday, a minor holiday would be like a bank holiday. True, I only follow this for Groundhog Day, but if I had my way, all major holidays on this list would be full public holidays. With the exception of Egg Day, in general, Major holidays have a strong following in the general community.
February 29
The tradition for February 29 was that I planned to achieve nothing that day and I answered the phone every time it rang. I doubt that this will be much of a celebration but I will look forward to the friends that always call me on February 29.
Dyngus Day
Dyngus Day is the same as Easter Monday so it is not the same every year and it isn’t really in the schedule but I enjoy calling attention to it. This year it will be on April 10 look here for more information; it is quite a big deal in Buffalo so quite near by.
In Case You Were Wondering
This holiday thing started a little more than 25 years ago while we lived in Cyprus and around the time Sam was settled into primary school. We were inundated with Cypriot, Greek, Canadian and religious holidays and, truthfully, I was and am pretty indifferent about most of them. I told Sam that she could pretty much ignore them but that I would make sure that she would get whatever loot her peers were getting. By the time Sam was settled in primary school, we had developed our own unique traditions and she would look forward to our many adventures.
Groundhog Day is quite an obvious holiday which has been established for quite a long time; it is also rooted in the calendar; Star Wars Day has a less venerable tradition but sports an enthusiastic built in following. Pi Day and Talk Like a Pirate Day have developed into very popular celebrations, seems I was ahead of my time. Egg Day is related to the date that Sam defended her dissertation. Halloween is steeped in family tradition, every year we attend a shadow cast performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I have railed against Valentines’ Day for decades, hence, Beginning of the 1 Month Countdown to Pi Day. Revenge of the Fifth is quite obvious as the day after Star Wars Day, we reflect on early childhood education; Cinco de Mayo, also 5/May encourages children to bash at things hard and often enough to be rewarded with candy. Almost Pi Day is on July 22 because 22 divided by 7 is a close approximation of Pi.
If you follow me on Facebook, you will note that I restrict my interventions to my holiday calendar, with only rare exceptions. I actually answer or comment on anything pertinent but always on Messenger behind the scenes.