Seasons change, people change

When I was in college, Fall semester always seemed to go so much more quickly than Spring semester did. I think now that it had to do with all the holidays: it kicked off with Labor Day, quickly headed into Columbus Day (though that was marked only by the protesting students and banks being closed; classes were still in session). Next, we had Halloween, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and before Christmas (and often before Hanukkah, though it was sometimes close to Thanksgiving), school was done. It rushed by.

And because of all the holidays, we had a true holiday season. My dad and I have joked many times about how Christmas decorations begin being displayed earlier and earlier each year (few are Scroogier than the left-out Jews). When I was young, he lamented their presence appearing an entire month beforehand, starting the day before Thanksgiving. As I've aged and retailers have become more bold or greedy to start the season earlier, we've incredulously observed the start of the Christmas shopping season moving pre-Veteran's Day, pre-Halloween, and in one bold example, pre-Labor Day.

As we moved through the holiday season, the weather would change as well. Days became shorter, temperatures cooled, and there would be more precipitation. This was all predictable: year after year after year, school returned to session, the weather changed, the holidays progressed in their sequence. We celebrated each as appropriate, whether with special costume, special meal, or special activities and observation. We would gather as a family to be together at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Things are totally different now: there is no holiday season. No Labor Day (not in September, at any rate), no Halloween, no Thanksgiving (no Veteran's Day or Columbus Day either, but they've never been that important to me). The weather is steadily getting warmer, not cooler. Of course, I'm not in school any more, either, so the days are not marked by tests or papers due. What I miss the most is the holiday season...