Booo & Hooray! It's Almost Labor Day!

By Christine Insinga

    The air is getting crisp and the sky is taking on that deeper shade of blue.  You have to turn your headlights on a little bit earlier - the stores are filled with fall wardrobes  & I have to be totally honest here- I HATE it & I'm not ready!!  Okay- maybe not hate- it's too strong a word that I was raised never to use.  I dislike it...a LOT!  As I've mentioned in prior blogs I'm a summer girl through and through.  Sure- Santa is blast and so are friends and family at Christmas- but I prefer being barefoot on the Fourth of the July!!  I love the strong summer sun- not good for the complexion I know- it's a flaw I have.  I love the ocean and everything about it- it's color it's sound and it's power.  I prefer flip flops to snow boots; sundresses to peacoats; baseball to football and - of course- skydiving to skiiing any given day of the week! 

                           

This is from a jump I did in June out at Skydive Long Island, in Calverton!

They actually let me do it for WORK!  I was thrilled to do it but in hindsight I must wonder why they wanted to PAY me to jump out of a plane??  Is there a subliminal message I should be looking into here? 

    Back to the subject at hand - it is almost Labor Day- the unofficial end of summer- which means I will once again bid adieu to my many loves for the next few months.  This time of year makes me sad for just a moment.  It's ok - I go through it every year and I've learned to cope because New York is too amazing of a state to leave! 

Here- however-

is why I say HOORAY for Labor Day!!!!

First off- I'd like to wish Labor Day a heartfelt 126th birthday!  According to the Department of Labor, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.  Not long after it became a national holiday.

For more than a century we Americans have been paying tribute to all the workers in this country- the contributions- large and small they make everyday when they walk out the door to punch a clock and not come home until dinner---or dawn the next day as the case may be. 

So as I unofficially say g'bye to my beloved season I say hello to another yet another season, another season of work.  But I remember how blessed I am to have the opportunity to get up and go to work everyday---more importantly- how thankful I am to the person who decided the best way to celebrate Labor Day is to not have to labor at all:)