Happy Labor Day

The highest reward for

people's toil is not what

they get for it but what

they become by it.

John Ruskin

It's Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. We always know this is going to be a three-day weekend because it is always observed on the first Monday in September. Memories of childhood abound at this time of year for the first week in September there were friends to see in grammar school and  stories to share about what we did over the summer.  Not that I had anything new to tell.  My summer's were basically the same.  I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's home, and that always made for something special.  I had friends there that no one knew (we went to different schools) so there were always tales to tell. Of course, there were secrets to keep as well.  Tales of trips to the town in grandpa's car to buy paper dolls were not to be told, and if my classmates knew I rode my grandmother's broom as if it were a horse, I'd have been laughed out of school.

Today Labor Day means an extra day of rest for me.  It's a day to kick up my feet and sleep as long as I want. For many, this is a time to squeeze in a last minute summer vacation, have a picnic, or a barbecue.  And others will be busy at the malls seeing what goodies that can pick up at the Labor Day sales.  Times certainly have changed.  We never thought of shopping on Labor Day.  First of all, stores were closed on holidays and Sundays back then, so even if we wanted to shop, we couldn't.  And then, who would want to spend their day in a store when they could be out there watching the parade and spending a last hoorah at the lake?  And there were no 'professional' lifeguards in my home town.  Lifeguards were teen-age boys who had to return to school like the rest of us...and all of us girls had crushes on them.

Went shopping on Saturday and spent my afternoon cooking in the kitchen. Autumn and winter fruits are beginning to appear on the shelves, and even though I am tired of summer fruits, I was hesitant to buy them, not because they didn't look appetizing, but because if I start too soon, I will be tired of them before next  years crop of summer fruits begins to appear. I did buy some grapes. Couldn't resist them.  To be honest, I've never seen grapes this huge. On Sunday I made some Colcannon and Spicy Roasted Cauliflower. Both were so  totally delicious, and I will be sure to share more tomorrow. This post is getting a bit long now, and it is a holiday, so I am sure you don't feel like reading a book.

Wishing you all a very happy Labor Day.