Columbus Day 2008
Posted By Kathleen David on October 13, 2008
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
-from the poem In 1492
Which is about all I remember from the poem. I do know that it is much longer than that.
So this guy came and found something that had already been found and renamed an entire group of people something that they were not and it stuck. I guess it was right place, right time, and right publicist.
We celebrate this achievement by shutting down a good chunk of the government. There is no mail or garbage pickup. Federal offices are closed. The kids are home from school. And, from what the newspapers tell me, Americans are suppose to shop for all kinds of things. Furniture and electronics seem to be the primary focus however clothing is also being pushed. I ceased to be amazed at the number of holidays that seem to have become about one of two things either shopping or drinking and in some cases both.
There will be a parade through the town. A number of local shops, that had Irish flags up in March, have Italian flags up today. We do have a goodly sized Italian-American population in the area. I wonder how many people are going to eat pizza for dinner tonight to celebrate.
As for me, I plan to take Ariel to our favorite beauty salon to get a hair cut since she is in really dislike of her hair right now. She let it get long but she doesn’t like how it is behaving which is not like it was behaving last time she grew it out. We are having leftovers for dinner. Peter and I have bowling tonight. I might take Caroline to see the parade. They usually have really cool older fire trucks.
I am grateful for clean car interiors.
I always got a giggle out of the fact that, supposedly, America was named for Amerigo Vespucci. Turns out that one of the primary financial backers for Columbus’ little jaunt was an Englishman named Richard Amerik. It’s in Lies My Teacher Told Me. Along with a lot of other stuff.
The wife and I will probably snarf down baked beans and burgers for our holiday dinner. It’s quick, minimal effort, and filling, and costs little since we have the ingredients right here. With the economy in the state it is, we have to make everything stretch as far as we can without breaking.
Love to you and the kids, and to my Evil Twin. One day I have to send you a photo so you’ll know why I call Peter that.
Miles
In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Three,
Columbus Sailed the Deep Blue Sea.
Dr. Smith, Lost in Space.
Sadly, the University of California does not get the day off. Oh well…
And here in MI we celebrated by giving the whole states’ students the Almighty MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) test. Best example of best practices filling the bloated sails of the NCLB’s ship like a polluted breeze…