Is it a Holiday today? What is Labor Day

 So I just went through my first week of retirement and I really haven't noticed much.  More like a weeks' vacation to get things done.  BUT of course, guess what happened.

I basically could not get up.  Not off the sofa or the toilet.  It took me by a shocking surprise.  Especially the toilet.  I have since stacked a bunch of pillows on the sofa so I sit higher and I have devised a way to get off the toilet; but, in the meantime I went to the Doctor.  

Well, it wasn't good news.  I thought it was my knees.  I need two new ones but must lose about 40 pounds first before my doctor will do them.  But there was so much more happening.  First my knee went numb.  I thought maybe years of putting stuff on my knees made them numb.  But then the whole leg went numb.  Sometimes when I stood most of the time when I sat and one muscle across the front of my thigh hurt like hell.

Turns out - pinched nerve in my back and I see the spine specialist tomorrow.  Most likely a shot in the back or (I didn't like hearing this) surgery.

So, please say prayer for healing, I would greatly appreciate it.

Anyway, it is Labor Day.  What is Labor Day - from Wikipedia - 

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States.^[1][2][3]

Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor. "Labor Day" was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the U.S. officially celebrated Labor Day.^[4

 

In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American laborer worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.  (Holy Crap)  

 

First Labor Day Parade

Many of these events turned violent during this period, including the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were killed. Others gave rise to longstanding traditions: On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history.

The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many states passed legislation recognizing it. Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in American labor history brought workers’ rights squarely into the public’s view. On May 11, 1894, Chicago employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives.

On June 26, the American Railroad Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, called for a boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. To break the Pullman strike, the federal government dispatched troops to Chicago, unleashing a wave of riots that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen workers and the arrest and imprisonment of Debs.

I never realized that Labor Day had such a violent start.  My grandmother did talk about going to work in a mill at a young age.  She had to stand on boxes to do the work because she was so small.  Now, you can work from home.  I can write this blog in my living room on my laptop. 

In fact, Labor Day is Another day in Catasauqua

 

RETIREMENT

 Well, it happened, I am retired - this is day 2.  First thing I would like to tell you about retirement is that the days go faster.  How comes 8 hours at work takes an eternity while 8 hours at home goes by in a flash.

Day 1 I did as I said I would - slept in, read and then went to Aldi's.  Later I went to the Catasauqua Library for my Crochet Group.  

Day 2 is busier - got up - took care of Mom, then she had a video doctor appointment at 12 noon,  The doctor was 45 minutes late, but we finally got that over with.  Then I made a charcutier board for tonight's Friendship Circle, went down to church and hung a welcome back banner.  Now I am home writing to you.  I have things to do for next few days.  I really don't see me getting bored soon.  

I worked 50 years, 48 of them in Title Insurance so I think it was time to call it quits.  My legs have been giving me more problems than usual - I thought they would get a little better.  Darn

I want to finally do things that I had put off before .  Go places, see things and do things that you just don't get to do when you work all the time.  

Who knows what time will bring.

especially in Catasauqua.

And that's another day in Catasauqua
 

Starting a New Chapter

 Well, the time is finally coming.  As of the end of August I will be retiring.  I have worked  since I was 18.  First for Attorneys then I worked for Hamilton Abstract Company for over 30 years and after that two additional Title Companies.  

I have a total of 48 years in Title Insurance.

I am not sure what is next. I do know 2 reasons I am retiring - 1)  I will be 69 this month, it just sounds like I shouldn't be working yet.  2) My mother needs more care.  Would you believe she is 92.  Right now we are battling a UTI which causes hallucinations.  The Ugly Midget is back.  From what I understand he is on my neighbor's roof.   Parke thought she would stop seeing him after she said he was not there for her but for Parke, my significant other.  

Every day is an adventure, not knowing what kind of mood she will be in, what she will remember or what she thinks.  This week she doesn't know my name - I am simply known as Parke's girlfriend.  

If that is what I will be like in 30 years, make sure someone puts me in the home.  

One thing I know - I might get to write more here.  Just my mother's hallucinations are a hoot.

I might get a little relaxation in.

I might clean out drawers and closets I have put off forever.

So we shall see.  I will take it day by day; and maybe share her some of the stories here with you.

Because, it will be.......

Another day in Catasauqua

Where have all the hippies gone?

 I was born in 1957 and basically just missed the "hippie times".  I was a wanna be hippie wearing jeans and my Pat Paulsen for President sweatshirt practically every day.  

I believe the world needs hippies right now because they embodied a spirit of radical generosity, community and environmental consciousness. 

Hippies taught us the importance of living in harmony with nature and the planet, advocating for nonviolence and promoted LOVE AND PEACE.  

What happened - where is that generation?  We need you now.  

"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released as a single and on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. It has been described as a protest song, and poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind". In 1994, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, 'n' how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, 'n' how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

_____________________________________________________

How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died. Wow, that hits hard now, with useless assassinations and school shootings.

I remember -

Bomb threats in school as a way of getting out of class - there were no bombs, and it was usually done close to the big Thanksgiving Day football game.

Hands Across America - May 25, 1986 - it was a way to raise money for the hungry, homeless and poor population.

Woodstock - celebrated peace, love and music in 1969

The counterculture movement of the 1960s and ‘70s was arguably one of the most influential time periods in modern American history. A more individualized identity was sought after by coming-of-age outsiders that took over the nation due to the baby boom. Nonconformists emerged and publicly rejected traditional social norms. The anti-war perspective encouraged an idealistic peace and love movement that made the decades somewhat euphoric.

Maybe social media has ruined that all - or maybe the next generation can use it to create something even greater.  To unite people, to end wars, end hunger, end the destroying of our earth and to stop us from destroying ourselves.  

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.

and that another day,  inside my head, in Catasauqua.

 

Batter, Batter, Oh NO

 July 3, 2025 - the Iron Pigs game for 7:05 has a rain delay.  That's ok with me.  I go for the food.  Every year we have a great time with a group that rents the Iron Pigs Suite.  I love going and I eat my weight in hot dogs and fried chicken wings and end with a cookie.  It is a tradition for Parke and I. 

I love being with my friends, I love watching Baseball and I love the food.

So, the game has a late start, 8:25. That's ok, I watched the first pitches, the dancers and talked with friends.  

Finally, the games starts and then it happened.  I think it was the 3rd inning.  I heard the crack of the bat, I saw the pop-up fly.  Then I saw John in front of me move, his hand going up and then the next thing I know Bing, bang, boom.  Bing, it hit my calf, my legs were cross, Bang, it hit my stomach, Boom my hand. and then it was gone.  In all that, I never saw the ball.

The usher came and the group said no one was hit, mainly because I could not say a word - the only pain was where it hit me stomach - but my leg was numb, and I couldn't move it.  

When I finally got feeling back,

I went into the suite and asked for ice and then all the commotion starts, seconds later ushers are there.  Then a few minutes later, an EMT. 

Everyone was so nice, and a lot of questions asked.

No, I didn't want an ambulance, nor did I want to go to the hospital to get checked out.  No, I didn't need a wheelchair.  

I kept asking is there anything on my belly, I kept pulling my shirt up, nope nothing there and amazingly that was the only thing that hurt without touching it.  My leg only hurt when the EMT touched it.

The bummer part was we went home - it was only the 4th inning.  I didn't get to sing the 7th inning stretch song or watch the pork race, and cheer on my fav - Ham Bone.

Maybe we can go back for a game one night this year and I can try to make it through the whole came without injury.  

Kudos to everyone that works at the iron pigs.  From the hostess in our suite, to the ushers and the EMT.  Everyone was so nice and caring.  

To the ball that hit me.  YOU SUCK

and that's another day in Catasauqua.

Freedom Let it Ring

 If you want a good cry today, listen to Trace Adkin's song Arlington.  I know it's July 4th - I am not all decorated like I used to be.  I do have one American Flag out and I asked Alexa to play patriotic songs, which led to the song Arlington.  I cried.

Two years ago the freedom of what woman can do was taken away from us.  Roe vs. Wade was overturned.  I called my friend Cathy and all I could say was Cathy and she knew and felt like I did.  Being 67 I can remember what woman went through with back room abortions.  But that day freedom was taken away.  I cried.

Yesterday the BBB was passed, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you a Rich White man, you lost a little freedom.  You might not feel it now, but I guarantee you will.

Today is July 4th, today we celebrate the Declaration of Independence - “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” 

I think right now we are losing that happiness.  I remember hearing patriotic songs on the 4th and they made cry, but not because I was sad, but I was proud, proud to be an American.  Proud to think about how our forefathers fought for freedom.  

My family came from Poland.  Their names are at Ellis Island.  This country is made up of immigrants, everyone, unless you are a Native American. Yet we are persecuting immigrants right now.  I know some are in the country illegally, but all they are looking for is the same thing we want, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.  

Isn't there a way to help, instead of sending them to Alligator Alcatraz?

And, if they can build that in a few days why can't we do that for the homeless.  Remember what the Statue of Liberty had engraved on it -  

 Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, temptest-tost to me.  I lift my lamp beside the golden door.   

I cried

Do you remember 9/11 - Cathy called me to tell me - we came together as nation that day.  Showing the world nothing can tear us apart.   Except right now we are letting something tear us apart.  We aren't the same.  We lost the happiness of the USA.

Do you know what I like to hear on this day - July 4th - it's not a speech by Washington, Lincoln or JFK.  It's  a speech from a movie President in the movie Independence Day where we are attacked by Aliens.  The space kind.

"In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We're going to live on. We're going to survive. Today, we celebrate our independence day." yup - I cried.

Best line is - We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore.  So true!

Happy 4th of July - may you take this day to remember what it is all about.  Remember what freedom means.  Remember the flag, the Statute of Liberty, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States of America.  Remember those who died for our freedom, for America,  

Liberty is the right to live free, you and me, let us not lose it to any authority which chooses to oppress us.  

and I cried, but that's another day in Catasauqua.

The Great Dirt Hole of '24

 Last night while I was at crochet group at the Catasauqua Public Library, my friend, Judy asked what Parke thought about all the trucks going by.  I wasn't sure what she meant until this morning.  

As I did the morning struggle to get in the car while parked

on Howertown Road during school traffic, I was memorized by the fact there were 2 giant dump trucks in front of me, crossing paths.  When I looked down, I saw that dirt covered parts of the street; and then it dawned on me, these were the trucks Judy was talking about.

The trucks that were putting the end to an era.  The trucks that were filling the Catty pool with dirt.  

Yesterday after work I was making a run to Hartzell's to pick up a prescription.  I had seen pictures of the pool being filled with dirt on Facebook, but when I saw it in person my heart dropped.  

The pool which opened in 1935, Grand opening July 11, 1936, which measured 60 feet by 220 feet.  The pool which became my home away from home in the summer months.  The pool where I learned to swim and where I tried to learn to dive but couldn't.  The pool where I hoped to be one of those ladies that sat under the tree (best spot on the grass) someday, watching my children play and swim.  But it never happened, we sat along the fence.  Three generations of my family swam there, my mom, me and my son.  The pool was now a giant dirt spot.  

I am not going to get into the politics or price that led to this.  My point is I am sad to see it go. It is an end to something that lasted 89 years.  

It was where I got snow cones and pretzel rods as a kid. It was where I met friends, and even fell in love once.  It was the pool. 

Yes, the Catasauqua Swimming pool has bit the dust, literally, and that's another day in Catasauqua.