A Monday-ish Tuesday

[lydamorehouse]

 Yesterday was a very odd little Federal holiday (bank holiday to the rest of the world): President's Day.

What do you do for presidents' day? Your guess is as good as mine. It seems that, in accordance to the laws of the United States of America, you go shopping, I guess???? I really have ZERO idea how this so-called holiday is otherwise supposed to be celebrated, but there are always "Presidents Day Sales" on things like refrigerators, washing machines, and other appliances for some reason. It's sort of like Memorial Day, except that I actually know what we're supposed to be celebrating on that day.

My wife works for the State of Minnesota, and so because state government employees tend to follow the Federal government employees, she had the day off. We decided we were going to celebrate President Obama and possibly President Carter (or possibly the bi/gay presidents Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan) by having a "crafting day." 

Shawn has been taking an online course in sashiko and so she spent a good portion of her day learning some of the first patterns.  Just learning to trace them over and over again on a piece of paper. She hasn't even moved up to tracing them on fabric yet. Her instructor, Futatsuya Atsushi, is kind of a hoot. His dry sense of humor is very Minnesotan in a lot of ways, particularly if you read between the lines (which we have gotten used to doing with my Japanese pen pal.) I've been enjoying listening in to those. 

She also got a chance to do some looming.

I started the day making a journal entry for a role-playing game that's designed to be a journal passed between at least three players. The one my family is playing is called The Machine. It's a horror RPG. Shawn did the first set of entries and so now it has been passed to me. Because our characters are supposedly building a machine of some sort, I spent some time drawing some fake designs and doing fake math. It was pretty entertaining. 

Then, I did a lot of sewing on my latest quilt, which I'm pretty darned pleased with. (I have someone in mind that I want to surprise this one with. It will be a Crazy Cat Zucchini!!) 



Image: Cats and colorful squares in pastel "windows."

It was fairly perfect day off, honestly. We've decided that we might have to plan for a few more of these spontaneous craft days.

Comments

[adrian_turtle]

I remember when they called it "Washington's Birthday," rather than "Presidents' Day." It was celebrated with cherry pie, and with cub scouts and/or brownies dressing up in powdered wigs and reading Washington's Farewell Address very badly.

[conuly]

I do very vaguely remember being in the first or second grade and having to get a handout signed by my parents confirming that they understood that from now on the NYC public schools would no longer take off two days for Washington and Lincoln's birthdays but would instead mark President's Day by having the entire week off. (Or, actually... it may very well that one year they switched from two birthdays to President's Day and the year after that they started throwing Midwinter Recess during that same week. I'm not entirely certain now. This was a long time ago!)

[lydamorehouse]

Okay, wow, yes... I have a vague sense of cherry pie now too. I should go back to that! Or, now that we're celebrating all of them, I could eat peanuts in honor of Carter or something. :-)

[conuly]

President's Day is what happens when the government looks around and says "Commemorating Lincoln and Washington separately but only a few days apart is absurd, let's make it an always-Monday holiday instead!"

[lydamorehouse]

I mean, I remember that change as well, but I don't remember doing anything special for either president when they used to have their own days either. :-)

[pameladean]

I think we just had cherry pie. I lived my first eight years in Illinois, where Lincoln was a really big deal and Washington was just some guy, but it was mostly just a day off school for us. I mean, Lincoln was ALWAYS a big deal there.

The quilt is STUNNING.

P.

[lydamorehouse]

Thanks. I'm really pleased with this one so far. It's always fun when you try something new and it works out the way you pictured it.

Every time I drive through Illinois (and it used to be often, as my mother-in-law is in Indiana) I am astounded by how much that state is INTO being the home of Lincoln.

[ursula]

Thanks for sharing the Lincoln article! I really enjoyed it.

[lydamorehouse]

You're welcome. I discovered Lincoln's bisexuality when I was working as circ staff at the Ramsey County Library and shelving books. Believe it or not, I stumbled across a little chapter book which was for Pride Month that was full of "GLBTQIA+ People in History" and there, in black and white, was Lincoln's soldier lover!!

[ursula]

Oh, fun!

I enjoyed the "past is a different country" elements of Vidal's take on what it means to be queer, too--he's definitely working with a different schematic from the ones I'm used to!

[sabotabby]

So pretty!

[lydamorehouse]

Thanks! As I said in another comment, it's one of those pieces that looks like I thought it would when I first imagined it in my head? So, that's always satisfying.

[cateyespecks]

I do remember back when we celebrated Washington and Lincoln separately, but I don't remember actually doing anything on those days, except maybe learn about the respective presidents' lives in school. We definitely never covered most of the stuff in that Vanity Fair article. And I can't say I ever learned a lick about Buchanan.

I wish I had had cherry pie like several have commented above.

This year I just worked as usual. I've never worked a job where I got off for that holiday.

[lydamorehouse]

Sorry you had to work on this very IMPORTANT and AUSPICIOUS holiday. You should complain. To someone. Somewhere. :-)

But, about Buchanan, I highly recommend the Bad Gays podcast in general, even though they get a little dry and academic. Buchanan was a TERRIBLE president, but there really is no question that he was gay.

[cateyespecks]

Already subscribed after you linked it above. I love a new podcast to listen to as I am driving, and that one sounds interesting!

[eagle]

My team at work is based in Tucson (I work remotely), so I don't get President's Day off because everyone instead gets Rodeo Day off, which is this Friday. It's kind of odd? Although I often like working a day most other people are off and having off a day most other people are working.

Sashiko looks amazing!

[lydamorehouse]

RODEO DAY. Please tell me more about this amazing holiday. I mean, it's not hard to imagine how it is celebrated, but I have never heard of this before in my life. And, since you don't live in Tucson, maybe you don't know. I may have to Google.

As for sashiko... yeah, I'll be interested to see if Shawn can learn to do it. She's got a favorite denim shirt she is hoping to repair/strengthen, and I offered up one of my old button downs that is just kind of boring and so I never wear it to practice on. I'll be sure to post any good results.

[eagle]

Yeah, I had never heard of Rodeo Day before I started this job either! It seems to be a well-kept secret outside of Tucson. There isn't even a separate Wikipedia article about it.

I have not been in Tucson for Rodeo Day, so I can't provide a first-hand account, but my understanding from my co-workers is that in addition to the obvious rodeos, there's a huge parade and kids generally get two days off of school (which is part of why people also get it off of work). People dress up, I think there are street festivals and whatnot, and it's a whole city-wide thing. Definitely more of a holiday atmosphere than President's Day ever was for me!

I love the idea of a highly local holiday. I think at least one holiday every year should be something absurdly specific to your local city or town.

On sashiko, something about the idea of it just delights me: decorative stitching that doubles as a way of reinforcing old and patched fabric so that it can continue to be used. I think it's that growing up I absorbed the idea that decoration was for adding to the best and most pristine things, so I love the idea of functional decoration for old and well-used and beloved things.

[lydamorehouse]

Saint Paul has the Winter Carnival, though we don't offer days off. https://wintercarnival.com/

Unofficially, people around these parts will take Saint Patrick's Day off as it's a Big Deal to the decently-sized Irish immigrant community in St. Paul (though, interestingly, I've read that despite acting like an Irish majority town, St. Paul never truly was.) But, again, it's not offered like Rodeo Days. I so looking up Rodeo Days...

[leia_solo]

That's a nice quilt! I'm going to get into it soon. I don't know how to celebrate it either honestly. Y'all have a good idea.

[lydamorehouse]

I find it fascinating that so many people have actual memories of DOING SOMETHING for Washington's Birthday/President's Day. They are still running "President's Day Mattress Sale!" ads on my radio, so that's still my biggest association with the holiday. But, I do have vague memories of our grade school doing something with the Big Lie about the Cherry Tree and Washington back in the day.

And thanks!

[offcntr]

I love Craft Days! Denise and I usually celebrate our anniversary by doing an art project together. Sometimes Valentine's as well, though this year that was complicated by it also being Day-Before-Surgery Day. (And also Ash Wednesday, so we had dinner-and-chocolates on Mardi Gras instead.)

[lydamorehouse]

This was a weird year for Valentines for my Catholic friends. I had another friend have to do Valentine's Observed due to Ash Wednesday.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> What do you do for presidents' day? <<

Cherries! From the George Washington story about the cherry tree. When I was in college, the eatery I frequented would make cherry-filled croissants only in February. So that's mine. I look for cherry things.

Re: Well ...

[lydamorehouse]

Another vote for cherry! I really should have remembered that.

[spiderplanet]

You make a lot of damn fine quilts. That is another one.

[lydamorehouse]

Thank you! I'm just about finished piecing it now.

[misura]

That's a great quilt, but I'm also mildly ... not spooked, exactly, but vaguely tickled because my mom in Europe also quilts and made one with that exact cat fabric. Which, okay, I guess fabrics can ship worldwide, but. :3

(Hers was smaller, and more 'colorful cats! surrounded by some other stuff'. It's been hanging on our bathroom wall for what feels like years.)

[lydamorehouse]

Okay, so.... it is possible that the person I got this fabric with may have gotten it in Europe at some point in her life because she was an army brat, someone who traveled with a military parent as they moved from base to base. So, maybe that's where it came from?

Very cool, regardless!