The first Labor Day was celebrated Tuesday, September 5th, 1882 in New York City. The proposal for the holiday was to have a street parade that exhibited "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" followed by a day of recreation and enjoyment for working people and their families. In 1894, after 23 states had instituted Labor Day laws, the US Congress passed a bill declaring the first Monday of September each year a legal holiday.
With its perfect blue skies and cool, but temperate weather Labor Day is always a bittersweet reminder of the quiet days of August before we jump into the tumult of the fall.
We have a Labor Day tradition in our family started some twenty years ago when I felt the need to escape for one more road trip before summer was over. I literally pulled out the Rand-McNally atlas, closed my eyes, and jabbed a finger at the map of NY and NJ. The kids and I piled into my blue Dodge Caravan and headed in that direction. Two and a half hours later, after driving over a mountain and around a giant reservoir, we arrived at the edge of a beautiful lake in northern New Jersey just as the sun was lowering in the sky. There was a sandy beach and little islands in the distance. We dipped our toes in the water and watched the sun disappear and wished that the next day and school would never come. On the way home we found apples and ice cream and a petting zoo, at a local farm stand. A perfect Labor Day and end to summer.
We've tried to return there every Labor Day since and today is no exception.
We canoed to our favorite little rocky island and had a picnic dinner before sunset. Another perfect end to the summer.
With its perfect blue skies and cool, but temperate weather Labor Day is always a bittersweet reminder of the quiet days of August before we jump into the tumult of the fall.
We have a Labor Day tradition in our family started some twenty years ago when I felt the need to escape for one more road trip before summer was over. I literally pulled out the Rand-McNally atlas, closed my eyes, and jabbed a finger at the map of NY and NJ. The kids and I piled into my blue Dodge Caravan and headed in that direction. Two and a half hours later, after driving over a mountain and around a giant reservoir, we arrived at the edge of a beautiful lake in northern New Jersey just as the sun was lowering in the sky. There was a sandy beach and little islands in the distance. We dipped our toes in the water and watched the sun disappear and wished that the next day and school would never come. On the way home we found apples and ice cream and a petting zoo, at a local farm stand. A perfect Labor Day and end to summer.
We've tried to return there every Labor Day since and today is no exception.
We canoed to our favorite little rocky island and had a picnic dinner before sunset. Another perfect end to the summer.
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