First Day of Autumn 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

This year the first day of Autumn falls on September 23rd. When things like this are listed on our calendar they are based more on tradition than on facts.

As you know we used to live in California, in the Northern part of the State, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the East Bay side of San Francisco Bay, and a bit further inland to the East than Oakland, in what they call the San Ramon Valley, in the City of Concord. We have lived in Duluth, Georgia, in the Atlanta Metro area since September 2012.

People who have never lived in California believe we have fantastic weather, lots of sunshine, and all our trees remain green and flowers are blooming, all year long. Take it from me, a born and raised, third generation native Californian, that we don’t always have good weather, we don’t always have sunshine, and we don’t have green trees and blooming flowers all year long.

I assure you that in all the places I have lived in California that most trees change colors and lose their leaves in Autumn. I assure you that we have a Winter season here in California. I assure you that we experience freezing temperatures even here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2009 I lived in the City of Redlands, California, which is located about 50 miles East of Los Angeles. It is North of Riverside and East of San Bernardino, where Interstate 10 & Interstate 215 cross. During the Summer months temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 80 percent humidity, or higher, was common. During January 2007 we actually had about a half inch of snow fall on the ground.

Where we live now in Duluth, Georgia, we have summer temperatures in the 90's with high humidity. Today is September 14th and this is the 3rd day we are in the mid-70's with humidity in the 50 percent range.

So I welcome you to the month of September 2015 and I hope you enjoy the first day of Autumn on September 23rd.

Nice Things You Find In The Park

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I took Keira to Shorty Howell Park so she could ride her bike and also play on the equipment in the playground. While Keira was playing and riding her bike I walked around to find things I could photograph with the camera on my cell phone. Here is the result of that walk around Shorty Howell Park.

Labor Day

Written By:  Andrew Eide

As previously mentioned my memory of Labor Day is with the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. I admire Mister Lewis for his life-long dedication to this worthy cause and I was sad to see him leave the hosting of the Telethon due to health reasons.

I am not here today to talk about the Telethon though. I am here to talk about the concept of Labor Day, where it started, and how it got to where it is today.

My research with the Department of Labor brought up some interesting facts which even I wasn’t fully aware of.

Labor Day, which is the first Monday in September, and for 2015 that is September 7th, is a creation of the labor movement and it is meant to focus our attention on the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Although there is no fact on who actually proposed a Labor Day holiday for workers we do have some possible answers. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, the General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Co-Founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first in suggesting a day to honor workers.

However, many people believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. There appears to be more information to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, who later served as the Secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinist in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 2882, in New York City based on the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday one year later, on September 5, 1883.

It was in 1884 that the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday day, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of this day.

So in this current time we have a national Labor Day holiday on the first Monday in September. Please remember to take time to thank those workers, who over many decades, and for over a century, have worked hard, and they built this great country we enjoy.