Every day is a holiday if you look at it the right way

We’ve made it to Groundhog Day, a very important occasion. Yes, of course, I know I’m making that observation on Super Bowl Sunday, a day of parties and celebration when most people will only use their newspaper to catch drips from the cheese dip. Ordinarily, I’d find it hard to get excited about an event that depends upon the weather-predicting skills of large rodents.

I’ve just learned that Groundhog Day has its origins in Candlemas Day when candles for the rest of the winter were distributed. The groundhog came in later as sort of a guest celebrity. Now, here’s the big thing: In some cultures this was—and remains—the day that Christmas decorations come down. I’m thrilled. That means I’m practically on schedule!

I’ve nearly got all of the decorations out of the house. Although I’d swear I put up only a couple of small boxes of ornaments, there are now somehow 17 boxes and nine plastic bags of ornaments to be put away. Well, eight plastic bags, one of them turned out to be full of Amazon packing lists and cheese dip containers—and an empty Cheetos bag. I have no idea where they came from, and now I’m afraid to look in the other bags.

I’ve just shoved everything into the garage. There are some very odd things out there hanging down and sticking up like Dollar Tree stalactites and stalagmites. It’s sort of like having your very own Mammoth Cave, which the National Park Service describes as a grand, gloomy and peculiar place. That’s my garage, all right.

“You need a vacation,” my son emailed. Right, I am ready for a change of pace. Right, but now that Christmas is over and tax season is upon us, I am – how do you say it? – out of money. In “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” one of my favorite books, Francie, the heroine, reflects that at the end of winter sometimes nothing works like a dill pickle to lift your spirits.

My version of a dill pickle is to create a personal holiday to celebrate.

My own favorite personal holiday comes infrequently, but it’s here at last. The year 2020 is a leap year, and I always plan a party on Leap Year Day, Feb. 29. A whole extra day to make up for all the time we’ve missed. Well, here it is. A whole, big beautiful day to fill in your own way. All the guests must bring, or show, something they want to make up for that they missed during the past four years. One year, aspiring chef Ray Duey prepared a special meal which received delighted gasps and slurps. Now, he’s cooking for crowds from The Food Network to the White House. Ray encourages and delights a lot of people, but our party food sure isn’t as good any more.

These repurposed days have been simple, fun and sometimes touching. One Leap Year Day, a friend told how he’d never gotten to sing “Happy Birthday” to his father. He passed around confetti, and we sang through a few tears.

If you have kids, or grandkids, you’ll have no trouble creating a family holiday. Just to get you started, Dr. Patt Schwab, author of the “Obscure Holiday Handbook,” offers more than 30 astonishing ideas for February alone. She brushes over the serious days, pretty much ignores Valentine’s Day, but she does point out that February is Single and Searching Month. Likewise, President’s Day is sort of a tender subject. But Dr. Patt offers a bit of cheer with the observation that there are plenty of days to celebrate that you can have to yourself. For instance, Feb. 4 is Dump Your Significant Jerk Day. Dr. Patt’s holiday listings come from a variety of sources from city proclamations, business and they do actually exist. “I made up none of them,” she said. We’ve just missed my own favorite, Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day was Jan. 22.

These dark, wet, dark, wet, really dark, really wet days can be depressing, though. At church last Sunday, Father Marc reported that he was made so downhearted by the dark days that he decided to do something about it. He gathered all of the lamps in the rectory together in one place, he reported. Then he gathered all the candles he could find and lit them. He turned on the lamps at the same time. He enjoyed the glow for a brief moment, and then, the automatic sun protection feature in his glasses kicked in, and it was a dark, miserable wet day again.

It is, after all, as we were taught. We have to carry the light and the celebration, with us—and a dill pickle wouldn’t hurt.

Where to find Dorothy in February

• Feb 14: Moping at home - a Valentine’s Day tradition!
• Feb 19: New/Old Stories You’ve Never Heard Before, 2 p.m. Heron’s Key Lifelong Learning, The Maritime Room, 4340 Borgen Blvd., Gig Harbor.
• Feb 26: It’s Not Too Late to Write That Book! Workshop for writers who fear they missed their chance. Space strictly limited. Reservations required. 253-582-4565. 11:15 a.m., Steeped in Comfort, 11016 Gravelly Lake Dr SW, Lakewood.
• Feb 28: Swimming Upstream. Recording March Podcast shows: Let’s Get Creative. Generation Gap: Love and Marriage - and Sex? 9 a.m.-noon, Lakewood Senior Activity Center.

This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 5:01 AM with the headline "Every day is a holiday if you look at it the right way."