Dear Kid,

It is that time of year when college announce that there are celebrations beyond major league football and that Diversity Is To Be Respected.

Not a terrible reminder, but too bad it’s a necessary reminder.

Ohio University even sent a link to a webpage that lists Every Holiday One Should Reasonably Be Aware Of. I find it somewhat amusing that the webpage in question is produced at the University of Missouri. But it’s a great resource and even lists major Wiccan holidays which I don’t believe I’ve seen on other sites.

So yay for Major Holidays and Events.

And September 23^rd is a great day for Major Events.

Most importantly, it is your Grandmother’s Birthday! I’m sure you’ve already called, but just in case…

It’s also the Autumn Equinox which means Happy Fall. I’m sure you’ve already sent Fall a text, but just in case…

The Equinox is the point at which there are exactly (and by “exactly” I actually mean “exactly”) the same number of daylight and nightlight hours. Hmm… perhaps light and dark? That sounds like something out of Genesis. Anyway, day and night hours are even. If you live at the equator. If you don’t live at the equator (and I happen to be quite sure you don’t) then it’s uneven.

No matter where you live, tomorrow there will be more dark than there is today. Which is sad (at least for me). This will continue until the Winter Solstice which is the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter.

I think winter would be much better if it weren’t accompanied by so much darkness and snowness. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Being the kind of mother I am, I checked (very carefully) and I can find no precedent for claiming that the Autumn Equinox is a day you should be allowed to skip class. I was equally unable to find any indication that it being Grandma’s birthday should be a reasonable diversity holiday cause for class skippage. There was even a footnote on one site that said (and I quote) “And if it be a math class, thou shalt doubly get thee to class and calleth thy grandmother at a different time.”

I checked, really I did.

So enjoy classes, and the Equinox, and have a piece of birthday cake in honor of Those Celebrating Birthdays.

Love, Mom

Happy Birthday, Mom–and many, many more!