Nouveau Labor Day

I don't know about you, but to me, this has been the shortest summer ever! It's been a busy one with a regular 9 to 5 job, a weekend job, a major move, a week-long trip and "appointments" with friends, such as gay volleyball every Thursday, many happy hours and other social functions. It is now already September and Labor Day weekend is upon us.  Unfortunately, my job requires that everyone work the Saturday before the holiday at our annual street festival, so my "long" Labor Day weekend is spent, well, laboring. I'm not the only one disappointed not to get a well-deserved three-day weekend like most American workers, but I've come to realize that bitching is pointless. It is what it is.

So, instead of making a trip home to visit my family, my weekend will be spent working (as I mentioned,) getting together with friends for an end-of-the-summer pool party and catching up on house projects and junk TV. It's been a few years since I've been able to make it home for the Labor Day weekend, but I still miss being able to take that last road trip of the summer.

My family doesn't really have any set traditions, but, like every other family in this country, we usually have a cookout of the traditional burgers, hot dogs and brats for such holidays (we wouldn't be good Americans if we didn't.) You can also count on the family dinner table to feature dishes of squash, tomatoes, corn or any other "in-season" summer vegetable. And if you're lucky, Dad will share a can or two of his reserve "barbecue beer," (so named to distinguish it from the other beer in the fridge, the bottles of "craft" beer) the glacier-cold lager is best enjoyed next to the open flame of the grill. To me, this simple menu (of char-grilled meats, the backyard garden's harvest and a can of beer shared with Dad) are what make the holiday.

Although I've had a great Labor Day weekend filled with friends, activity and pizza delivery, I can't help but yearn to be at my parents' home. I'm reminded of this each time I smell the charcoal grills and cooking meat wafting through the neighborhood during the weekend. Sure, I could buy one of those $5 disposable "grills" (which are a miracle when you're an apartment dweller!) But, the real essence of the holiday is not what's cooking outside. It's the time spent making that meal, drinking that cold beer with Dad, saying "goodbye" to summer and "goodbye" to the family I won't see again until the winter holidays months away.

So, I hope that my family is gathering for a Labor Day barbecue tomorrow even though I can't be there (to make the deviled eggs -- I must say, I make them the best with not too much mayonnaise and lots of pepper) to enjoy it. I will be thinking of my dad out at his station by the grill, my mom inside setting out the side dishes, as I enjoy my nouveau Labor Day meal of Australian wine and Indian food takeout.