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The Day After Labor Day: The Most Special Day of the Year.

172194322What makes the day after Labor Day so special? Is it the most important day of the year? Well, not really. Holidays are more important and clearly from a business perspective a new year often represents the start of a new fiscal year.

But there’s something truly special and unique about the day after Labor Day. Life changes significantly on this day.

On the day after Labor Day summer is over. Not officially, but emotionally. For most people in the East trips to the Shore come to an end. Actually, for the Strum family this is not the case as we bought a small condo in lovely Belmar, NJ 31 years ago, so “summer” continues at least for a few weeks.

But the day after Labor Day is still different.

For families Labor Day is the end of summer as children in NJ start school right after Labor Day (and even earlier for other states). New family patterns begin. Early wake up time for the kiddies. School buses and car pools. Homework and for many children sports after school and/or weekends.

The life of leisure in the summer is gone.

Even for consulting types like me, my schedule changes. In June-August I try to not work on Fridays. But starting after Labor Day when duty (aka clients) calls, work on Fridays is not verboten.

badgesThere’s also the reality that the days get cooler, beach going starts to fade even with a shore place. One big change is that the lockers on the beach where we store chairs, umbrellas etc. are gone by mid- September. And badges are no longer needed for beach admittance (“We don’t need no stinking badges”).

avon pavAlso, though Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey have many full-time residents, some of my favorite summer places close down. Alas my favorite, the Avon Pavilion, in nearby Avon-by-the-Sea will close on Sunday September 8.

It’s a time of change in sports as well. Baseball playoff races come to a head, and hope springs eternal for football fans of your favorite college and pro teams.

As for my Yankees, I hope to see several October games and will dress warmly for games if they go deep in the playoffs. I will gladly wear a winter coat to a night time World Series game in late October. It’s been too long.

And though there will be still be warm days in September and even October, the summer of 2019 is alas now over. It was a good one. A new decade is ahead. To the Shore once more again in the 20s.

PS. It’s also the day that Yacht Rock is gone from Channel 70 on Sirius XM (but check out channel 311)




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2 Comments

  1. Heather Hardwick says:

    Lonny, thanks for a nice reflection on that end-of-summer feeling. Regardless of the warm weather in NJ in September, the day after Labor Day always feels like the start of fall — and the time to buy new school supplies. No matter what technology I own, I still want to buy notebooks and pens. 🙂 Enjoy the next few weekends at the beach, take care!

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