White After Labor Day is Good for You, In Moderation

Up here at the Old Place most folks keep a seasonal schedule.  The new year starts on Labor Day and ends on August 31st.  We hold autumn to be the start of the new year because of college football. Sure, the "Boys of Summer," still have two months to go, but even they would not start the new year in March. The start of college football season is a confirmation of expectations. The months of recruiting and the promises implied at the spring game are brought to a conclusion, for good or ill. So why do we leave a couple of days at the start of September? I suppose it is just to finish up summer. The Old Colonel uses those days to change his clothes: pastel shirts, white linen and seersucker suits join white buck shoes Monet' and sailboat ties in retirement until spring. The reds, oranges, browns (And purples) are starched and wait patiently to be ironed. So, what's it got to do with safety?

The annual ritual of change comforts and reassures. It invests us with a feeling of solidarity and gives us something to look forward to, even when there is little else. Autumn paints our homes and ourselves with the colors of changing leaves and of course, in purple and gold. Straw, Indian corn and pumpkins find their way into our preparation rooms while an ambush of anything striped turns the den into a Bengal tiger's hunting ground. The tailgating gear is pulled out, the giant "Gumbo" pot is wire brushed and the butane tank refilled. Almost any excuse will do to buy that three foot spoon with "LSU" molded into its handle.

October settles in, and the prep room is emptied of it's autumnal fruits and veggies. The works join pale skeletons and gingham clad freckle faced scarecrows on the mist covered veranda. Dark trappings of the "Wizarding World" take on a second life as witches, ghosts and giant spiders inculcate their blacks and greens into the mix!

Before you know it, pumpkins magically transform themselves into Thanksgiving pies and earthy colors steal away with the ghosts and mist. Red poinsettias and green garlands herald the start of Advent soon to spread joy filled wings across the lake. Children rake up piles of dry leaves only to leap laughing and scattering into their midst. Tired witches and wizards, now in muggley clothing, ply their brooms against multicolored detritus covering the sidewalks. 

Sure, white is okay if you are trying to stay cool, but does not the tie-dye change the white shirt for the better?  Do not purple and gold stripes make a plain white shirt into an LSU jersey?  Does not a fat man in red velvet suit, trimmed in white, make us all feel like children again?  A little bit of white does go a long way or would you rather shovel sneaux?

Sitting in a rocker at the Old Place, I am, Col. Jim