PLAY DAY WEEKEND

This weekend the U,S, is celebrating Labor Day, which began on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.  It became a national holiday in 1884 under President Grover Cleveland recognizing the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers in the development and achievements of the United States.  I have been a member of two different unions in two of my past jobs, one the International Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The first was occasioned by my work as a laborer on two different railroads, the Pennsylvania and New York Central and the second as a bus driver in New Jersey and Connecticut.  Those are stories for another time.  And women were members of the “brotherhood” too!

What occurred to me this Labor Day weekend was to create a Play Day weekend for you, my readers.  Those who know me will understand without further explanation.  Suffice to say that artists I have known and seen consider their work like play.  These include, and are not limited to, painters, potters, weavers, poets, writers, sculptors, musicians, dancers, designers, architects, some teachers, and scientists.  Others?

I wrote a haiku recently,  “Bougainvillea……Cascading purple flowers……Magenta Magic” and a friend responded by sharing that there is a #Magenta Monday on Twitter and sure enough, there it is.  My mind works in strange ways and I wondered if someone had labeled every day of the week with a color.  From there I thought OK, let’s do that and see if we can attach a flower’s name to every day, Sunday through Saturday.  And why not fruits and vegetables too?  Just for fun.  Here are mine.  If you want to add yours, please do.  Or play the game this weekend with your family.

COLORS                                                          FRUITS

Sapphire  Sunday                                          Strawberry.   Sun

Magenta  Monday                                        Mango.          Mon

Taupe.      Tuesday                                        Tangerine.     Tues

White.      Wednesday                                  Watermelon. Wed.

Tan           Thursday                                       Tamarind.       Thurs.

Flaxen.     Friday                                            Fig.                   Fri

Scarlet.    Saturday                                       StarFruit.         Sat.

FLOWERS                                                       VEGETABLES

Sunflower.   Sun                                           Shallot.                  Sun

Marigold.     Mon                                          Mushroom            Mon

Tulip.            Tues                                         Tomato.                Tues

Wisteria.      Wednesday                               Water Chestnut     Wed.

Tansy.           Thursday                                  Turnip.                  Thurs

Forsythia.     Friday                                        Fennel.                Fri

Sweet Pea.   Saturday                                  Snow pea.           Sat.

HAPPY PLAY DAY!    And thanks to my readers this past month who are from the United States, Mexico, India, United Kingdom, Canada, Philippines, Pakistan, Turkey, Viet Nam, France, Spain, Bolivia, Serbia, and Maylaysia

*Thanks to Antonio Gabola for the featured photo.