COLUMBUS DAY

So it was Columbus Day today, which, I’d always thought, was a public holiday in this country. But it isn’t in California. In fact I didn’t notice that it was Columbus Day until I went to the post office and found it was shut. In other US states, schools are closed, banks are closed, some services aren’t running, others are… it seems that they just can’t make their minds up, and so this is one of those semi-holidays, when nobody knows exactly what’s going on. I’ll have to research why it isn’t a proper holiday in this state (Californians like to be different, so it’s not really a surprise). Anyway, the rules for public holidays here are a bit hazy. One thing we’ve learned is that the rubbish gets collected even if it’s a holiday. We learned this the hard way, sleeping in one holiday Monday morning to the noise of the bin men outside, with our own bins fully and happily waiting by the side of the house. Doh! But somehow it wouldn’t surprise me if the rules changed every now and then. Anyway, there are quite a few holidays coming up in November (when schools ARE closed, but not pre-schools). I’ll report!