Holidays

Ahh, the holidays. I fussed and cussed the holidays—Christmas and new year’s—falling on Wednesday. It’s really hard for a weekly newspaper that usually publishes on Thursday to deal with Wednesday holidays.

So, after much deliberation, I determined we would publish on Tuesday the week of Christmas, giving my staff and myself Christmas eve and Christmas day off, and readers getting their papers on Christmas eve.

Publishing on Tuesday, means printing on Monday.

For this week, I opted to publish as usual on Thursday. But, Wednesday is a national holiday, we can’t print and mail then. So, I opted to print on Tuesday, but the readers not receive their newspaper until Thursday.

I don’t know yet how it worked and I probably won’t remember in another seven or so years when the holidays fall on Wednesday again. Let’s face it, it’s not the first time it’s happened, and most likely not the last.

But now (at this writing) Christmas is past and New Year’s is ahead, I’m kind of liking the mid-week holiday. I can deal with a two-day work week.

That’s what it was like coming back to work on Thursday after Christmas. Work Thursday and Friday, then off two more days. Then we’ll work two days, be off one, and work two, be off two. I could get used to this.

Of course, we’d have to change the publication date for the paper if we took every Wednesday off. You know, we close at noon on Wednesday, but somehow it’s just not the same as taking the day off.

And, really, the biggest difference is that we took Christmas off completely. No thought of the job. No worrying ahead to what to go in the next paper. I enjoyed Christmas.

On usual Wednesday afternoons, even though we close, some weeks I pick up the paper from the printer and deliver it. Others I catch up on paperwork. Others, I work on Chamber of Commerce issues.

Others…I don’t know what I do, but I can’t remember the last Wednesday afternoon I took off early and was home much before dark.

So, the mid-week holiday worked out. It was pretty good after all. Funny how that happens. Jesus’ birthday…a perfect day in the middle of a pretty good week.

I hope each of my readers was also able to enjoy the holidays, because by the time you read this it will be a new year, and the routine will soon return. (And it will be cold, ugh.) Guess we have to find a way to be glad in that.

Happy new year!