The Sound of Silence

It won’t be long before it’s Labor Day weekend. As a matter of fact, it begins this Saturday, Sept. 3, the same day as the VFW’s Trout Derby. Labor Day heralds the end of summer and the beginning of fall, which officially kicks in on Sept. 22.

I can’t wait for Labor Day weekend to end, which it surely will on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Gone will be the hordes of lost tourists – “How do I get to Big Bear?” Gone will be the yard sales – “Haven’t they sold that yard yet?” “What do you mean I can’t swim in your lake?” And, sadly, gone will be the bikini-clad beach babes… “Rhea, why are you shaking your head at me like that?”

For me, the end of the Labor Day holiday weekend will be a return to solitude, a return to the sound of the breeze wafting gently through the pines… well, the ones Edison hasn’t cut down yet. Ah, yes, the sound of silence.

Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence. (“The Sound of Silence” – Simon and Garfunkel – 1966)

I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna give in to the crowds and join them in stopping at a few yard sales, seeking some classic rock, folk and country albums I don’t already own. What, you don’t believe that I actually listen to goat-roping… excuse me, I mean country music. Well, I do like my share of country-rock musicians such as John Stewart, The Byrds, Poco, England Dan & John Ford Coley, John Prine and John Denver. Next to John Stewart, I reckon Poco is my favorite country-rock group. As an offshoot of Buffalo Springfield, they practically invented country-rock back in the 60s and, unlike many of the new country artists, they have a pedal steel guitar player.

Getting back to Labor Day, it seems like the original concept of Labor Day was to honor the “Working Class Hero.” But even he or she doesn’t get the day off because somebody’s got to mind the store. What I mean is, where else are you going to buy the charcoal to barbecue the steaks and ribs, not to mention the beer to wash down all that yummy BBQ food?

The working class heroes are the union members who drive the trucks that deliver food and other goods to supermarkets and other stores and businesses. They are the butchers at the supermarkets, the cashiers at the checkout stands, the workers who lift heavy boxes at the warehouses and load them onto the delivery trucks and they are the workers in the factories who manufacture the supplies and other goods we use every day.

These are the working class heroes that we honor on Labor Day. Please honor and thank them for making the United States the greatest country on Earth.

Keep it flyin’ Uncle Mott