As I write this at the end of President’s Day, I am marveling at how busy I was on this federal holiday–not a holiday for employees at The University of Tennessee. My mind wandered back to my childhood. As I remember things, we had George Washington’s Birthday, February 22, off from school. I also remember celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12. But I do not remember having it off from school.

And then, at some point (it seems when I was 10), I recall the holidays being combined into one–or maybe George Washington’s Birthday getting a name change. My first memory of President’s Day. But I never knew why. Apparently, the catalyst was an act of Congress–the law that instituted our Monday work holidays. Now codified as part of 5 U.S.C. § 6103, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved George Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February, as noted on a civics website hosted by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute. Statutorily, the federal holiday is still George Washington’s Birthday, although many of us (me included) now know it as President’s Day.

Our retired co-blogger Steve Bradford once wrote here about this holiday, quoting from Presidents Washington and Lincoln. I do not remember reading that post. But maybe I did. I had occasion to communicate with Steve recently. Yes, Steve Bradford is alive and well. And he has had quite an adventure over the years since his retirement. And he has written about it. His book, Cabin Catastrophe, chronicles (in Steve’s inimitable way) that adventure. I own the book. I have paged through it. I look forward to reading it when time permits and to reviewing it here.

By the time I finished typing and editing this, President’s Day was over on the East coast. It is now time for me to call it a day. I do wish I could have had the day off to honor George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any number of our U.S. presidents. But alas, it was not to be. The next holiday for us is Memorial Day (although we have an administrative closure on Good Friday as a spring recess day). [sigh] And so, back to work I go.