Late post on this one, but hey, we've got a long weekend.

Five on Friday: In Labor:

1. Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the end of summer. What will you miss most about summer? --Actually the summer stifles me. Multiple Sclerosis worsens in the heat, and I can count on an exacerbation each summer. This year was no exception.

2. What are you most looking forward to this fall? --I am hoping to branch out, looking for a simpler, lower-powered job. Perhaps the loss of cheap, summer labor will open an opportunity for me.

3. What are your plans for Labor Day weekend? --This Labor Day weekend, I will indulge in some alcohol. More than one drink at a time. Being a cheap drunk makes this easy and simple. A couple of beers, and a lovely nap await me Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The only thing remotely related to Labor Day will be a tribute to St. Joseph the Laborer during Mass. I mention this because he is my patron saint, appropriate for a woman who's been working all her life.

4. Labor Unions were the driving force behind the creation of Labor Day. How else have they impacted your life? --"Pretty much a blue collar childhood" describes growing up on in Auburn, Massachusetts, a bedroom community of industrial Worcester, next door. We knew all about unions, and hoped to join them as adults. I was briefly a member of two teacher's unions as a young woman. Unions have long been removed from the paper where I work.

5. Natural labor or fully medicated labor? --Both. With each of my babies, I bravely began without drugs. The first delivery took less than three hours without them, badly tearing me; the doctor gave me a shot of morphine for the repairs. I took some mild something or other for the second birth; she arrived in 45 minutes.

Did I ever mention that I can't stand to be kept waiting?

pb
Little Pond