A DAY OF INDEPENDENCE, FESTIVALS AND FORGETFULNESS

StarPhoenix
Les MacPherson
Published: Saturday, September 22, 2007
Canada

Yesterday might have seemed to you like any other day.

But no. Yesterday, Sept. 21, was a day bursting with social and
historic significance, most of it overlooked.

Among other things that almost certainly escaped your attention,
yesterday was Armenian Independence Day. We don’t hear a lot about
Armenia, which, to Armenians, should stand as a source of great
national pride.

Unlike quite a few other countries I could mention, Armenia is quietly
going about its business, not making a ruckus, not stirring up trouble,
not raising any kind of international stink. This in spite of a long
history of brutal oppression that left more ethnic Armenians living
outside the country than in it.

If anyone has the right to be bitter and resentful, it is the
Armenians. Instead, they’re so calm and reasonable that we almost
never hear from them. People of Armenia, I salute you.

Armenians did not have the special day all to themselves. Yesterday
also marked the International Banana Festival. Or at least it used
to. The banana festival was held every fall in the town of Fulton, Ky.,
where one of the main industries was repacking in fresh ice bananas
being shipped by rail from New Orleans to Chicago. Among the festival
highlights was the annual preparation of a two-ton banana pudding,
reputedly the biggest banana pudding in the world. The Soviets once
claimed to have a three-ton banana pudding at their nuclear test site
in Semipalatinsk, but this was never confirmed.

The Banana Festival’s days were numbered when refrigerated trucks
and train cars rendered obsolete the Fulton banana icing station. Now
it’s called the Pontotoc Festival, named for the surrounding county.

The Pontotoc Festival reportedly is largely similar to the old Banana
Festival, but without the two-ton pudding. This must have come as a
tremendous relief to organizers.

Yesterday also held deep religious significance. For Roman Catholics,
Sept. 21 was the Saint’s Day for the apostle Matthew, otherwise
known as St. Matthew or Matthew the Evangelist. Little is known of
Matthew, except that he abandoned a career as a tax collector to
follow Jesus. Of course, you don’t have to be Christian to celebrate
one less tax collector loose in the world.

Matthew, incidentally, is the patron saint of tax collectors. You
might try praying to him for a break if you’re ever audited.

Speaking of religion, yesterday was also the start of Yom Kippur,
the Jewish day of atonement and self-denial. From sunset last night
until sunset today, observant Jews will not partake of food, drink
or sex. They will also refrain from bathing and wearing leather
shoes. It’s the only legitimate excuse I can think of for wearing
Crocs.

Among the followers of Wicca, yesterday was the ancient Festival of
Mabon. Celebrations traditionally include the burning of an oversize
male figure made of corn stalks. The idea is to set free the spirit of
the harvest. Also set free is the spirit of the late Margaret Hamilton,
who played the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.

Another of yesterday’s special observations was International Peace
Day, so proclaimed by the United Nations. I hope someone mentioned
this in the Middle East. If people there could be persuaded to live
in peace for just one day, maybe the UN could extend it next year to
International Peace Week.

Yesterday was also marked by astronomical significance. With the
autumnal equinox falling as it does today, that made yesterday the last
full day of summer. I can think of no better reason not to celebrate.

If this summer seemed short to you, it’s because it was, at least
in relative terms. When you’re six years old, for example, a single
summer represents more than four per cent of your life. By the time
you reach 50, a summer amounts to just half of one per cent of your
life. That might explain what happened to August, of which I seem to
have no recollection at all.