Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Best Month of the Year

Which month of the year is preeminent? Truth be told there really is no contest, as you’ll discover below. But special holidays and observances are piling up monthly, apparently each month vying for “The Best Month of the Year Award,” in a very odd—and in my opinion—hopeless way. Below is a mere sampling of the madness.

One would think December would win “The Best Month of the Year Award” (BMYA) hands down, boasting as it does of Christmas and, uh hm, Take It In The Ear Day (December 8). Nope.

January weighs in with New Year’s Day and National Humiliation Day (I wish humiliation happened to me only once a year). Nice try.

February embraces Valentines Day (often very similar to Humiliation Day, for guys at least) and Ground Hogs Day. Are you kidding?

March commemorates St Patrick’s Day and National Noodle Month. Even many Irish don’t really care.

April claims National Frog Month and a special Day for Fools (no, not my birthday). Enough said.

May marks May Day and National Moving Month (did I break some law moving last July?). What?

Everybody loves June and the beginning of summer; but June also brags of Potty Training Awareness Month. Close.

July observes Independence Day and—lucky, or not, for all those July 4 picnickers—is also National Baked Beans Month. What no beer?

August is just hot. Why is this even on the list?

September settles in very close to the top of the BMYA list because my wife’s birthday is September—yes, the whole month. September also celebrates National Cable TV Month. If only . . .

November also nestles near number one celebrating Thanksgiving and International Drum Month (is this somehow connected with all those leftover Thanksgiving drum sticks?). Tryptophan!

But the obvious winner of the BMYA is . . . "November, drum roll please" . . . OCTOBER!

You laugh? Consider the following: October celebrates Free Thought Month (which gives me permission to freely think October is preeminent), National Liver Awareness, Hispanic Heritage, Fire Prevention, Disability Awareness, National Popcorn Popping, and Church Library Month (that’s a biggy).

October also features some of the best contradictory observances: Go Hog Wild—Eat Country Ham Month alongside Hunger Awareness, Month of the Dinosaurs beside Clergy Appreciation (maybe that’s not a contradiction), and National—get that—NATIONAL!—Sarcastic Month combined with Positive Attitude Month. And then there’s Halloween (which some might consider a blight on a nearly perfect month).

Plus there are some pretty amazing people who were born in the month of October. I won’t mention any names; just let it be known that October is also Self-Promotion Month.

So, what’s all this got to do with God Sightings, life, faith, and all that important, serious stuff? I’m not really sure.

Maybe . . .

• Humans are incredibly creative and at the same time extremely silly.
• There are way too many things to prevent, be aware of, and celebrate than is humanly possible.
• I am just so ebullient about October I had to write something about it.

Is there a God Sighting in October? You tell me.