Finding the silver lining in mid-week holidays

Perhaps you are reading this column on the day it appears in the newspaper and is dropped on your doorstep. It may be a day or two later when you read it after the paper arrives in the mail. Or maybe you are reading this online a few weeks or even months or years after it is published.

Regardless, I think we can all agree on one thing: holidays on a Wednesday are just a bit different and, let’s be honest, a wee bit inconvenient.

Whether it is Christmas and New Year’s landing in the middle of the week or the Fourth of July happening on any day but a Friday or Saturday, the timing is a bit awkward.

For those working on Christmas Eve, you may be on the job but have so many questions running through your head, like are all the presents wrapped, or will you be off work in time to get to church, or is jellied or whole cranberry sauce better? We can all have our opinions but there is little satisfaction like getting the sauce out of the can with the smooth ridges intact.

And then you enjoy the next 24 hours, but the next night, as Christmas Day winds down, your older children have likely returned to their home, and you head to bed early because everyone has to get up early the next day for work.

The next week, it happens all over again.

On New Year’s Eve, as you sit at your desk, your mind wanders to thoughts about plans to ring in the new year. Do you have the ability to stay up until midnight, or will you have to celebrate the Pacific time zone so you can be in bed before 10 p.m.?

And if you can keep your eyes open until midnight, you likely will have to make up for it the next evening by turning in early for work the next day.

All of this presumes that your family has been able to return home for the holidays. With such a short turnaround, many families shifted their celebrations to the weekends before or after to eke out a few more hours with each other or because there wasn’t time midweek to return home and get back to work the next day.

It would be great to have more time set aside to celebrate the holidays with our family members. Thanksgiving is a great example because most people have four days to travel, celebrate, and return home.

But we aren’t moving Christmas off Dec. 25, and it seems tricky to have New Year’s Day on any other day than the first day of the new year. So, instead of lamenting the limited amount of time we have with friends and family over the holidays, we need to take a moment to appreciate the short window of opportunities we have provided.

It is the time we get to snuggle up on the couch and stay up late for a movie on Christmas Eve even though there are presents still needing to be wrapped or breakfast will be delayed in the morning because we were working the day before.

It’s the sounds as you try to go to bed at your regular time, but your older kids and their friends stay up late playing a game of Texas Hold-em at the dining room table that at first make you want to ask them to be quiet but then make you treasure the moment knowing it will be over in the next day.

It’s the pile of shoes by the front door that you trip over, coming into the house, cursing at first but then realizing it won’t be like that in a few days because they’ve all left.

It’s the nonstop dirty dishes and constant cleaning up from one meal as you get ready to start on the next that is unusual because you rarely cook a dinner every night, much less three in one day like you have the past two days, but that it is worth it even for the shortened time together.

Having a holiday in the middle of the week may have its inconveniences, but it is outweighed by the opportunities it provides to be with friends and family members that we don’t get any other time of the year.

And if you are still looking for a reason to appreciate these midweek holidays, think of it as four shortened weeks for most people: a weekend, work a few days, take a day off, work a few days, weekend again, work a few days, a day off, work a few days, weekend again.

Having the holidays may not be perfect, but we just need to look for the silver linings in the situation.

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Whether you have friends and family in town or not over the next few weeks, there is plenty to do with your extra time and to celebrate the upcoming holiday.

The McCook Rotary Club is hosting its second annual New Year’s Eve party, one of its annual fundraisers, on Tuesday, Dec. 31, from 8:30 p.m. to midnight at the McCook City Auditorium. While tickets can be bought at the door, organizers would prefer for people to prepurchase tickets by visiting the McCook Rotary Facebook page for a link.

With a Western theme this year, attendees can dress up as much or as little as they would like, with jeans the primary choice of attire. And for those who think midnight may be a bit too late to stay up in the middle of the week, there are plans for a countdown at 11 p.m. when the Eastern time zone rings in 2025, although the Champagne toast will be reserved for midnight in McCook.

The next day, the First Day Hike with the Nebraska Games and Park Commission returns to Red Willow State Recreation Area north of McCook. Starting at 2:25 p.m. (in honor of 2025), walkers will take off from Site 48 at the Willow Campground and walk the trails if there isn’t snow or the roads if we’ve actually gotten moisture by then.

There is no registration needed or minimum miles you need to walk but everyone needs a Nebraska State Park sticker or find a friend who has one. It is a great way to start off the year on a healthy and fun note, and you can still get to bed early enough to get to work the next day.