Apparently not everyone shares my enthusiasm for August

http://www.slate.com/id/2171940

Having already made my case for why August is a lovely month for me, let me offer a brief rejoinder to the writer of the article, courtesy Wikipedia:

Apparently the first Monday of August is a holiday in Ireland, so there is a holiday in August, just not for us!

“In Finnish, the month is called elokuu, meaning “month of reaping.” I agree with that: August is month when our garden bursts forth. It’s the pivot between green July and crackling September. August is when we lug home loot nearly every day. I happen to find the loot a bit scary (hmm, what shall I do with 50 cucumbers today?), but most people would agree it’s quite wonderful overall.

Although the author of the article points out that August 1945 marks the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 15th of that year also marks Emperor Hirohito’s surrender and the end (finally) of the fighting in the Pacific theater during WWII.

India became an independent country (1947), as did a whole host of other countries in Augusts of other years.

Notably, “In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers.” See, apparently we’re just misusing our August in the U.S. We really should become more globally aware and take some August vacation ourselves! Speaking of which, we’re off to ours.

Erin

P.S. The article starts off with a reference to T. S. Eliot’s “April is the cruellest month,” making a case for August’s cruelty instead.  But it might be worth noting that in that line of The Waste Land Eliot is himself making a reference to the opening lines of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, of which a rough translation might be: “When April with its sweet showers hath pierced the drought of March”  Not so bad after all, eh?