How is it that February had one extra day this year and yet it seems like I still lost a couple of weeks out of the month?
Honestly, it feels as though I missed out on some things because I felt they were still several days away … when in reality, they had already happened.
It was Saturday, Feb. 29 – which was full of events for me to cover in Escalon – when I realized that somehow, the Read Across America event to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday had been observed the day before, on Friday. I was driving by Dent Elementary School – which had sent me an invitation to be a guest reader – when that fact hit me. Having been a reader in the past it would have been fun to do so again, and I always, always get to at least a couple of the Escalon schools to cover the event. But not this year.
So what happened? Just too much else going on and not marking the date on my calendar as soon as I got the invitation to read. It just quietly slid right past me. We also were wrapping up two other outside publication projects on Friday (yes, we routinely work on more than just our three weekly newspapers) so there wasn’t much time during the day for anything else.
It left me feeling sad, though, as I look forward to many of these school site events.
Saturday, however, was a day of celebration for Escalon, as the high school observed its 100th anniversary and there was plenty of other good stuff happening as well, including home baseball games and the fun color run first thing in the morning.
Sunday, as I picked up a few groceries, I ran into a friend who said she was surprised she hadn’t seen me covering an event that occurred Saturday in Oakdale. As I shared that I was already busy with three events in Escalon but I would have gotten to Oakdale if I could have, she simply asked: “You mean you haven’t been cloned yet?”
We both chuckled over that and I told her I would check with my boss to see if that is something we should look into. So far, there has been no cloning; I just keep up a pretty hectic pace.
Also on Sunday, I was able to take a couple of hours out of the day to be entertained by the version of ‘Toy Stories’ put on at the Oakdale High School theater by the Drama Department, a sort of compilation of all four movies in the series. Their production kept those of us in the matinee audience laughing and there were lots of standout performances.
Definitely a whirlwind weekend but packed with plenty of fun and work that didn’t necessarily seem like work.
Now we dive into March and personally, even though it would wreak havoc on spring sports schedules, I really hope we get some rainy weather to make up for what was nearly a precipitation-free month of February. There has already been talk of the ‘drought’ word so I’m not sure any of us would mind a few rainy days over the next few months if we could avoid that situation.
We are also now entering the zone where things seem to start happening fast. Once the holidays are over and we get into springtime, it is almost like time itself goes into overdrive, at least in our business. One day it’s early March and the next, we are getting ready for high school graduation ceremonies and people are putting in time off requests for summer vacation.
Between now and then, though, there will be plenty to both keep us busy and to fill the pages of the paper – from the Oakdale Rodeo to Easter egg hunts to the Chocolate Festival and Relay For Life.
And, I am actually already thinking of getting away for a bit of a summer vacation this year myself.
Well, if that cloning thing comes through. Stay tuned.
Marg Jackson is editor of The Escalon Times, The Oakdale Leader and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.
