So, the Boy Wonder is on what used, in the PO's day, to be called a half-term break - logically enough, because in those far distant days this short period constituted a welcome moment of respite for all diligent and over-worked pupils between the two long halves of the Autumn (or, as some preferred to call it, Michaelmas) Term.
Nowadays, of course, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Hogwarts terms - or quarters, or whatever trendy word is currently being used to describe them - are the moments of respite, spread out over the year to break up the monotony of those oh-so-long holidays. It's a bit like the old riddle of war and peace : is peace a period between two wars, or a war something that separates two periods of peace ? Because, in case you weren't aware, the BW is currently enjoying TWO WHOLE WEEKS off school. How things have changed, eh ?
And how different they could have been... If the BW were at school here in Switzerland - at a cordon bleu cooking college, or exclusive finishing school, for example - he would not be lounging around on the sofa, Playstation 2 console in one hand, large G&T in the other; he would be out bending his back in the fields, picking potatoes.
"Picking potatoes ?" I hear you ask . "What can he mean ?"
Well, it just so happens that I have had time to research the subject, as it's pretty quiet in the office at the moment. The reason for this welcome calm ? The vast majority of those employees who are resident in the canton of Geneva are on their version of a half-term break, taking what are colloquially known as the "vacances de patates" - literally, "potato holidays".
This delightful denomination has a long and distinguished history. More than five hundred years ago, holiday periods in Geneva were fixed around the principal agricultural activities in the area : the harvesting of potatoes and of grapes. The Encyclopédie de Genève informs us that in 1566 school pupils were accorded three weeks vacation during the harvest period. In 1888, the rural communes of the canton fixed by law the following holiday periods : 4 weeks at the end of the academic year, 3 weeks in the autumn and 10 days in the spring. In 1951, the Conseil d'Etat, no doubt reflecting the diminishing importance of agriculture in the canton, as well perhaps as a desire to minimize the exploitation of child labour, the autumn break was reduced to two days. But in 1977, at the same time as a week was taken off the summer vacation in order to introduce a week's break in February, the Easter holidays were shortened by two days and the autumn "vacances de patates" restored to a full week. [Here endeth today's history lesson.]
Whether or not there are still areas in England where people still refer to this period as the potato-picking holidays, I don't know. But interestingly enough, when I mentioned the subject to The Recluse recently, he told me that when he was a child (aeons ago), classrooms were regularly half-empty at this time of year, for exactly the same reason - the pupils were out helping with the potato harvest.
What really matters, of course, is not what one calls one's time, but how one spends it. And on that front, you can always rely on the BW to make the most of every spare moment available. Already this week he has found the time to fit in a trip to Cambridge on some obscure and, to be frank, rather spurious-sounding research trip for some History project or other (no doubt the Mother Superior found time to squeeze in some quality museum-gawping and shop-mooching between research activities).
He's also managed to squeeze in a trip to the bank, where, in an effort to regulate certain cashflow problems - apparently injections of money supply from the Mother Superior Central Bank are somewhat erratic both in timing and in quantity - he has opened his own account and will shortly be accepting standing orders. After 15 years working in private banking, the PO was particularly impressed with the way in which he nonchalantly dismissed warnings about the pitfalls of managing a monthly budget, and looks forward to making his first international wire transfer just as soon as the BW receives his mid-term report and calculates the number of CDs he is owed. Watch this space.
The libel posted by the PO 8 months ago concerning the ineptitude of the American Cousin's technological abilities has finally made it through the static and we now find ourselves in a position of the deapest mortification. To that end the FA has requested that we be given a tutorial in blogging including an accurate list of our blog names. Upon receipt of said instructions you will forth width be beseiged by blogs. Beware the wrath of scorned American Cousins!!
Posted by: American Cousin the Elder | October 21, 2005 at 05:36 AM
Is the rumour that the Surfer Dude is to visit Champaign true or merely a hoax to coax us into the ether? Sorry about the potatoes.
Posted by: Favourite Aunt | October 21, 2005 at 05:45 AM
Fighting talk from the Cousin formerly known as the American Cousin the Elder, huh ?
Well, I'm up for it. You'll find the full list of monikers here :
http://www.thepaternaloptimist.com/paternaloptimist/2004/11/a_little_bit_of.html
Of course, if you want to change your handle, as it were, the PO is always open to suggestions, though those currently in use were ratified by the Nomenclature Committee.
While you're about it, you may want to check out the Miscellanea category and bone up on the Rules Of The PO. I'm sure this blog's many readers look forward "width" bated breath to hearing from you...
MFA, I'll have to let the Dude himself get back to you on that one, but it doesn't seem totally implausible to me...
Posted by: Waterhot | October 21, 2005 at 07:31 PM