We live in Virginia, home of the first President of America, George Washington, [1] so it’s George Washington’s birthday in the Commonwealth although it is no longer celebrated on his February 22 birthday.
The year was 1732 when Washington was born in Westmoreland County. With the turmoil currently roiling the country in the age of tweets, take a look at Washington’s 110 Rules for Civility [2] written when he was 16 years old and based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. (Number 19 would have served the current POTUS well on Friday in Florida.)
Outside Virginia, it is known as Presidents Day. We commemorate our presidents.
Since it’s a holiday, today there will be no mail, no banking, no stock market. State and federal offices are closed. Many schools are closed although some that were originally scheduled to be closed for the holiday had to adjust their schedules due to missed snow days, and will be open today.
Open today: retail. Shop, shop, shop. And ski resorts. Go enjoy some winter sports.