Hoodie-hoo

HOODIE-HOO! HOODIE-HOO!

I wrote this as my publisher's column on Feb. 24, 2013, for the Elizabethton Star. If you're sick of winter, you need to read this -- and do as Joyce does. Short of killing the Groundhog, who gave us six more weeks of winter, this may be our only hope. On Feb. 20 -- that's only hours away as I post this -- is a very important date.

Did anyone hear Joyce Grindstaff yelling last week? Specifically, on Feb. 20?
Well, if you were in earshot of Joyce, you probably did. I know this, because she told me she was going to raise her voice, she was going to be heard, she was telling it like it is on Feb. 20. Exactly at noon.
So what did she have to say?

“Hoodie- Hoo.”
That’s it. “Hoodie-Hoo.”
That’s all that needed saying.
I guess I need to explain all this. Joyce emailed me a few days ago and told me she enjoyed reading my column -- “very much,” she said. Well, I like to hear those things. I love a nice compliment.
Specifically, Joyce said, she liked it when I wrote about the holidays.

“I wanted to let you know about a holiday I discovered a few years ago that I thought was interesting and fun,” Joyce wrote. “It is called Hoodie-Hoo Day and is celebrated on Feb. 20. On that day, everyone is to go outside at noon and yell ‘Hoodie-Hoo’ and this is meant to chase winter away. Ms. Vera, kindergarten teacher at West Side Elementary, has been celebrating this holiday with her 'kinder-friends' ever since I brought it to her attention. Thanks for all you do for the paper and have a happy Hoodie-Hoo Day!”
I had never heard of Hoodie-Hoo Day, but it sounded like a good idea to me. I’m not a fan of snow- and ice-covered roads, so, Hoodie-Hoo, let’s get spring here and on to summer.
As I said in this column last week, I’ve been suffering from the Piggly-Wiggly Flu or some such terrible ailment that required me to sneeze, cough and ache 24 hours a day. I was all set to celebrate Hoodie-Hoo Day, but I’m not sure I did it very well.
When I tried to yell out “Hoodie-Hoo,” my voice cracked. It was something like, “Hoo -- hack-hack- hack -- deee -- hack, hack, hack -- hoooo.” I’m not sure I scared winter away, but I’m pretty sure I coughed up a lung.

I do want spring to arrive soon. There’s nothing like a warm, sunny day after a long and depressing winter. It feels like Christmas, payday, your 21st birthday and, maybe, your first kiss all rolled into one. It’s that good.

After weeks of snow and more snow and more snow, a nice sunny day is like, well, a welcome ray of sunshine. (Yes, I'm a writer by trade. Can you tell?)
We spend too much time inside in the winter, and it brings us down and makes us grumpy.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being indoors. It’s where the TV is, after all, but there’s only so many crime shows you can watch in a day before you begin to feel like the world is out to get you and that you could be murdered any moment.
Besides, it’s hard to keep up with all those shows – half of which spawn their own clones – you know, like Law & Order; Law & Order: SVU; Law & Order: Criminal Intent; CSI; CSI: Miami; CSI: New York; NCIS; and NCIS: Los Angeles.

But when that lone sunny day sneaks in from the winter’s gray, nothing will keep you inside. Not work. Not television. Nothing.
I’ve bemoaned the snow and cold weather so much, it would be wrong to stay inside.
When that special day finally arrives, and, Hoodie-Hoo, it can’t be too far away, let it be a reminder to be grateful when things are good.
It’s easy to complain, but we often forget to spend an equal amount of time singing the praises of everything that’s right in life.
Offer a smile. Open the door for someone. Tell someone how nice she looks. Thank God for all the glorious, beautiful days. (Tell someone, like Joyce did, how much you like someone’s column.)

It’ll make you feel better when the days are long and cold again, which, like it or not, will come around again. I don’t like to think about that. It brings me down. It’s sort of like Halloween, tax day, your 40th birthday and, maybe, your first breakup with your high-school sweetheart all rolled into one.