Schoolchildren and their parents aren’t the only ones preparing for the post-Labor Day activities.
Local politicians are preparing as well, not for school, but to launch their fall campaigns in earnest.
What we are about to enter, according to many, is the "silly season."
Why the silly season?
Because out of the mouths of many politicians and their supporters will flow endless rhetoric about their good deeds, wonderful proposals, marvelous accomplishments, and above all, a laundry list of reasons why you, the voter, must cast your vote in their favor.
They also will have opposing laundry lists, reasons why their opponents don’t measure up, why their claims are false, why they are hiding behind party bosses and so on.
Not all aspiring politicians succumb to beating their chests.
But in every community — at least where there’s a contested election — you’re sure to sense the heightened political rhetoric.
The bigger the field of candidates, the sillier it can get.
While a lot of it is silly — new candidates all of a sudden coming up with plans to save the planet, incumbents taking credit for everything from the Internet to the space shuttle, grown men and women resorting to gobbledygook to avoid answering reasonable questions — it’s all part of our democratic process.
What’s important for voters to do is sort through the gobbledygook and figure out what the candidates really stand for.
So hold on to your seat belts. The silly season is about to begin.