My Third Favorite Holiday

I first started calling things "My second favorite" after I went on a cruise to Alaska with some of my extended family.  One of my cousins (who is now very grown up and probably won't even remember this) reminded her mother every night at dinner that when we stopped at Juneau, she had to buy a tee-shirt there because Juneau was her favorite capital.  After about the third night of this reminder, we got into a discussion about our favorite things.  This led to an even longer discussion about our second favorite things.  The conclusion that we came to:

It is always better to refer to something as your "second favorite."  This allows you to leave the place of honor open without making others think that you are indecisive.

From that point on, I have used this technique.  Of course, you always get those obnoxious people who ask, "but what is your first favorite?"  I ward them off by changing the subject.  But I digress.  My third favorite holiday is Halloween.  More on this later.

The Percival kids on a cruise (fine, this was on a cruise to the Caribbean, not Alaska, but you get the idea) in what I must say is one of the more attractive pictures of us.