Toe Dabbling Day

As I write this, we’re in the middle of a really cold snap. It doesn’t seem like spring will get here — but I want to recall one of my most cherished memories of my college days and share it with you because I think there’s a lesson that we can all take from it.

I went to a small women’s college in western Pennsylvania, and it had a history of something called Toe Dabbling Day. It happened every spring like clockwork. We all looked forward to it, and it taught us that sometimes you just need to take a break and enjoy life.

There was a pond on campus. It was pretty famous. It was built originally as part of the estate of Andrew Mellon, and the college was bequeathed the Mellon mansion by the Mellon family. The idea was that when Toe Dabbling Day was decreed, everybody got a chance to relax. If you had a final exam that day, it was postponed and rescheduled. If you had a paper due that day, it was delayed for a whole day.

It gave everybody a chance to just enjoy the beautiful spring weather. The president of the college would pay attention to the weather report, and when it appeared that the perfect spring day would occur in May, at 6:00 a.m., the bells from the chapel would ring — and we all would be able to breathe a sigh, roll over, and go back to sleep.

All of our meals were served out on the lawn, picnic style. If any professor dared step onto campus that day, we had the right to throw them in the pond, and it did happen. It was such a wonderful day to just kick back and say, “Wow, this is a beautiful spring day.” I think every so often that we all need a Toe Dabbling Day, especially when it seems like spring will never get here. It will. Let’s all just enjoy it when we finally get that perfect spring weather day.

Patricia P. Werschulz

Werschulz Patent Law, LLC

23 North Avenue East

Cranford, NJ 07016

908-313-2347