happy omnisolemnis to all

There has to be a word for it. But there isn't. Or, there wasn't.

What do you call a celebration of four birthdays, Christmas, New Year, and Martin Luther King Day? My family is not very traditional. One year we celebrated Christmas in July simply because that was the first day where all of us were available.

Not being traditional does not mean that we let the milestones of our lives pass by unnoticed. After all, those days are associated with food, and if there is one thing the Cotton family likes, it is food.

But what to call it? My niece Kaitlyn (who is the equivalent of my soul animal) currently lives in Austin. So, she was unable to join us for dinner in Prineville. What she was able to do was join me online to work out the perfect word for our combination holiday.

It had to be in Latin. That was a given. Something like the Seinfeldian Festivus. After overcoming several intellectual cul-de-sacs, we settled on Omnisolemnis. And the best thing about it is that "omni" that not only neatly wraps up several days in one big package, but will not require a specific day for its celebration.

The combination of celebratory days can even change for each celebration. The mind boggles at the number of Omnisolemnis that can be celebrated during the confines of 12 months. The perfect appellation for the Cottons. It can even be celebrated at my house in Mexico.

The prime (and sole) event of this year's celebration was the Omnisolemnis dinner. Prime rib. My world-famous (in Oregon) cabernet au jus -- that changes with every making. Brussel sprouts in a balsamic-orange-serrano reduction. Mashed potatoes enriched with sour cream and butter. All topped off with a peach-cherry southern cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

All cooked by the hands of Darrel and Christy with very few flavor notes from me. After all, it is not my kitchen.

But it was my birthday. At least, my birthday was the nearest signpost in this particular Omnisolemnis. My birthday is actually today. Darrel's was in December, Mom's is in February, Christy's is in March. All lined up like departing aircraft on the taxiway at Hartsfield-Jackson.

We did not have an Omnisolemnis tree. Or Omnisolemnis presents. Not even an Omnisolemnis jigsaw puzzle competition where Darrel and I steal pieces from the table to be the contestant who adds the last piece.

What we did have was family time shared at the dinner table where a practically perfect meal awaited us.

And what Omnisolemnis could be better than that?

Even though you were not there to dig into the potatoes, I wish all of you the best in this Omnisolemnis season.