Already, I miss the Statue of Liberty.

And it’s a long time until next tax season.

An area tax service regularly hires folks to dress like the Statue of Liberty. They wear a green gown and the green crown. Instead of a torch, the Statues of Liberty hold a sign touting the tax business nearby.

There’s usually a rotating crew of folks who wear the Statue of Liberty outfit.

Some Miss Liberties are women. Some are men.

Some of the Statues of Liberty are bored. Signs hang limply from their hands. They slouch in their gowns. The crown sits crookedly on their heads. They don’t seem to care if anyone sees them as the Statue of Liberty, nor do they seem to care if anyone pulls into the tax service.

Others seem embarrassed to be the Statue of Liberty. They push the crown down over their foreheads and eyes. They grip the signs. They hold the signs high covering their faces.

Then, there are Statues of Liberty who let freedom ring.

The Statue of Liberty spins the sign. The Statue of Liberty dances. The Statue of Liberty waves arms. The Statue of Liberty jumps up and down. The Statue of Liberty sings. The Statue of Liberty may be wearing shades but it’s bright outside … and there’s a big tax refund on the horizon.

OK, that’s sorta what I think when I see a happy, enthusiastic Statue of Liberty.

Occasionally, this past tax season, there was a Statue of Liberty who had a guitar. He strummed a few chords, standing along the roadway, and seemed to sing a few words.

In a passing car, I never could make out the song.

Occasionally, I wondered if maybe he was singing the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore / Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me / I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Maybe that’s what he was singing. Of course, he may have just been playing the hokey-pokey.

I don’t know. Maybe next year, I’ll stop to listen to what the Statue of Liberty sings.

It’s a long year till next tax season. And depending on the amount of my refund will determine if seeing people dressed like the Statue of Liberty is like seeing people dressed as Santa Claus.

Dean Poling is The Valdosta Daily Times managing editor.