Happy May Day!
Captain Cavedweller and I were just discussing May Day and memories we have (him not so much as me, but I think the holiday tends to capture the interest of little girls much more than little boys).
May Day is a spring celebration that falls exactly half a year from November 1. It’s related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic Festival of Walpurgis Night. As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious foundations and morphed into the popular secular celebration.The celebration in America is best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and baskets of flowers left on doorsteps as a surprise gift.
I remember one year at school we had a maypole using one of the pieces of playground equipment. Someone climbed to the top and fastened crepe paper streamers and then some of the students got to weave the streamers in and out in the traditional dance. I thought it was awesome. CC remembered doing something similar at his school using the tetherball pole.I also remember making May baskets and leaving them on a neighbor’s doorstep. My mom was also the recipient of some of my early May Day basket efforts which no doubt involved dandelions shoved into a canning jar.Wherever or however you celebrate this welcoming of spring, I hope you have a beautiful day!She Who Should Make a May Basket or Two
