“Happy May Day!” she exclaimed, first thing in the morning. Still groggy and muddle headed and making my coffee, I admit my first thought was to acknowledge that I had forgotten it was May 1, and my second thought was that I better schedule that mortgage payment.
May Day has a great deal of significance in many cultures all around the world. Was Amelia referring to the original ancient Roman Republic era rites of spring that later became associated with May Day? Was she talking about traditional UK celebration with the May Pole and May Queen?
Or perhaps she was looking to the Gaelic version of May Day, known as Beltane, which is celebrated in Ireland and Scotland. Traditions here include people walking their cattle between roaring bonfires to protect their farms and encourage productivity.
Also possible she was calling out Walpurgis Night, which is celebrated in many Germanic countries. It honors the exploits of St. Walpurga, an 8th Century abbess who is remembered for battling “pest, rabies and whooping cough, as well as witchcraft.”
And finally, let’s not forget that May Day is also International Workers Day, and this year marks the 134th anniversary of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, a worker’s demonstration that helped pave the way to the 8-hour work day. That’s probably what Amelia was talking about. I know she is all about firm caps on the work day, because she is always telling me how lame it is that I have to work instead of playing with her.
Of course, for many people in the US, May 1 is just the day that falls three days before May the Fourth.
Anyway, we didn’t have a maypoles, bonfires or whooping cough, but it was a beautiful, kind of hot, summer like days and the kids were able to enjoy that. Erin and I both noted that it felt like a summer day from when we were kids. First there was a romp in the sprinkler!
That took up a good chunk of the afternoon and had the helpful side benefit of providing lots of irrigation for our lawn.
Then, after dinner, Erin had the idea of having those little mini boxes of cereal for dessert. We bought these as a travel treat a while back, but since there is no travel in the near future, this was a good use for them.
Afternoon sprinklers and evening cereal. That sounds like a good rite of spring to me. Hope everyone out there had an excellent Walpurgis Night!
