Did you ever see a May Day celebration? Although I was born too late to observe one in person, I’ve seen pictures on the Internet of young women, dressed in white, dancing around a maypole with colorful streamers, weaving elaborate patterns. Often, a May Queen was selected for the celebration.
Located halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, the holiday originated in Europe centuries ago. It was meant to celebrate fertility, the rebirth of plants and the beginning of another growing season. It also supposedly divides the year in half between the light and dark parts of it.
During my childhood, we celebrated by picking flowers and delivering them to people in the neighborhood. I guess you’d call us the Welcome Wagon for spring.
I remember one long-ago, pleasant May Day. My pal Susie and I picked flowers and put them in empty jars my mom donated for the cause. Heaven knows what flowers we used, possibly the irises which popped up every year with no help from the black thumbs in my family.
We probably also used branches with spirea blooms from the bushes in my front yard, since there were plenty of them and we liked the pure white color.
After arranging our flowers, we started delivering them to the “older people” in the neighborhood, all of whom were probably younger than I am now.
It was a beautiful, warm day and we approached a gleaming white bungalow, the last one before the creek. Outside, we found its owners sitting in lawn chairs in their side yard. They were delighted with the flowers and invited us to “sit a spell and visit.” So we did. The lady of the house plied us with Kool Aid and cookies while we chatted.
I have no idea what we talked about, but I’ve never forgotten the kind older couple who took the time to listen to a couple of kids rattle on about their lives. They made us feel welcome and interesting on a day when many grown-ups were at work, or too busy to chat.
While this Old School person missed the heyday of May Day, I love the idea of celebrating spring and enjoying beautiful flowers.
Reach columnist Carol McEwen at carolwrites4fun@gmail.com.
