Bringing in the May
There are 3 days in the year when it is very easy to get The Child out of bed: Christmas, her birthday and May Day. This morning, at 6:45 (15 minutes earlier than her usual wake-up time), with nothing more than a "Time to get up, dolly", she was up and dressed and ready to deliver May baskets.
Leaving May baskets seems to be a dying art. I am resolved to carry it forward into the next generation. (I understand that my sister, Martha Stewart, is equally determined). Our children have learned how simple it is to bring great pleasure to neighbors by leaving a little boquet on their door step.
The enterprise began last night, with The Child filling a tub with lilacs, weigelia, blue bells, rosemary blossoms, mountain ash blooms and rhodedendrons. After dinner, as The Spouse and I sat down to start our May Day eve viewing of "Reds" (long movie, takes us a couple evenings) she went to the kitchen to bash woody stems with a hammer and arrange her baskets (in this case, Mason jars). Then she went off to bed. When we stopped the movie for the night, this was the sight that greeted us:
There were 11 neighbors destined for baskets this morning. It is very important to The Child that she be sneaky about it. This can be difficult given factors like creaking stairs and barking dogs. But only one neighbor saw her at her task and that was ok because she got a hug.
When she arranges her boquets she wants to make sure that everyone has an equal number and variety of blossoms. She carefully selects which arrangement goes to which door.
Then sneaking on tippy toe toward the house
she deposits her offering just so, far enough from the door that no one knocks it over before spying it.
It's a lovely way to begin the merry month of May. It rained last night but was only the merest bit overcast this morning. There was a sweetness in the air, lilac and daphne, and it felt good to be out in the cool, watching The Child skipping and grinning as she brightened doorsteps.
We met this very handsome fellow while we were out. Had I met him in my garden I would have plucked him up and settled him on a saucer of salt but as he was just taking his morning constitutional a block from my garden, I let him be.
May Day amnesty.
Then we went home
, saluted the mountain ash tree that was planted 10 years ago today and made cinnamon-raisin bread into French toast.
While I focus on the Celtic side of May Day, The Spouse will be walking around calling everyone "comrade", wishing he had a tank to roll down the street and bollocking the words to "The Internationale". So here's a shout out to all the unions, the people who brought you the weekend.
Leaving May baskets seems to be a dying art. I am resolved to carry it forward into the next generation. (I understand that my sister, Martha Stewart, is equally determined). Our children have learned how simple it is to bring great pleasure to neighbors by leaving a little boquet on their door step.
The enterprise began last night, with The Child filling a tub with lilacs, weigelia, blue bells, rosemary blossoms, mountain ash blooms and rhodedendrons. After dinner, as The Spouse and I sat down to start our May Day eve viewing of "Reds" (long movie, takes us a couple evenings) she went to the kitchen to bash woody stems with a hammer and arrange her baskets (in this case, Mason jars). Then she went off to bed. When we stopped the movie for the night, this was the sight that greeted us:
There were 11 neighbors destined for baskets this morning. It is very important to The Child that she be sneaky about it. This can be difficult given factors like creaking stairs and barking dogs. But only one neighbor saw her at her task and that was ok because she got a hug.
When she arranges her boquets she wants to make sure that everyone has an equal number and variety of blossoms. She carefully selects which arrangement goes to which door.
Then sneaking on tippy toe toward the house
she deposits her offering just so, far enough from the door that no one knocks it over before spying it.
It's a lovely way to begin the merry month of May. It rained last night but was only the merest bit overcast this morning. There was a sweetness in the air, lilac and daphne, and it felt good to be out in the cool, watching The Child skipping and grinning as she brightened doorsteps.
We met this very handsome fellow while we were out. Had I met him in my garden I would have plucked him up and settled him on a saucer of salt but as he was just taking his morning constitutional a block from my garden, I let him be.
May Day amnesty.Then we went home
, saluted the mountain ash tree that was planted 10 years ago today and made cinnamon-raisin bread into French toast.While I focus on the Celtic side of May Day, The Spouse will be walking around calling everyone "comrade", wishing he had a tank to roll down the street and bollocking the words to "The Internationale". So here's a shout out to all the unions, the people who brought you the weekend.
Labels: May Day, mountain ash tree, snails, The Child, The Internationale
cobbled together by Moi at 10:08 AM
14 Comments:
We do May Day here too.
I had to deliver William's "bug" baskets with him waiting in the wagon because he has a bad cold. We put fake bugs in paper grass and added candy flowers.
Your Daughter's arrangements are beautiful.
Excellent! May Dayers of the world unite!
What a great tradition -- I'd never heard of such a thing before, but what a lovely surprise for your neighbors ...
(Altho' if anyone left a basket of flowers on my front porch, it'd probably sit there for a week. In the city, we all park behind our homes and front doors get very little usage.)
I loved my annual basket which is always such a nice surprise - I was smiling all the way to work!
I left it on the porch so that Kate could be surprised too -
I will never move.
XO nayb
MMMmm. Butter. Garlic. Escargot!
YES!!! I do May day baskets too! i'm so happy that other people are carrying on this tiny tradition.
enjoy the rest of the week
-stacy
ps: That tree is very beautiful for being only 10.
Red, I'll remember to leave yours at the back.
Nayb, you'd better not even think of it.
Jon, Funny. That's what I thought. It's the right kind.
Stacy, Yay! When there are little Stacy-ettes you'll be able to carry it on. And I love our tree. Friends gave it to us as a house warming gift and it was a 3 year old tree...same age as The Child. So they could "grow up" together. It was as tall as she when we planted it but it has clearly out paced her.
I am firmly convinced that it is YOUR FAMILY that makes me believe in America.
What a lovely tradition....I was just glad the sun came up. another month without snow is glorious...yes, I am still angry at winter. You are raising a princess.
What jon said...and Iwanski.. :)
You just scared a bunch of people with that, Iwanski.
Rosie, wish we could have left one for you!
Sling: Snort. Escargot with some typical Americans. Does not compute.
this was so sweet I sort of cried a little bit!
I remember doing this as a kid in the 70's -- it was various candy in a dixie cup with a pipe cleaner to make a handle for the "basket."
Not sure when or why we stopped, but I hadn't even heard of it since until today.
I am proud of The Niece as always.
I know, Pam. "The Internationale" always chokes me up a little, too. Wait...
JP, I remember making a May basket out of Dixie cups and pipe cleaners. Geez. Pipe cleaners. I wonder if there is a correlation between American students' test scores and a decline in use of pipe cleaners. Seriously.
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