WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2024 - MAY DAY

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2024

WARM-UP

It is May - the fifth month of 2024.  May has more holidays than April.

MAY DAY

We start (today) with May Day.  May Day has been celebrated in the British Isles since the medieval period to celebrate the vitality of spring. Traditions include singing, dancing, driving cattle, lighting bonfires, and decorating with yellow May flowers.  Today’s image is wrapping a Maypole (or dancing around a Maypole)

Early Maypoles were trees stripped of branches and decorated with flowers and leaves. In medieval times, villages would select a straight and tall tree, cut it down, and smooth it before erecting it in the village square. Today, poles are often used instead of trees because they are easier to raise and take down. The top of the maypole has a crown with ribbons attached for each dancer.

During the maypole dance, dancers weave ribbons into complex patterns around the pole.

MAY IS FOR CELEBRATING THE LABOR MOVEMENT

In the United States, May Day originated in 1886 as part of the fight for an eight-hour workday. In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1st as May Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, a violent confrontation in Chicago in 1886. May Day honors the struggles and achievements of labor movements fighting for workers' rights. In recent years, Americans have celebrated May Day by marching for labor rights.

OTHER MAY DATES

We have the informal May 4th—as Star Wars Day—a take-off on “May the Force be with you.” George Lucas, the creator of the creator Wars, viewed “the Force” as a deep spiritual connection—not unlike the Christian view of the Holy Spirit.

May 4th is also the day for the Kentucky Derby this year.  According to Ticket Smarter, ticket prices for the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 range from $110 to upwards of $11,000.  (I’ll watch on television!!!) The early favorites are Dornoch, Sierra Leone, Mystic Dan, and Catching Freedom.  Hmmm - I think “Mystic Dan” will be my pick!!!

The  Kentucky Derby is the first race in the “Triple Crown.”The schedule requires a three-year-old horse to win the Kentucky Derby, then two weeks later win the Preakness Stakes, and then three weeks later win the Belmont Stakes. In all of racing history, only thirteen horses have achieved the Triple Crown.

May 5th is Cinco de Mayo - a Mexican event - that Americans have used to drink Margaritas - almost like St. Patrick’s Day but with a Mexican orientation..  

May 12th is Mother’s Day (the second Sunday of May) - to honor Mothers (Father’s Day is in June - June 16th this year). 

I remember Mother’s Day from my senior year in High School.  With all my school activities coming to an end, I was hired at the Hotel Roosevelt in the kitchen.  I was a busboy.  On Mother’s Day, the hotel opened the ballroom for a Mother’s Day brunch.  I worked long and hard that day.  (Maybe it scared me away from a culinary career? <grin>)

Some other aspects of May

• Birthstone: Emerald, which symbolizes love and success

• Zodiac signs: Taurus (April 20–May 20) and Gemini (May 21–June 20)

• Birth flowers: Lily of the Valley

• Named after: Maia, the Greek goddess of spring, warmth, and fertility

• Other holidays: ALS Awareness Month, Better Hearing & Speech Month, National Stroke Awareness Month, Nurse Appreciation Week, Armed Forces Day, Sally Ride Day, Memorial Day, and the Indianapolis 500 car race 

• Other significance: The month is devoted to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church

• Other facts: May is similar to November in the Southern Hemisphere

• Other traditions: In many pagan cultures in Europe, May Day is a traditional summer holiday 

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS US

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!!!

Karen Anne White, ©, May 1, 2024