Hurrah! Hooray! The First of May – You all
know what starts today!
Under the category Two Birds With One Stone,
today I am reusing the piece I wrote for this month’s issue of our community
magazine Living @ Sun City Carolina Lakes.
May was always one of my favorite months – the other being November, my birthday
month – and I was delighted to celebrate it in print.
THE MARVELOUS MONTH OF MAY
Who
doesn’t love the month of May?
Sports fans can look forward to the NBA
Finals, the Indianapolis 500, the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco, the Kentucky
Derby and the Preakness Stakes, and the French Open in tennis. While the hockey
season is almost over, Major League Baseball is in full swing.
Who
doesn’t love the month of May?
While the school-age children are
anticipating the end of their year in class, even with finals beforehand,
children of all ages are thinking what to get Mom for Mother’s Day. Everyone is
counting down to Memorial Day and the semi-official start of summer.
Who
doesn’t love the month of May?
There is something for everyone to celebrate:
Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month
Arthritis Month
Better Sleep Month
Better Speech and Hearing Month
Correct Posture Month
Europe Day
Foot Health Month
Jewish American Heritage Month
Labor History Month
Mental Health Month
Military Appreciation Month
National Chocolate Custard Month
National Day of Prayer
National Defense Transportation Day
National Egg Month
National Foster Care Month
National Good Car Keeping Month
National Hamburger Month
National High Blood Pressure Month
National Maritime Day
National Osteoporosis Month
National Pet Month
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
National Salsa Month
National Share a Story Month
National Strawberry Month
National Stroke Awareness Month
National Transportation Week
National Water Safety Month
Older Americans Month
Uranus Awareness Month
World Trade Month
We can celebrate where
we were born, how we get around, what we put on our tables for all the
celebrating, the state of our health, even our old age. Truly, there’s at least
one celebration for everyone.
Who doesn’t love the month of May?
It is the month when we
can truly forget winter. Even in the most northern climes the trees are budding
and flowers blooming. The month is named for Maia, the Roman goddess of
fertility, but we also know that Ovid said the month was named for the maiores, Latin for "elders," and that
June is named for the iuniores, or "young people". Perhaps
that is why we find Older Americans Month of May’s calendar: not a day, not a
week, but the whole month. We can thank John F. Kennedy for that one.
Who doesn’t love the month of May?
Many countries
celebrate their national days this month, among them Canada, Chile, Denmark,
Ecuador, Eretria, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, and Poland. There are saints’ days and religious
celebrations for everyone from Buddhists to Pagans. Months, weeks, and day, the
list of celebrations, fêtes, commemorations, remembrances,
appreciations, and other observances is the longest of the year. Many
celebrations are related to a specific date, but a good number of the rest,
especially May Day, were probably set in May because it is the loveliest month
of the year.
Indeed, May is a lovely month. In France, and many other countries, May 1st is Labor Day, so the month starts with a holiday. Also on May 1st the tradition in France is to give a bouquet or a sprig of lily of the valley to your loved ones. If you receive lily of the valley on May 1st you’ll have happiness the rest of the year. People send postcards, or used to, now it may be virtual cards, to everyone with some lily of the valley on them. I did a post on it in 2011 called “May Happiness” and showed samples of cards (http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-intermission-entracte-no-10-may.html .) I hope your month of May will be happy.
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