Have been so busy winding up the final classes and grades for the semester that I hardly even noticed that yesterday was May Day. I’m not thinking of the USSR celebration and show of force that used to take place on May 1, but the things we did when to celebrate the day when I was a little girl. Every May 1, while I was in grade school, my mother would help me make baskets out of woven strips of colored paper. Then we’d line them with wax paper. I’d pick violets that grew in perfusion in the field next to our house, tie them in littel bouquets with ribbon, and, before I went to school, I’d walk around to the homes in our very small, very secluded neighborhood, ring the doorbells, and put the May baskets on the doorknobs. Happy May Day! It really was a lovely custom, and I always felt special because my birthday is in May – so it was kind of a birthday celebration for me as well.
In my high school, we celebrated May Day by electing a queen from the senior class. Her court was composed of the girls who were the top runners up. We “crowned” the queen at a ceremony on the athletic field, and (HERE”S THE KICKER!!!) the girls in the court wove ribbons around the maypole! Wow! How’s that for a phallic celebration!!!???????
I wish kids still made May baskets, but I’m glad we’ve eliminated the ridiculous May pole ceremony. (And, yes, I was in the court that wound the May pole! I was taller than any other other girls, so as we danced around and wove our ribbons over and under, I was nearly choked by the ribbons of the shorter girls who had trouble raising them above my head!
Back to grades! Can’t wait for summer break!