Happiness and Sadness of May

Where has the year gone? Just yesterday we were celebrating the holidays and now I’m back to working in the yard. My Granny Devine always did say time speeds up as you got older, and now I’m seeing this is so true.

While I’m not a hot weather, summer person, I am glad to finally leave the cold days of winter behind. Too many days of sub-zero weather has made my joints ache and creak, so I’m ready for a change. Warmer weather means more time in the garden, more time to walk and more time to soak up the daylight. Of course, it's still Kentucky, so we are still having some cold days - not to mention the inches and inches of rain we have had.

The month of May is the perfect time to shed our winter skins and slip into the latest summer fashions. After months of cabin fever and overwhelming darkness, you feel an almost rebirth at the excess of sunshine and warmth.

May has always been a transition month for my family. We are transitioning from the long winter and spring into the warmth of summer and from school to summer break. We are transitioning from slow time, early darkness and structured schedules to fast time, later sunsets and relaxed casualness. We say goodbye to prime-time television, large pots of chili and blue jeans with sneakers and say hello to drive-in movies, salad from the Farmer's Market and shorts with flip flops.

I cannot believe I no longer have any children in the local school system. Christine has just completed her first year at Berea College and she is excited about her college career. It has been hard adjusting to no children in the house, but now I have her home again, even if it's only for three months.

I am so incredibly proud of all three of my daughters – I could not have asked for three better girls if I had tried to order them from a catalog. They are all intelligent and responsible adults and they fill my life with joy. My granddaughter, Devon Mikayla, is already a special girl - and spoiled rotten - she has us all wrapped right around her little finger.

May 19th is a special day for Keith and I – it will be our 21st wedding anniversary. We have been together for 25 years and are happy to be celebrating such a great milestone. Like most couples, we have had our ups and downs, our sicknesses and health, our richer and poorer, but we have created a unique family with strong ties and our bond is even stronger today than it was 21 years ago. We have raised three beautiful, intelligent daughters and they are our pride and joy and we are both spoiling the granddaughter. We may not have done everything right, but we keep plugging away and try to keep everyone happy and on an even keel.

A big event at Fort Harrod State Park – Bark in the Park - just took place last weekend (May 14th). The Community of Mercer County Writers - my writing group - has written our 2nd volume of "Prose and Poetry for Pets" and we sold them for $5 each. All proceeds go to the Mercer County Humane Society, the charity of choice for our group. Even though it rained cats and dogs - pun intended - there were several people who ventured out. Trying to keep our tent above water was our major problem.

May also brought us Mother’s Day near the beginning of the month (May 8th). This is the first Mother's Day without my mother, Brenda Sallee; I really didn't handle it well, hiding in the house and wanting to be alone. My mother-in-law, Christine Holtzclaw Rightmyer, is a special lady and I am blessed to have her in my life. I thank God everyday that she brought Keith into my life.

Even though my Momma's first Angel Day is on the 23rd and I can't believe she has been gone one year, May is shaping up to be an exciting, memorable month,. It will be a time of great joy and happiness, grief and sadness and I look forward to making lots of new memories. Reconnecting with family and friends should be a priority this year, so why not plan some special events with your loved ones. Time is only getting shorter, so make the most of it while you still can. Remember, memories live on forever.

Happy May Day

Happy May Day!!

"See our Maypole filled with flowers,
From above, the blossoms tower,
Fragrance rich, and perfume rare,
Pretty scents that fill the air.
Violets blue and daisies white,
You are here for our delight;
Daffodils and roses, too,
Pretty flow'rs for me and you!
Tell us what the flowers say,
As we sing and dance and play.
Tell us what the flowers say,
On this special day!
This is what the flowers say,
As we sing and dance and play.
This is what the flowers say:
It is bright May day!"

(Copyright Clara Beeson Hubbard)

As a child, this was the day I would pick flowers from my Mom’s garden and give them to my neighbors. I always saved strawberry containers and weaved colorful ribbons through the holes in each container to make pretty baskets for the flowers. I would then put a baby food jar in each basket and pack it in with newspaper to keep the jar from moving around.

Then I would raid Mom’s early flowers: Iris’, peonies, daisies, tulips, roses – whatever happened to be blooming. Cutting the stems to fit the basket, I would fill the jars with water and arrange my flowers.

I would take these little baskets to several neighbors’ homes, hang them on the doorknob and then ring the doorbell and run away. I always got the biggest kick out of watching my neighbors open their door to a small basket of flowers.

When my middle daughter was 6 years old, she participated in the May Queen pageant at Old Fort Harrod. This used to be an annual event in the 1980s and early 90s, but sadly it is no longer held. Anyway, all the contestants were first graders and they usually wore their Easter Sunday dresses. What made this contest so unusual was, the girls were judged on their flower arrangements – not on their looks.

Each girl was given instructions on making an unusual flower basket and they could have help from parents to make them. Then the baskets were filled with flowers. The basket Marie made was similar to a paper Japanese lantern. We used a paper cup inside to hold the water and flowers. My best friend owned a florist in Danville, so she supplied up with daisies to supplement the flowers from my garden. She also made Marie a flower wreath for her head.

Marie was adorable – but then so were the other 8 girls that year. Marie ended up being first runner-up and was proclaimed the May Day Princess. It still makes me smile looking back on all the photos we took.

Today, my May Day is a little more subdued. I always pick fresh flowers for the house, but I no longer make baskets for my neighbors. Recent May Days have found the girls and me home alone because my hubby has to work the Derby every year.

So, make someone’s day today – give him or her the joy of May Day flowers.