May Day

"Going a-maying" - going into the country to gather greenery and flowers was an English tradition celebrating the start of Spring.

Another English tradition is the maypole usually hung with greenery and ribbons serving as a central point for festivities. The maypole was sometimes used for morris dancing (an English folk dance) where the people would braid the maypole with ribbons by weaving in and out during the dance.

When I was in kindergarten at the Hodge Baptist Church (and we were Catholic), we had one of these maypoles. It was all metal and seemed huge at the time. Frankly, I really hated that thing. It's probably still there. Here's one on the playground right by our house now.

In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This actually originates with the United States labor movement. In the late 1800's, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to eight hours. This meant eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

The protests were eventually successful as eight-hour work days are now the norm. The rest of the world took the American strikes as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day to celebrate.

Most countries celebrate the annual holiday of Labor Day on May 1, popularly known as May Day, to celebrate the achievements of workers. Belgium does. However, some countries celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday of September. The U. S. does.

Giving baskets of flowers also became part of the festivities of May Day. Usually made by children, these baskets are filled with flowers and placed on a neighbor or friend's doorstep.

When I was in elementary school, my mother thought it was important to give a basket of flowers to my teacher on May Day. Of course, I liked this idea too. We would use those little green plastic strawberry baskets you get at the grocery store, fill them with Easter grass, and a little bouquet of whatever flowers were blooming at the time. I haven't thought about that in a very long time.

And totally unrelated trivia . . . Mayday is also an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal. It comes from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me" and has absolutely nothing to do with the May Day known also as Labor Day.

So Happy May Day. Or Labour Day as we call it in Belgie :) Surprise someone with a strawberry basket filled with Easter grass and a jonquil or two.