May Day. – Amorella
** **
Traditional May Day Origins and Celebrations.
The
earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the Floralia festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held
April 27 during the Roman Republic era, and with the Walpurgis Night
celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic
Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a traditional summer
holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the
first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer
solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer.
As
Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character
and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. A significant
celebration of May Day occurs in Germany where it is one of several days on
which St. Walburga, credited with bringing Christianity to Germany, is
celebrated. The secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America,
may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the maypole and
crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is
the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets or flowers,
usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.
Since
the 18th Century, many Roman Catholics have observed May — and May Day — with
various May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In works of art, school
skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May
crowning. May 1 is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of
workers St. Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband to Mother Mary, and
surrogate father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was
chosen by the Pope Pius XII in 1955 to create as a counterpoint to the
Communist International Workers’ Day celebrations on May Day.
Beginning in the late 20th
century, many neo-pagans began reconstructing traditions and celebrating May
Day as a pagan religious festival.
Selected
and edited from Wikipedia – May Day
** **
0849
hours. I always thought this was a day to honor the Dead. I know we have
Memorial Day at the end of the month – I am probably mixing this up with
something else but I think of it as a day to honor the Dead no matter who they
were. Without them we would literally not be here on this human life journey.
As you are likely to say, boy, ‘to each his
own’. – Amorella
0854
hours. I set a document aside for a month of blog postings so I copied and
pasted the beginning draft of Dead 10.
***
(1733
hours.) The long Dead say, thinks Merlyn, there was a setting before time that
held Faeries or Angels. No one knows which or where for that matter. Angels or
Faeries or Both shedding flakes of spiritual matter. It had no place to go so
it fell into nowhere The flakes eventually gathered into dust bunny-like clumps
that further defined into spiritual-like leathery crystal, which distilled
further into sock-like sacks with no strings attached. (29 April 15 posting)
***
You are wearing your new loafers with the
Dr. Scholl’s inserts within because your feet feel much more stable even when
you are not walking. You would think this all rather silly but it is true. –
Amorella
0859
hours. This is not an advertisement, but I am rather surprised how much better
my feet feel. Perhaps it is just the novelty of a seemingly new physical
‘order’ in the foot regions. – On another note, I always liked the poem by Herrick.
** **
CORINNA'S GOING A-MAYING.
by Robert Herrick
GET up, get up for shame, the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air
:
Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
The dew bespangling herb and tree.
Each flower has wept and bow'd toward the east
Above an hour since : yet you not dress'd ;
Nay ! not so much as out of bed?
When all the birds have matins said
And sung their thankful hymns, 'tis
sin,
Nay, profanation to keep in,
Whereas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.
Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen
To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green,
And sweet as Flora. Take no
care
For jewels for your gown or hair :
Fear not ; the leaves will strew
Gems in abundance upon you :
Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept ;
Come and receive them while the light
Hangs on the dew-locks of the night :
And Titan on the eastern hill
Retires himself, or else stands still
Till you come forth. Wash, dress, be brief in praying :
Few beads are best when once we go a-Maying.
Come, my Corinna, come ; and, coming, mark
How each field turns a street, each street a park
Made green and trimm'd with trees :
see how
Devotion gives each house a bough
Or branch : each porch, each door ere
this
An ark, a tabernacle is,
Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove ;
As if here were those cooler shades of love.
Can such delights be in the street
And open fields and we not see't ?
Come, we'll abroad ; and let's obey
The proclamation made for May :
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying ;
But, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.
There's not a budding boy or girl this day
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.
A deal of youth, ere this, is come
Back, and with white-thorn laden
home.
Some have despatch'd their cakes and
cream
Before that we have left to dream :
And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth,
And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth :
Many a green-gown has been given ;
Many a kiss, both odd and even :
Many a glance too has been sent
From out the eye, love's firmament ;
Many a jest told of the keys betraying
This night, and locks pick'd, yet we're not a-Maying.
Come, let us go while we are in our prime ;
And take the harmless folly of the time.
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short, and our days run
As fast away as does the sun ;
And, as a vapour or a drop of rain
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,
So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drowned with us in endless
night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.
Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 82-84.
http://www.luminariumDOTorg/sevenlit/herrick/corinna.htm
** **
1351
hours. I did my 40 minutes of exercises and fixed up the feet of the deck
chairs and placed two more on the top deck. Carol might say it is cluttered but
that remains to be heard. We are going out to lunch – perhaps another Subway or
something similar. The umbrella is back up and out, but not fully. Very
pleasant Spring day. Deck shade goes away from about twelve to four when we
have the shade from our line of trees and half imaginary woods. We can barely
if at all see the neighbors behind us. When the trees are fully out we can see
them north beyond Muddy Creek and west of us. Lots of black ants on the prowl,
a few flying insects, otherwise it is not bad out here.
You
had lunch at Cracker Barrel and stopped at Mike’s car wash right next door for
the Toyota. Stopped at the community center on the way home. Carol finished
eleven laps and you did four.
Home,
we are sitting on the deck enjoying the rest of the afternoon. Walking the
track with the inserts seemed to help but I think we went too soon after lunch.
(1713) Facing north I can still see the less than a decade old three story St.
Susanna Catholic School. The first floor windows are almost entirely hidden and
the whole school will be in a week or two by much taller trees. I hardly ever
sit facing north. There is a gathering of noisy birds and the hum of traffic is
picking up about a mile or so away. (1728)
Carol went in to feed the cats, besides,
it’s cooling off, orndorff. Post. – Amorella
1732
hours. I didn’t realize until today that our high school fifty-fifth reunion is
the same day as the Cook Family Reunion. Fortunately both are in Westerville so
I’ll probably have lunch with the Cooks and visit my old classmates shortly
after. Carol called and will probably have her right knee replacement sometime
in July. We will have to order and have a chair lift installed at the stairs
sometime in June. It will be six months to a year after before she can have her
other knee replaced. When my arthritis is bad I’ll probably being using the
chair lift too. At least we are settled here for a while, no more thoughts of
moving back to Central Ohio for a few years; perhaps a decade or more if we are
still around.
You
had left over green pepper pieces and stuffing in a bowls for supper. You
watched last night’s “Elementary” and “Black List” and NBC News. Carol is
watching one of hers presently. – Amorella
2104
hours. We saw two of our favorites tonight. I feel like going to bed early.
Tomorrow I’ll clean the house – it only needs a light cleaning and I can run
through it in an hour or so. They won’t be here until almost suppertime and we’ll
go to a pizza place where the kids can watch them make the pizzas. They always
seem to enjoy that. Sunday breakfast here and at one (after lunch) we take the
one hour train ride – something the boys are looking forward to doing. After
that no doubt we’ll go feed the ducks and geese at Pine Hill Lakes. Monday we’ll
come up with something. Certainly the Cincinnati Zoo will be one to go to
sometime during the summer. I don’t know about King’s Island but I think we
should go later in the summer before they go to Disney World in October (only
because Paul has a conference in Orlando for a few days and is taking the
family at that time).
As your muse might say, “Are you content,
Rich?” – Amorella
2122
hours. Probably not.
Do you care to elaborate? – Amorella
2124
hours. I don’t think that living in this world allows for much contentment,
except for in a brief moment or two from time to time.
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