May Day!

Do you know that May 1st (May Day) is halfway between the first day of spring and the first day of summer? It's also called Beltane in many parts of the world. The Celtics celebrated it as a springtime festival of optimism. It's an amazing time of the year here in the Pacific Northwest, with everything exploding with blossoms and nonstop flowers everywhere. The rhododendrons (Washington's state flower) are also coming into full bloom; I've still got to go around to find the best places to capture them in pictures. Can't wait too long or I'll miss them.

May Day is celebrated all over the world. In Hawaii, it's also known as Lei Day, a time to celebrate island culture and Native culture in particular. From the Wikipedia link above:

Invented by a poet and a local newspaper columnist in the 1920s, it has since been adopted by state and local government as well as the residents, and has taken on the sense of a general spring celebration. The first Lei Day was proposed in 1927 in Honolulu by poet and artist Don Blanding. Leonard "Red" and Ruth Hawk composed "May Day is Lei Day in Hawai'i," the traditional holiday song.

In other parts of the country, May Day is observed by making May baskets. I first learned of this tradition from one of my blogging friends, Connie at Far Side of Fifty and have followed her progress with her homemade baskets for the past four years now. Today I went looking for some way to create a few May baskets for the nearby apartment dwellers who have children. I bought some chocolate and found that it wasn't so easy to find anything to use as baskets, but I finally realized that I could use those little reusable paper bags that people give presents in these days. Once I finish this post, I'm going to make the baskets and go ring a few doorbells. That Wikipedia link explains the tradition here:

May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged.

I have always liked giving and receiving gifts, so I bought myself a nice little bit of chocolate that I can share with my special guy to commemorate the day. I do hope your day is filled with nice things, too. Oh, yes, one more thing: our male goldfinches are now in full dress uniform! I took this picture yesterday through the front window of two males and two females. During the winter, they both look almost the same, but then the guys get all bright and beautiful, like this:

Now I'm off to ring some doorbells and run away!
:-)