Remember May Fairs? 

Today is May 1st, commonly known as May Day!  Given it’s also my namesake day I couldn’t let it pass without a nod for history, traditions and, yes, fairs!  Routinely acknowledged as a celebration of spring, May Day is also known as International Workers Day. You can find more information on that here.

But it’s the joyous festival recognizing the passage of frigid winter into fragrant spring that I’d like to focus on. I have fond memories of May Fairs from childhood . . . pony rides, fat punch balloons, May poles beribboned in colorful streamers, and  warm funnel cakes dusted with sugar.  I might have outgrown skipping home with my friends after a day at the fair, our arms loaded down with the trinkets and goodies we’d bought or won, but I haven’t outgrown the flush of excitement heralded by May.

After a windy March and rainy April, I know spring has arrived with the promise of summer around the corner. I begin looking forward to sun-drenched afternoons and twilight nights perfumed with honeysuckle and clover. Every breeze conjures images of Faerie glades, romantic bewitchment and moonlight strolls surrounded by fireflies. For a writer, it’s like tapping into a well of creativity. Pure magic!

With that in mind, I wish you all a Happy May Day. However you choose to celebrate the day and the season, here are some links you might enjoy:

Fairy Lore of May Day 
May Day Customs
History of May Day in the UK
May Day Customs and Jokes

“‘Tis like the birthday of the world,
When earth was born in bloom;
The light is made of many dyes,
The air is all perfume:
There’s crimson buds, and white and blue,
The very rainbow showers
Have turned to blossoms where they fell,
And sown the earth with flowers.”
–  Thomas Hood