May Day

Today is May Day! 

May 1st has long been known as a "celebration of spring" in many Northern Hemisphere cultures...when I was a little boy my mother always helped us make "Construction Paper" May Baskets. The baskets were usually filled with plastic "Easter Grass" and several varieties of homemade candy. We would then clandestinely hang the baskets on our neighbors and loved ones door knobs, knock loudly on the door, and run away to hide in the bushes (while we watched the joyful reaction of the recipient). But, if the recipient of the basket "caught" us hanging the basket or running away, a kiss would be exchanged! Sometimes, you better make sure to "run like hell" because some of the older ladies gave (in the eyes of a little boy) wet and gross kisses! What a great way to celebrate "Tanz in den Mai!"...German for "Dance into May!"

Dancing into May!!!

May Day also coincides with International Workers Day...a remembrance of the Haymarket Square Riot/ Massacre of 1886 in Chicago. During the Cold War, these "celebrations" and marches were thought to symbolize one's support of and association with socialist/ communist organizations. Therefore, May Day became very politically unacceptable, and many traditions were "forgotten" due to the fear of being labeled as a "Red" or a radical.

May 1 - Communist Holiday

Today, for the first time since 1991, over 100,000 gathered in Moscow to help revive the traditional May Day Parade/ Assemblies that used to be held in Red Square and America escalated their Pro-Ukraine rhetoric...I think I'll just "mentally deliver" a May Day basket to Putin and Obama!