May Day, May Day

Where did the month of April go? That’s what I find myself wondering. So much for April showers. May we please get May flowers anyway? Surely the April snow had enough moisture in it to help them bloom.

The next day that I’ll wake up in North Dakota is Monday, May 1, the publication date of this newspaper.

I have sticky notes all over my MacBook and more on my desk, to remind me of all the things I must finish before we leave for the NASP Western National Archery Tournament in Utah.

As I prepare, I think about how I will be spending my last five days of April. Our daughters belted out the theme song from Disney’s animated series “Little Einsteins” when we talked about the trip last weekend.

“We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through the skies, Little Einsteins.”

Well, not quite. We’ll be in a Dodge pickup to be exact, cruising down the highways. We’ll spend about 34 hours in a vehicle, on the road 8-10 hours a day for four days out of the five. Friday is the only day we won’t have to travel, except to the tournament and back to the hotel.

When we return home, it will be May Day Eve. With all that time on the road, maybe I should bring supplies to make May Day baskets …

Wait a second, I’m not ready for May! There’s confirmation, ND/SD newspaper convention, state track and graduation. We also need to trek to Bottineau and haul all our college daughter’s stuff home for the summer.

May day, may day …

Say “May Day” three times and it becomes a universal distress call used by ships and aircraft in an emergency.

Speaking of distress, that image of the New Rockford swimming pool filled with ice and snow we put on the front page of the Transcript last week captured our collective moods pretty well. Angst, excitement and distress all in one shot. We were so anxious to get outside and excited for spring activities, knowing that the progression would be slow. The distress came later in the week after yet another snowstorm.

In Lake Metigoshe State Park, just a few miles north of where my daughter lives, they still had 4-6 inches of snow cover over their campgrounds on Monday, April 24. It appears that camping season will be delayed for a few more weeks.

That last shot of snow in our area had more than one-half inch of water in it, and the James River crested (for now).

The Carrington high school softball team hasn’t been able to play an outdoor game yet this season, and the baseball fields in town are not yet playable. We’re hoping the track will be in good enough shape to host the Kiwanis Lions Track Meet on May 6.

And, I missed out on what some call the best northern lights display of their lifetime on Sunday night. I was trying to cross a few things off my list and get some rest before this long trip …

Saying “May Day” three times sure has a ring to it.

When it feels like things are spiraling, I look on the bright side. So here goes.

May 1 marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and is traditionally known as May Day. It is a day of celebration.

In The Christian Science Monitor, Melissa Mohr breaks down the beginnings of May Day.

“In early medieval England, May was considered to be the first month of abundance. Baby animals were growing, flowers were blooming, and some crops were ready to eat. An Old English name for the month commemorates this bounty; it was Ðrimilce-monaþ (‘month of three milkings’) because cows were producing so much that they could be milked three times a day. The word May was also used in Old English, and comes from the name of a Roman earth goddess, Maia,” she writes.

People danced around maypoles – trees or poles covered with brightly colored streamers. They elected a king and queen of May, and others anonymously left May baskets – paper horns filled with flowers – at neighbors’ doors.

Did you know that participating in these festivities was called “maying?” Let’s merrily go maying on May 1. That sounds fun.

So, as this May Day approaches, I’ll focus on the positive.

I expect to feel temperatures in the 70s while in Utah, and it’s been a long time coming. It makes me wonder: when will we hit 70 degrees for the first time in 2023 here in Eddy and Foster counties? According to the forecast, it doesn’t look like we’ll even hit 60 until around Cinco de Mayo. If that happens, we will have another reason to celebrate!

I also get the opportunity to see a part of the country I haven’t seen before, and to watch my favorite archer compete on the national stage.

The weather may have given us a lot to fret about lately, but it’s no reason to put out a distress call.

It isn’t life-threatening, and I know what happens to the chicken who runs around yelling that the sky is falling. Well, that and apparently the U.S. Coast Guard frowns upon false distress calls.

Maybe I should just relax and enjoy May Day. Glass of wine, anyone? I don’t mind if I do.