Apparently the distress signal Mayday comes from the French term m’aider, which means “help me”. The signal was invented in the 1940s by a radio officer in Croydon airport.
These two facts make me smile, because, first of all, I like the fact that something so important came out of Croydon; the term “mayday” comes to mind frequently when thinking about past shopping excursions there.
Secondly, May is just about the most manic month on my calendar. Three family birthdays, Mother’s Day, ViVA Vienna; and, with the end of the school year looming, hurried Summer Camp planning. May is a month of looking and feeling like a dishevelled rabbit caught in oncoming headlights (apart from Mother’s Day of course, when I scrub up quite nicely). It is exhausting, but I have been pretty productive. I have been printing up a storm for my local Memorial Day festival, ViVA Vienna. It looks like I’ll be spending this week frantically ironing, sewing, and putting labels on things, in between large, fortifying cups of tea. I thought I’d share some pictures of my May work so far with you below.
Oh, and before I go, one last thought about May.
I miss traditional May Day – they don’t celebrate this in the US. You know, a day off work on the 1st of May to celebrate Spring and workers unions, and indulge in much pagan revelry. I miss watching kids prance around maypoles, and gawping at morris dancers. Does that still happen in the UK? So many things have changed since I left (mostly for the better), but I really hope May Day has been kept intact. I remember being one of the maypole kids when I was little.
Aaaah, the life of an immigrant, it’s like being the spread in a sandwich (I’m going to leave you to work out the meaning of that one yourself).
Happy May, wherever you are!
