May Day! May Day!

My sister posted a status update on Facebook this morning: "Did anyone else make May Day baskets as a kid, fill them with candies and hang them on neighbors doors, ring the bell and run? Or were we weirdos?"

Most of her friends have posted that we were weirdos. So are my kids then because I passed this "weird" tradition on to them. It should be noted that running had its purpose (beyond having an excuse to teach the kids how to play ding-dong-ditch). If you were caught, the person who caught you had the right to give you a kiss. Hmmm, maybe we were weirdos. 

When our kids were small, we prayed for springs like this one when the lilacs were in bloom. While candy and other sweets are nice, there was nothing like a bouquet of fragrant blooms to celebrate the day. (I am trying to decide as I write this who will be the lucky recipient of our sparse lilac blooms.) Most years, though, we had to be satisfied with giving a handful of sweets in a paper cone.

Our very small celebration of May Day has roots that are centuries old. It was originally a pagan festival that celebrated the beginning of summer in Northern Europe (and was rife with symbols of fertility, which included virgins dancing around a maypole).  It was banned in England during the rise of puritanism but continued in many Scandinavian countries, and was revived in Great Britian in 1707 to celebrate the Act of Union between England and Scotland. 

Today, May Day is marked through Northern Europe with street celebrations, Maypole dances, large neighborhood parties, parades, and occasional youthful hijinks that include a nude run into the North Sea at St. Andrews. 

While planning a full May Day party may be out of the question at this late date, a nude dip in a local body of water not to your liking, nor hoisting a 100-pound Maypole in your workout schedule, May Day is still a wonderful opportunity to involve your kids in a little fun and hijinks of their own. 

There are a lot of images online of May baskets to get you started, but one of the easiest is made of cute paper from the local stationery or craft store, rolled into a cone, and glued or stapled at the edge. Finish with a pretty ribbon handle, and a few pieces of candy.  You can also have your kids decorate construction paper with stickers or their own artwork, or cut crepe paper petals or fringe to glue on the cone or a paper cup for a slightly more complicated project. 

Just add a 100-yard dash to the neighbor's front step and back home, and viola!  You have created a new family tradition.  

May baskets are not just for kids. You can make a wonderful gift by punching decorations with a nail into a tin bucket, hand-paint a metal can, or decorate discarded Easter baskets with hot-glued silk flowers or flower petals. Fill them with flowers, a plastic bag full of homebaked truffles, and/or a beautiful loaf of fresh bread and you'll feel like Martha Stewart!  

When we first moved into Woodbury, I baked several pans of brownies, wrapped them in plastic and put them in cute cones, and left them on the door handles of several of our neighbors. 

When we gathered for a Bunco party later in the week, I learned that everyone had thrown the brownies out because they didn't know where they came from. It could be the reputation of hash brownies, or it could have been that I'm not the world's best baker.   

Whatever the reason, I was too embarassed to reveal that I was the giver, and I have not made homemade treats since that first year. I may try homemade treats again this year and hope that my neighbors are now following me on Facebook or the Patch!

Weird or not, and the brownie experience aside, I'm excited to revive the tradition once again. So, if your doorbell rings tomorrow, walk very slowly to your front door. At my age, I need a 30-yard head start!