May Day.

I love May Day. I might love it even more than Hallowe'en, it's hard to tell. I loved it long before I knew it as Bealltainn. It was Lei Day .I remember dancing around my first Maypole in kindergarten in Hawaii. In my five year old eyes that maypole was as tall as any building! It took me years to figure out how all that dancing around made such a cool woven pattern on the pole. The beginning of my fibre obsession? Maybe.

Many years later Jane and I would spend Bealltainn eve "gathering" flowers, and running from local law enforcement in order to make may baskets to leave for friends. One year we went to Padstow for the Maying and watched the maypole dancing there. It was still magic.

I really wanted the boys to have the same experience but rounding up a maypole to dance around is harder than you might think. Especially given the number of people you need to make the weaving work. This year it finally happened, the right time and place for Maydancing! Only one boy could go, but I hope he felt like that maypole was taller than any building.