Happy May Day!

It's a glorious day here in Newport, Rhode Island. I've already managed to get outside for a walk and to do a few pastoral dances without being hauled off to the loony bin. So far, it's a good day.

I haven't really thought much about May Day since I was a Girl Scout and we used to make gift baskets out of paper plates and yarn and slip a package of seeds into each one. May Day feels like the first day of spring. I know that technically spring begins around March 21st at the Vernal Equinox, but where I live March is really the end of winter and there is a lot more cold, wet, windy weather to come. Despite the cold, the birds return from warmer climates and begin chirping, the plants and trees bravely bud and blossom.

There's a lesson in that somewhere.

By May, however, spring is really here. The cold weather has gradually given way to warmth. The sun feels hot on my face and it's a great day to be alive. I can't help thinking back to a time, not that all that long ago, when I didn't want to be alive and I honestly could not imagine ever being happy again. I am very, very grateful to have been wrong, and delighted to be here to admit it.

Happy May Day. I hope that wherever you are, the sun is shining on your face - and more importantly, in your heart.