First Day of May

[Colliemom]

Morning all,

Glorious first day of May here with temps heading into mid 60's, sunshine and blue skies. Will definitely be an outside day. Off to town today and stop bybRV dealer to confirm dropping off my trailer in Monday unless it's raining. Don't want to have to hitch up in rain when not necessary. Also need some caulk.

Spent yesterday in Traverse City bumming around a few places. Didn't spend much. Neighbor's plane was an hour late due to delay in Chicago, so bit of a wait at airport. We stooped on way home for coffe and bowl,of soup. Molly was fine for being alone all day. No accidents, nothing. Good dog

Donna, you certainly need to head north. Why not take a roundabout route lke maybe the Natchez Trace to Nashville and then 75 up a ways and look at other routes from there. Beautiful drive on the trace and relaxing with lots to see. Maybe Smokey Mountains National Park etc. just some suggestions. Judy, you can start heading north now

Any if you see those ads for that Flex Seal sealing stuff they advertise on TV. WalMart carries it. Wonder if it would be good for RV applications. Might come in handy so thinking of getting a can and keep it in storage area.

Nothing on breakfast menu this morning, so guess somebody else will have to fix it. But I can wish you all a Happy May Day

[grammynmaggie]

Good morning Sue and all...its MAY DAY!...no one celebrates it any more...I remember when I was in grade school...we would all dress our best that day for school...all would troupe up to the high school and put on a program of singing and dancing around the May Pole...they had streamers hanging down and the lucky chosen few would get to grab one and dance around inter twining it until the whole pole was covered..with beautiful pastel ribbon...our parents were invited to this program...it was a very exciting and happy day for us kids...I just read somewhere that some celebrated by making up small baskets with goodies and then running up to the porch of friends and leave and get away before you were caught...ahhh the good old days...I did get chosen one year to wrap the ribbons..Sue the Natchez Trace is on my list someday but not yet...have to stay on the shortest rt. because of $$$ ..but I think this time I will stay off the interstate as much as possible ...and take advise about researching along the way...today it is so BEAUTIFUL...in Florida since the hot weather is gone..a perfect morning leading to a perfect day!!! doing some laundry and maybe more prep for trip...tomorrow I think me & Maggie will take a day trip...because more good weather is on the way...have fun filled day & B safe...donna

[JRKERMIT]

Good Morning everyone,
I am not sure where Donna is coming from to head north but being from TN both drives the Trace and The Smokies are nice. Not close to each other however so cannot do both. The Trace not as mountainous .
I am slowly gearing up for out first road trip in a couple of weeks. My daughter and I went yesterday and bought some non tangle free tie downs for the dogs, the Next Exit book and Good Sam's guide., got some maps from AAA and bought a Atlas roadmap book. We really will not need the Atlas but went ahead and got it for the future. My daughter kept want to buy gadgetsfor the rv and kept saying no even though they were cool I wanna wait and see what we really need or want for later .We have decided to leave a day early and stop about halfway down so we do not feel rushed to get there. Since it is our first trip of any distance we wanna go slow and easy.
Have a good day all have stuff to get done so better sign off for the day.

[gingerK]

Good morning all!

Sue, I've used that Flex seal stuff. Don't bother.

Donna, I believe the Maypole was a pagan religion celebration, possibly the Druids?

JR, I too, like having a hard copy of atlas on hand. Sometimes my gps just doesn't want to go the way I want to! (Although, the one time I ignored its directions, we got lost in downtown Gary, IN! So I guess I maybe should listen better to it, huh?)

DH came home the other day and said that a very nice show car we painted (in our garage, no less!) is for sale and he'd really like to buy it. I am willing to cash in one of the annuities my Mom left me to pay for it for him, he really deserves it-he works 7 days a week!

Got to run, busy day ahead. Big time subdivision garage sales down near Carrie's house and we always try to get there.

Take care,
Kathy

[bluepinecones]

Good morning.
A surprisingly cool start to May - temps have been below normal for past two weeks - but big warming trend starting this weekend and no rain for a change..
Still moving way too slow, frustrating how long it takes me to get things done. Even worse is having to hire someone to do some of the tasks I once did myself. At least I'm grateful I can afford to do that but it is discouraging how difficult it has become to find good, reliable help.
Enjoy your day

[havingfunnow]

We used to have a morris dance group in this area that met before daylight every May Day and danced in the dawn. I always took the kid to that, and let him get to school late after we had a huge breakfast. Some years there was snow or freezing rain and others years it was warm and lovely, but it was always wonderful! I'm so sorry they don't do it any more; I miss celebrating the May!

[Carolinagal]

Good Morning !!! Moving slow here too, Sarah. No deadlines, so I'm not pushing it. I have picked up a cold (I think), thought at first was all this dust and allergies but changing my mind now. Whatever it is, have been miserable for past couple of days. Invited to a wedding of oldest son of neighbors, tomorrow afternoon but doubt I will be able to go. This cough I have is not good and certainly would not want to pass anything on to the elderly(haha) people that will be there. I still think elderly, and until I have written it or said it, totally forget that I am one of them hahahaha.

I'm still waiting on guy to come and get my mower going, he was here and said he would bring a battery back and I'm still waiting and its been way over a week. Not feeling well, its ok, and its been raining, but rain is supposed to be gone and I'd like mower going for next week. Hoping he gets here tomorrow with it and clear some of the shrubbery away for me. Waiting is not my good point !!! He is a good worker though, and very busy always, so just hoping my turn comes soon.

I remember the flowers and the dancing around the Maypole. Oh my goodness that is a memory from wayyyyyy back. Fun day, not much school work, so really fun day outside.

Beautiful day outside, little windy, but I'm ready for some sunny days for a little while.

Take care and most of all whatever you're doing stay safe ,
CArol

[judi]

Happy May Day! It's cool here in Santa Barbara this morning but it feels good after a few hot days. Sounds like everyone is busy with chores, and I will be cleaning my RV today. SInce it's so small it takes me about 15 minutes! Much easier than a house! Since I rented out my house and have been traveling since last June, I'm not missing my house at all. I love this RV lifestyle - I feel so free!

Tomorrow we celebrate the first birthday of little baby Louie, who is named after my father who passed away two years ago at age 96. This baby is the cutest thing!



Everyone have a great day and enjoy being alive!

[gypsyrose1126]

Beautiful day in WI -- going shopping today for kayak paddle and life vest. Bought an inflatable kayak yesterday, should be delivered tomorrow !! yippee! can't wait. Kayaking tomorrow and Tuesday with the new kayak. Supposed to be sunny and in the 70's, Fun in WI!

[JudyJB]

Sue, I am heading north. I spent a couple of weeks in northern Georgia and am now in Tennessee at a COE campground called Defeated Creek. On Monday, I will head to Kentucky, so I am getting there, but not too fast.

I had mostly forgotten, but you reminded me of my childhood and making May baskets. We never danced around a May Pole, but we did make little woven baskets from construction paper and go into the woods to pick wildflowers (mostly violets that time of year) to put in them and give our mothers. We kids had lots of woods we could go to in our neighborhood.

Which reminds me even further how much "free-range" (the new term) we were. At about age 8 or 9, we would walk or ride our bikes to my grandmother's house about 6 blocks away. Just a couple of years older, we would ride almost two miles along a paved road and then on a dirt road to a farm my dad owned but where my grandparents lived. There was a big woods with a stream in the back we used to play in. We used to run to nearby stores on our bikes when our mothers needed something or we had money for popsicles--a nickel, if I remember correctly.

In fact, my parents sent me along as a companion to my younger cousin when we went to Chicago. I was 12 and she was 11, and we rode the train from Detroit to Chicago all by ourselves. Her aunt and uncle met us at the station in Chicago. Great adventure, especially eating lunch in the dining car. This would have been in about 1955!

Wow, hadn't thought about those things in a long time.

[Acadianmom]

The local Catholic school celebrated May Day with the younger children 30 years ago. They have a May Festival the first weekend in May which is this weekend. I haven't been in a few years because I hate going anywhere there are parking problems. I see that they have expanded the parking areas so I might stop by. They use to have a booth selling plants and a room with donated things. One year I bought a framed oil painting of a swamp scene for $15. I'm sure the framing is worth more than the painting but it's my favorite picture.

Donna, I'm about the worst for making reservations. I never know what time I will get on the road or how many stops I will make. I use to drive until almost dark and then worry about where I would stay. Now I start looking for something about 3:00. I haven't stayed at Walmart yet. I have paid more than I liked because a KOA was all I could find. They seem to have the best signs so you can find them. Most of my trips are to get to a certain destination in the shortest amount of time so I can't just take my time and enjoy the trip.

JRKERMIT, it's a good idea to wait and see what you actually need in the way of gadgets. I still have a container with rv stuff I bought over the years and never used. One thing I bought years ago are ice trays that are a bottle to keep the water contained while it freezes. I haven't looked for them but if I ever run into any I would buy more. I also carry a 12 volt air compressor for a truck. The ones for trucks have a longer cord. You have to pay for air at most gas stations and half the time the machines don't work or you can't get to them in an RV.

Judy, my sister and brothers and I were free-range kids too. Now days they want to take your kids away if you let them walk alone. Some places have gone crazy. I know of parents that were reported for child abuse and the state did nothing. Other places they want to arrest parents for the stupidest reasons. My grandparents had about 100 acres of woods. It was all fenced in so we knew if we stayed inside the fence we wouldn't get lost. One of the neighbors had a dog that hated snakes because he had been bitten one time. We would go get him and grandpa's dog and to the woods we would go. One of our cousins came one time and she wanted to get lost in the woods. We took her hiking all around but we never could get lost.

Yesterday there was some reason I wanted to go to town today. It must not have been very important because I don't remember why I wanted to go.

Martha

[Rufflesgurl]

Beautiful May 1st here in CA. Love this sunshine.
I guess we were "free-range" kids also. After chores, we were off to friends, ride our bikes or whatever. AT dinner time, my mother would go out on the front porch and yell each of our names to let us know it was dinner time. Guess that was the "cell phone" of that time?? Of course, we lived in a small country area. We also took the school bus to school - even high school. Now, my grandkids live 4 blocks from school but every kid is driven to school and picked up and signed in/out by their mother's, grandmas, etc. The very few kids walking to school are accompanied by an adult. Times have changed.

Linda

[MelissaD]

I was a "free range kid" we went miles around our home (Saugerties, NY). There was a woods at the end of our lane (six houses on the lane, google shows a 7th now) which lead back to the Esopus Creek which is a bit of a misnomer since it was dammed for the ole paper mill in town the creek was 250' wide near our house. We would collect fossils along the banks, swim (skinny dip), fish, cross country ski on it in the winter and sometimes the not so bright, would run cars up and down the creek in the winter. We could follow trails through the woods along the creek all the way to town. All without the tether of a cell phone.

Got me thinking about May Day in elementary school.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/top ... 12/May-Day

http://www.npr.org/blogs/npr-history-de ... basket-day

What I did not realize about the day, International Workers' Day http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/h ... of-may-day

[JudyJB]

One of my sons has to walk the 10 year-old boy who lives across the street and down two houses home after he visits! And my grandkids cannot ride bikes in the roads in front of their houses without someone being outside to watch them.

I also was thinking about all the things we did that our parents never knew of, like going down the road to a field to pick wild strawberries. You had to climb the fence and make sure the bull was on the far end because he would come chasing after you if he saw you! We did a lot of tree climbing and digging and making various forts in the woods--all dangerous activities, no doubt. We also had "wars" with other kids and threw rocks and did all sorts of nasty things, but that was part of running in a neighborhood. Our parents sent us out in the morning and did not want us back except for meals! (They claimed to be cleaning and did not want us to get the house dirty.)

How sad that this generation is missing out of all of this. Sort of like being prisoners because they are watched by their parents every minute.