Pack Creek Ranch, San Juan County, Utah
May mornings are warm enough to sit outside in the sunshine and rejoice in existence before getting on with the tasks of the day.
Yay May!
SMALL AND OBVIOUS
Wandering down in the labyrinth of memory, I find this nostalgic video:
A small boy in 5th grade – white shoes, trousers, and shirt, about to practice the Maypole dance – he doesn’t know why this is happening, like a lot of things he didn’t understand in 5th grade – but spending the morning outside instead of sitting inside in a classroom appealed to him.
He does recall making a mess of the dance the first time by getting his streamer all tangled up – screwing up was one of his skill sets at that age.
Now, as he moves into his 90th year, he understands that people have responded to the month of May since ancient times in many ways.
Pagan festivals with costumes, music, and dancing.
A great rising of the laboring classes.
Protest marches for human rights.
The occasions of celebration have varied, but the source of energy coincides with the energy of nature as more light calls forth living things to renewal.
As I slowly walked between my house and studio in the first light of morning today, I noticed small things that were not there yesterday:
Tiny white daisies that I did not plant.
Miniature sky-blue flowers whose names I do not know.
Ants streaming out of their winter burrows to forage.
Young rabbits scurrying away.
The fecal evidence of deer on the move.
And, of course, the first dandelions.
All small and obvious evidence of invincible ongoing life – nature’s dance.
And once again, I felt the same sense of energy and renewal and desire to join in the celebration.
I understand now what I did not know in 5th grade.
I felt like dancing.