MEMORIES OF MAY CROWNING

Let's see, what should I write about today?  It's April 20th, which means only 11 days until May.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should make something to hang on the other 49 unit doors for May Day.  The internet swarms with May basket craft ideas, 'specially Pinterest.  How on earth did we function before Pinterest?  

May was the month we Catholics crowned Mary.  It was called 'May Crowning,' and one year I was chosen to crown Mary.  This required me to wear a wedding dress and veil, no less.  I borrowed my cousin Colleen's big hoop-skirt bridal dress, and needed help getting up the ladder steps to put a wreath of flowers on Blessed Mother Mary's head.  Spring is connected to Nature's renewing itself, as Mary gave new life to the world when she had Baby Jesus.  It was in the late 1700s when the practice of crowning Mary in May was started in Rome, Italy.

Emerald, May's birthstone, carries the rich green color of Spring.  Emeralds are rare gemstones, mined in Colombia and Brazil in South America, Mid East Afghanistan and Zambia in southern Africa.  Emerald means "green" in Greek.    

Interestingly, May Day is both a distress call and a celebration of the arrival of spring.  Mayday is a call sign used by vessels, aircraft, or any carrier of people that is transmitted by a person when they are in grave danger.  It's a sign to listeners that immediate assistance is needed.  Pilots are told to repeat the word three times:  "mayday, mayday, mayday" to help radio operators distinguish the transmission from others.

The phrase SOS is another distress call.  It became known for "save our souls" and "save our ship."  Interestingly, SOS has a more modern meaning.  In today's slang, texters use SOS to say "I need you to call me with an excuse so I can leave this date."