May Day
The May Day association with labor is all American, and just as controversial as everything of any consequence in history. The day is tied to a strike for the eight-hour day and the so-called “Haymarket Riot” of 1886. When it comes to “riots” and the Chicago police are involved, you are not going to find a single truth.
As May 1st falls at the mid point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice it marks the beginning of summer for many people and is celebrated by Teutonic cultures [on the eve] as Walpurgisnacht [in German], and among the Gaelic peoples as Beltane.
The dynamic duo that mucked up the Pledge of Allegiance, Dwight Eisenhower and his Republican Congress, made May 1st both Law Day and Loyalty Day so those Commie working people wouldn’t get any ideas about having rights.
The real significance was that it is unlikely there was going to be another freeze and it is probably safe to start planting crops, so a fertility festival is in order. This is to ensure a good crop, not to get together and have a good time before getting to the backbreaking work of farming, really.
This is the anniversary of Mission Accomplished, the Shrubbery’s prance across the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the most expensive photo ops in American political history
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…well, clearly it must be the beginning of summer, ’cause for the first time this week here in south-central Orygun we’re experiencing a rain/snow mix instead of straight snow and the highway wasn’t a sheet of ice at 0630. I haven’t settled yet on where I’m going to retire, but I do know where I’m not going to retire…
It was the “slush season” that I really disliked in upstate New York. You never knew what kind of outerwear was going to be needed, so you stored in in the trunk of your car, so it was available. Snow tires spent more time on the car than regular tires.
Even with the clothing and equipment, real winters wear you down, although it wouldn’t be so bad if you could just stay home.
I’ve said before, and I say again… The weather is insane. 🙂 We went from the hottest Feb on record to the coldest April in over 50 years and a few days ago it got to 1C with severe frost. The Alpine ski resorts are open this weekend with over a foot of snow on some, which I don’t remember happening in April. Last year, they were worried in June they wouldn’t have any snow all winter! We’ve also had out 3rd small earthquake this year. The geo scientists and now theorizing that the small quakes all over the world are caused by the Earth settling after some serious quakes last year, and they have a minor worry that it might possibly destabalise the axis (tilt it) a little, but they are not sure of this yet. Hmmm.
Sounds like the Earth has had enough of the parasites and wants us off, like shaking fleas from a dog. 😉
All of our records for highs and lows have come in the last 10 years. The same for rainfall. It’s hard to plan ahead when you can’t figure out what the weather will be like.
Some of it is better and more accurate record keeping, but my utility bills don’t lie. It isn’t that hard to see the switch from heating to air conditioning, and the period between the two is getting a lot shorter.