I thought I would share a long-forgotten holiday with you which is one of our Homeschool Resource: May Basket. Charlie and I will be creating the baskets in our Art Class then going on a Field Trip to our local Nursery to purchase Flowers for the baskets as well as Walmart to pick up small treats for the neighbors. Would you want to go with us?
May brings good tidings and sweet little gifts for loved ones. School comes to an end. Neighbors are outside in the yard and may share flowers from their gardens with each other. Dreary days of Winter has passed. Everyone is thankful for Spring. I would like to ask you to come join us as we bring back May Baskets.
A Brief History of May Baskets
May baskets were used to commemorate the turn of chilly and rainy months into warmer and happier times. The tradition dates back to pagan rituals in the 12th and 13th centuries in Germany. Records even place May Day as far back as revelry around Flora, the goddess of flowers, in ancient Rome. Regardless of when May Day began, flowers have remained a symbol of the Spring celebration.
The popularity of May Day grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The traditional gift was a small basket, often handmade, with flowers and trinkets or homemade treats, hung on the front door handle of homes around you. This would be a wonderful way to meet your neighbors and make new friends.
At one time, it was also common for boys to leave a May basket on the door of the girl a gentleman was smitten with and then run away. If the recipient opened the door to see her admirer running away, she could chase him down and give him a little kiss. Before you ask if this is something Charlie would be interested in. No, way no how he says.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
