One year, when I was younger than six, either Mom or Grandma and I made a May Basket, I took it to the neighbors and hung it on their doorknob.
Our May Basket was a little holder made of colored paper and filled with flowers. The idea is to sneak over to your neighbor's and anonymously hang it on their doorknob.
That reminds me of Aloha and the lady on the beach in Hawaii who told me that Aloha is a way of life. It means to do good without expecting anything in return. (Aloha also means Hello, Goodbye, and I love you.)
I don't know where the May Basket tradition in my family came from, and I don't remember who instigated it, but I thought of it this morning when I realized it is May 5 and thought it was May Day. However, I got my holidays confused, for May Day is May 1, while today is May 5, the Cinco De Mayo—Mexico's Independence Day, and for us Margareta Day. Hey, happy to celebrate a country's independence. We used to celebrate it in San Diego, and I would rather miss hearing a Mariachi band play Cielito Lindo, Mexico's folk waltz song. (See below for the translation and to listen to it played.)
This morning, I wondered what and if I should write. I usually post a blog on Tuesday and I will be busy tomorrow.
My uppermost thought this morning was what happened to us as people. Has entropy settled in? Is it me? Is it prevalent that many people seem not to care? Do you?
I felt that all our hard-fought-for rights are being stripped away, and somehow we are allowing it to happen. And why are people so concerned with how people are—black or white or yellow or red, gay, straight, bisexual, transsexual, Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, and want to legislate it somehow? Do we really want everyone to be the same? So, see, I wasn't on the best end of the happiness scale.
Then I thought of the May flowers and called my daughter to ask about the day of their wedding anniversary. I knew it was in May when the wild Iris' are in bloom. I looked out into the gorgeous spring day, and I thought of the fun and the Margaritas my best friend and I would order at the exquisite Bizarre De Mundo in San Diego, and remembering those salt-rimmed glasses makes my mouth water even now.
My friend would order a fishbowl-sized Margareta as I was the designated driver. Her little boy and my two girls would run around within the confines of the courtyard, and we would send them to the toy store with enough money to purchase a tiny figurine they could add to their collections. My friend and I would talk for so long we would be clear-headed by the time we left, and on the Cinco De Mayo there would be a celebration with a spread of hors d' oeuvres in the court yard, and a mariachi band would play, among other songs, Cielito Lindo.
The rousing refrain is:
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
Cielito lindo, los corazones.
"Woe, woe, woe, woe,
Sing and don't cry,
Because singing, darling,
Lifts our hearts."
To Listen:
Cielito Lindo (Sweet Belle, Oh Heavenly One, Pretty Darling, Lovely Sweet One)
One person described the song as a celebration of love, life, and the human spirit.
(The translation is more like from a lover to a loved one.—but then romance lifts our hearts.)
Through dark tresses, heavenly one,
a pair of deep brown eyes,
lower as they approach,
a stolen glance.
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
sing and don't cry,
heavenly one, for singing
gladdens he...
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/cielito-lindo-heavenly-one.html
