No, not a distress call.
May Day was celebrated here on Tuesday. It is known as Labor Day, but the celebration goes beyond a day off of work. It is also a mating ritual. Here are the basics:
1) At the stroke of midnight, fireworks are ignited and techno music is blared. Tractors loaded with male teenagers start rolling through the streets and countryside. It is likely that beer is involved.
2) Young men cruise the streets proclaiming their love to the girl of their dreams. To do so the house must be decorated in some way. The homemade low-budget option is to chop down a birch tree and adorn it with streamers.
3) Those with a little more cash visit a local florist and get custom-made decor to hang on the home of their sweetheart. These are also made of crepe paper and are usually personalized with an initial. Those who are a little more mischieveous may do some pranks – the usual teenage stuff like eggs, toilet paper – but we didn’t see any of that, thankfully.
4) Some villages will put up a maypole. We did not see any dancing.
5) Since it is a holiday most stores and businesses are closed. Our kids had school but the base was closed so Jeremy and I took advantage of the free babysitting.
gretchengorline
Gretchen,
This post made me smile overall, but especially the last line. In LR was the first time John and I got to enjoy free babysitting on those holidays the schools did not recognize. Looking forward to more of those next year! I enjoy your posts and I’m glad to see your family getting out and taking advantage of your current home. Linda