![File:Lily - of - the - Valley-Flower Children-0020-6.png|Lily - of - the - Valley-Flower Children-0020-6]]](https://pofproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Lily_-_of_-_the_-_Valley-Flower_Children-0020-6-144x300.png)
The Merry, Merry Month of May. Finally. Although I don’t dare put my snow shovel away yet; it is New England after all.
I wondered why we say “the merry, merry month of May,” so I turned to Google, of course. I got 2 answers, of course. One said that the “Merry Month of May”‘ was a poem written by Thomas Dekker as part of his play, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, first performed in 1599. OK. The second said that it was from a song written by Ed Haley and published in 1884 “While Strolling Through the Park One Day… in the merry merry month of May.” Be that as it, ahem, May, you can read all about both stories on Wikipedia and find some interesting anecdotes. (What did we do before Google and Wikipedia?)
The flower symbolizing the month of May is the Lily of the Valley. These flowers are usually white. When I was working in the area, I often walked the Bedford Bike Trails during my lunch breaks. This time of year, there were millions of pink lilies of the valley lining the walkways. They were on the Lexington side of the Bike Trail, toward I95. Gorgeous. But they didn’t smell as heavenly as the white Lily of the Valley.
Here are some interesting things happening during the merry, merry month of May:
Saturday, May 4, Fourth Annual POFP Plant Sale will be held, rain or shine, at the Tewksbury Senior Center, 175 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, from 9 AM to 1 PM. There you will find a vast array of colorful, healthy, happy annuals from Dargoonian Farms; hanging planters filled with a single variety of plants: geraniums, petunias, New Guinea Impatiens; there are also hanging planters that are filled with spectacular combinations of plants to create a profusion of color and plant material; and perennials dug from our Volunteers own gardens. We’ll also be raffling off some wonderful garden-themed goodies; and there’s a Whimsy Table with garden/flower items for sale sure to tickle the fancy of every gardener or flower lover. National Sharpening Company of North Andover will again be available to sharpen scissors, garden tools, and other implements at a reasonable fee.
National Teacher’s Week runs from Monday, May 6 through Friday, May 10, 2019, with National Teacher Appreciation Day set on Tuesday, May 7. If you can read this blog, thank a teacher. “Thank you, Miss Marston.” Yes, I still remember the teacher who taught me to read. National Teacher’s Week is a time for students, their parents, and school administrators to show their appreciation for the long hours and hard work teachers put in. It’s a time to recognize the lasting contribution teachers make to the lives of their students and to society. Many students prepare thank you gifts and notes of gratitude to celebrate their teachers’ contributions. So get out your crayons and Snoopy scissors; show teachers you are thankful for their efforts.
May 15, Container Garden Workshop will be held at Chelmsford Weston Nursery, 160 Pine Hill Rd, Chelmsford MA from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Joyce Bellefuille, POFP founder and talented floral designer will provide expert guidance to help you create a garden in your own container. POFP will provide soil, plants, light refreshments, and know-how. Bring your own 12″ container or buy one at the Chelmsford Weston Nursery. Space is limited, so register today.
On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She left Newfoundland and 15 hours later arrived in Londonderry, Ireland. This was exactly 5 years to the day after Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. What a remarkable accomplishment for a woman in that time period, and what a remarkable woman. For this incredible feat, she was was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross by the U.S. Congress on July 29, 1932. She was the first woman to receive this honor.
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.
![Official Navy Page from United States of AmericaMass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Aaron Chase/U.S. Navy [Public domain]](https://pofproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sailors_lower_the_American_flag.-199x300.jpg)
May 27, 2019, is Memorial Day in the U.S., It is the day when we honor those incredibly brave individuals who gave their lives for our Country. “It is the land of the free, because of the brave.” Formerly known as Decoration Day, it was the custom to clean cemetaries and to decorate graves. Not just for people in the military who sacrificed all, it was also a day for honoring ancestors. When I was a little girl, my parents would make the rounds of the cemeteries, weeding, and planting red and white geraniums and little blue flowers on the graves of their parents, grandparents, and various family members who had passed. It was so much more than barbeques, car sales, and the official start of summer. It was a day for remembrance and honor. It still is a day for proudly flying the American flag, however. And parades. And laying wreaths on monuments. Whatever else you do on memorial day, spend a moment thinking about those fought to keep our country safe and free.
However you spend this delightful month, enjoy the abundance of wonderful flowers that bloom and be merry, merry and defeat any paper tigers that get in your way!
