Oh me of little faith....

For the past six years we have been having a big May Day celebration over at our friend Terra's house.  People come in droves to dance around the May Pole and to feast on yummy pot luck offerings.  We are always happy to see people who we haven't seen since last year's May Pole.  And no matter what the weather leading up to that day, on the day of the celebration the sun comes out and it's warm.

This year the weather has been worse than usual.  We had lots of snow on Thursday, and the weather report was calling for more.  Friday was bad, Saturday we had rain and hail.  Even Sunday, the day of the party, was dark and gloomy; it rained off and on.  Terra kept saying, "Oh don't worry!  It will be fine!"  I didn't believe her, but I baked the cupcakes anyway, and took pictures of them in the dark.

Sure enough, we got there yesterday afternoon, and as people started gathering, the clouds blew away and the sun came out!  I have to learn to listen to Terra!

Years ago, I met another woman at the May Day celebration.  She was someone who I knew could be a good friend.  You know how sometimes you just know?  Well, we talked on the phone a couple times, ran into each other at events around town.  We made tentative plans to get together, but didn't follow through very well.  The last time I spoke to her was on the phone, she had just came from the doctor and was distraught, no that's not a strong enough word, traumatized, at having been told that a lump had been discovered in her breast.  She told me how she had lost her mom and other family members to breast cancer.

That was the last time I ever spoke to her.  I tried calling but the phone was disconnected.  Emails bounced.  And then last night, I was just standing there watching the people and suddenly she was standing right in front of me!  It was all I could do not to look at her chest.  I've never wanted to look at a pair of boobs so bad in my life.  It was the strangest experience to have her appear like that.  Just like the sun that I didn't expect to see.  Truthfully, I was sure that she was gone.

We caught up on the last few years; I reminded her of our last conversation.  She told me about her experience having the lump removed and being cancer free now.  We both laughed at me trying to check out her boobs.

It turned out to be a really good May Day celebration, and I've learned that it's time to start having a little more faith - in the sun, my friends, and in life.

I really wanted to put May Baskets on all your front doors.  Since that wasn't possible, here is a May Day cupcake for you.  You can pull it off to your computer and print it out. (Edit: click on the image and it will take you to the For Shared site where you can download the original size.  It's also much brighter and in focus than this!)  Maybe you might want to use it as a hello card to a friend you haven't talked to in a long while.