Welcome to the merry month of May, one of the loveliest months of the year. We can hang up our snow shovels for at least five months, or so we hope. The month of May is predicted to be a little warmer than usual with an average amount of rainfall.

I wonder how many of our readers remember the big snowstorm we had on May 12, 1945. I also remember having a snow squall in late September one year.

Let’s go back to May Day. In Europe, May Day is celebrated as the first day of spring. I think we all agree that the fifth month of the year is a lovely month.

It is also a busy time. Most of us have yard work to do such as raking, if you haven’t finished the raking already. I have several limbs that blew off during the winter.

We all know that one of the big important days that come up in mid May is Mother’s Day. As we all know, this is a day for children of all ages to honor their mothers and what they are. This is a wonderful thing to do.

I don’t want to discount the idea in any way. However, as I was thinking about Mother’s Day I recalled an incident from my own childhood. I said to my mother “When we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day I take money from my allowance and buy you a gift but on Children’s Day, all we do is put on a program at church. How come we don’t get gifts?”

As I think about it years later I realize that children contribute a lot to enrich our lives. I am not a lover of the so-called “Good Old Days”. Children and young people have new ideas and give us a new outlook on life.

If gardening is on your summer agenda, early May is a great time to prepare your garden spot and buy the seeds and fertilizer that you think you will be needing and locate the garden tools that have been stored away all winter. Some people find it helpful to make a garden plan of how many rows there will be in the garden and what they plan to plant in each hole. I have heard it said that it is wise to plant taller crops such as corn to the north so they won’t shade shorter growing crops.

The FSNA will be selling artificial cemetery flower arrangements at the meetinghouse on May 16 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. If anyone has flowers that you would care to donate, please call Cindy Kemble at 778-3808.

We say Happy Birthday to all those who are celebrating during the month of May and Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who are helping the children and young people of today prepare to be the leaders of our country and our world tomorrow.