BHK and I might do something special for May Day.
What shall we do? Maybe a walk on the beach and just a nice personal time to celebrate the spring is in order. A little maypole dancing might be nice, too. đ
Breakthrough! Newton and Pye can share!
I feel a little like a happy zombie.
via bhk – http://www.chimneycleaners.com/
So far I think this has to be the BEST site that has come up in your yahoo ads on the cam page. It has entertaining yet badly acted video and LOOK a SWEEP that likes Harley Davidson AND VA TECH WOW! HAHAHHA
Reprinted from last year
We’re directly opposite of Halloween at this point. The season started with Candlemas / Groundhog’s Day has come to an end.
May 1 marks the final victory of Spring over Winter, but before departing, the witches and their cohorts have one last fling. The night from April 30 to May 1 is called “Walpurgisnacht”, the night of Walpurgis or Walpurga. The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. Legend has it that on Walpurgisnacht the witches would gather on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. Because of the Walpurgisnacht scene in Goethe’s Faust, in which Mephistopheles takes Faust to the Brocken and has him revel with the witches, the witches gathering became widely known.
Under Christian influence Walpurgisnacht became a fest to drive out evil spirits. Walpurgis derives its name from Walpurga or Walburga. Walburga, Abbess of Heidenheim near Eichstätt, a Catholic Saint, was known as the protectoress against witchcraft and sorcery. On the Eve of May 1, bells may toll in some areas and prayers may be said; there may be blessings with holy-water and blessed sprigs can be found in homes and barns. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. As soon as the sun sets, boys of all ages may make noise. Their equipment ranges from boards to beat onto the ground to pistols for firing shots.
In Bavaria the night from April 30 to May 1 is called a Freinacht or Drudennacht. For youth it is an opportunity to play tricks. They may stroll in groups through the streets and wind toilet-paper around cars, smear door-handles with tooth-paste, unhinge garden doors and carry them a few meters away, and they may displace shoe scrapers. It is said that at one time boys took a sparred-frame cart to pieces and reassembled it on the roof of the house of the owner.
May 1st marks the victory of Spring over Winter, but before departing the Hexen have one last fling and make an attempt to assert their power on Walpurgisnacht. This Hexennacht is the best known in the seasonal cycle. The roots for this fest extend back to a pre-Christian FrĂźhjahrsfest, which was perhaps celebrated in an even more rowdy fashion, as the Valborgs maessafton is still celebrated today in Sweden, Thueringen and elsewhere. Under Christian influence it was probably transformed into a fest to drive out the Hexen. The festival became widely known outside Germany due to Goethe’s use of this theme in Faust.
The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. On the eve of May 1st the bells toll in Luxembourg and many prayers are said, there are blessings with holy-water and blessed-palms in the homes and barns. In Schmalkalden in Thueringen the little girls, dressed as Hexen themselves, chase out the Walpermännchen. They wear paper hats and sometimes carry sticks in their hands. Similarly, in the south Harz region, the young boys ride stick-horses and chase the Hexen out of the fields. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. The boys begin making noise as soon as the sun sets. In Bohemia boards are beaten onto the ground in front of the houses, accompanied by this chant: “Hex geh raus, ‘s brennt dei Haus.” Whoever hears a pistol shot on that evening is supposed to say, “Schiess mei Hex a mit!” In Lippe the noise is referred to as “Maiklappen.” A lot of noise is especially made in front of the houses of married couples who are childless, because it is believed that it is necessary to “further the blessings.” In the Berner Jura the shepherd boys, on the eve of May 1, stand atop the manure-piles and crack whips in order to drive away wolves. The wolf is the incarnation of evil, and symbolizes the departure of winter. The manure-pile symbolizes fertility of the fields and gardens, and therefore is often the locale where prayers are said. Farmers who don’t have as many cattle help each other out in the summer. They make a pledge-group, which takes this form in Donaueschingen: they go to a nearby chapel and pray, then they climb together onto a manure-pile, hold hands, and say “Mir (=wir) gmaren miteinand,” which means “we are helping each other to bring home hay and grain with our cattle.” [i.e. they are sharing each other’s manure-piles, which is sprayed onto the fields as fertilizer].
So, folks, there is a parable here — when we lapse into slinging mud at each other, we should look at it from a higher perspective — we are really fertilizing each other’s fields!
1 year ago – charmed and dr who, bob ross, 20% , houses and kitties, tummy ache, lennon quote, i like monkeys, may day,
2 years ago – family factoids, mail forwarding booboo, skipped air show, costcocremation urns, Classic Cheesy Comics, Minneapolis Beggars Guild?,Burrito Weapon
3 years ago – rough night on call, may day, Spanish channel family feud answers,budget assist, air and sea, Dan’s students put up a site, Newt-parrot,mum issue, memories, cam pics
4 years ago – There, mayday, top40 drop, ortho, on Workmans comp
5 years ago – free scoop, invaders, stuff meme
6 years ago – buck rogers, geography and climate, nightclub, trundle, lj-cut ponder, misc evil news, organ donor poll, wild party
Kiddo’s name is unlikely to be familiar to readers; however, he was the first cat â maybe the only one â to cross the Atlantic Ocean (well, almost) by airship. He was a grey tabby and belonged to one of the crew members of Walter Wellman’s airship America. Wellman (1858-1934) was an American explorer, aeronaut and journalist. In 1910 he and five companions attempted to cross the ocean, leaving from Atlantic City, New Jersey on 15 October that year. Kiddo is said to have stowed away in one of the lifeboats, and really did not enjoy his first experience of flying, mewing and howling and generally getting on the nerves of the first engineer, Melvin Vaniman. The America carried radio equipment â the first aircraft so equipped â and apparently the historic first, in-flight radio message, to a secretary back on land, read: ‘Roy, come and get this goddamn cat!’
