Workers' Holiday

Today is Sunday and it is the second day of a three day weekend. Monday is a national holiday - it's May Day. This is a workers' holiday and Britain has celebrated this as an official day off work only since 1978. I can actually remember when this became an official Bank Holiday and the general state of pleasure on the part of the Socialist Workers and Communist Party for the recognition of this workers' festival.

In New York public schools in the 1950's May Day was also marked as a special day.  We never had a day off school, but we did have celebrations, though I recognise now that these celebrations marked the pagan origins of May Day more than the International Workers Day. For many weeks before 1 May we would practice and rehearse our Maypole dance.  This involved dancing round a flagpole in a prescribed fashion whilst weaving ribbons round the pole.  I personally hated this.  I was not the most lithe and gainly of students.  I was a pudgy little girl with not terrific coordination.  I shone in art and english, but dance and athletics really tested me and I usually failed.  The agony of this public May festival dance and the possibility of mis-stepping and tangling ribbons was uppermost in my mind as a kid and I was always pleased when I was not chosen to be in the Maypole dance.

 Today I spent sleeping.  I mean professionally, completely sleeping.  Occasionally I have days where I just cannot wake up and today seemed to be a first class example.  My friends were here last night for dinner and I had two (!) glasses of wine, but nothing more in the way of intoxicating substances, unless you count massive plates of pavlova desert.  I fell asleep before midnight and slept till about 8.30 am.  I got up, wandered through the house for a bit and went back to bed.  At 10 am I woke again and had breakfast.  At noon I was back in bed again and slept for another hour.  I threw on some clothes and tried to take a walk with Ralph.  It rained so I turned around, came home and went back to bed till 3 pm.  I woke up had lunch and by 4.15 pm I was back in bed and slept for two hours more.  I've been awake now for four hours and am just about ready to go back to sleep.  Some days just turn into sleepathons.  How wonderful.

This truly is a workers' holiday weekend and I guess my body is taking full advantage of this. Obviously this means there is little of interest I feel like writing about today, I am just grateful that I don't have to dance around a stupid maypole. Maybe tomorrow.