Nous sommes le dernier jour de mai. Officiellement ou officieusement le dernier jour du printemps. Dans les faits, ice, nous sommes en été: il fait (trop) chaud et tout le monde est en mode estival. Je ne suis pas fan de ce genre de mois de mai. En même temps, je crains les mois qui s'en viennent. Ils risquent d'être pire. Et vous, votre mois de mai? Comment est-il/était-il?
C'est le mois de mai, c'est donc le mois des éphémères, un joli nom pour un insecte aussi laid que détestable. Les Anglais les appellent "mayflies"et c'est bien meilleur comme nom. Il y en a partout en ville, surtout dans les parcs où il y a de la verdure. Des légions volantes d'éphémères. Sont vraiment dégueulasses et on n'arrive pas à s'en débarrasser. J'espère que leur présence sera éphémère (ha, ha ha! calembour atroce) et ne durera pas au delà du mois de mai.
I blogged last Thursday about the stormy weather we had then: wind, rain, hail, and finally some thunder in the afternoon, followed by heavy showers. Well, they are forecasting more storms today. I am actually really happy about it, as I love storms. May is not particularly a month for storms, it's a tad early for stormy weather, but like I said I don't mind. I hope it's a proper thunderstorm, with plenty of lightning... And I hope I will be inside and dry when it happens. If it happens. Because it wouldn't be the first time a storm is forecast and doesn't happen. Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I looked at the back garden a few hours ago, and it is very much looking like a mess. It has lots of weeds and the grass is way too long. So it is time for me to put on the straw hat of gentleman gardener for a few hours, or at least a few minutes, and do some gardening. No, I will not mow the lawn, because No Mow May. Let's help the bees to pollinate the planet. And there are dandelions that look kind of cute too. But I will use my secator and do a bit of trimming here and there. Talking of secator, mine is getting old and rusty, so I think I will have to buy a new one. One in about ten years, I think it's okay.
C'est aujourd'hui la Journée nationale des patriotes,enfin c'est le cas au Québec. Un lundi de congé férié pour mes lecteurs du Québec, gang de chanceux. Bon, je dis ça, mais je ne me plaindrai pas: nous avons deux lundis fériés au mois de mai ici. Enfin bref, j'ai célébré la Journée une seule fois pour vrai, ce sera sans doute pour un autre billet, outre cela je la considère surtout comme une répétition de la Fête nationale, à environ un mois d'intervalle.
Every year in May, we have a fayre held in the biggest park of our little town. It's on Saturday, usually the last Saturday of May. But this year, we have nothing. For some reason, it stopped. No explanation has been given, as far as I know. My wife and I checked on social media, in the local news, nothing has been said about this cancellation. They just haven't advertised it this year. I was already seriously down that the autumn fair has been cancelled this year (and maybe permanently), this is getting worse, adding salt to the wounds. It's just really depressing how special events I look forward to all year just disappear.
So far this year, the month of May has been, well, weird. Weather-wise, it has been downright schizophrenic, worse than April. It has been hot last week, but suddenly temperatures dropped dramatically. Like, beneath 15 degrees Celsius.And stranger than this: we've had our proper thunderstorm(s) yesterday. Usually, storms happen when it is hot and humid. In the morning, around 11:00, we started having rain, wind, and finally hail, then it got sunny again. Not warm, but sunny. As we were waiting for Wolfie to get out of school, we suddenly heard thunder. It then started pouring down. It was surreal. But I'm not complaining: I far prefer this to warm weather. I find it way more comfortable. And it's very atmospheric.
We are having a very strange month of May these days: while it started hot, borderline summery, temperatures have suddenly dropped dramatically. So today and from what I can understand the rest of the week, it will be around 15 degrees Celsius, sometimes even lower. I had to put on my warm jumpers today and will do the same tomorrow. If it wasn't for the trees being green and the flowers in bloom, one would believe that we are in autumn. It feels like autumn anyway. I'm glad, as I don't like the heat and I love autumn (as you probably know if you have been following this blog for a while). I am worried things might change soon enough, so I make the best of the here and now.
Un détail que j'avais presque oublié pour aujourd'hui, mais que mon employeur m'a rappelé hier: c'est la Fête du Travail en France. Ce qui veut dire que c'est un congé férié, ce qui veut dire que j'ai été en congé, même si ce n'est pas un congé férié ici. J'ai donc une fin de smeaine de quatre jours, puisque le premier lundi de mai est un lundi de congé en Angleterre. Comme je suis à contrat et à temps partiel, le congé d'aujourd'hui ne fait pas vraiment mon affaire: je ne suis pas payé pour les jours de congé. Mais bon, on ne boudera pas son plaisir, ça fait une longue fin de semaine et ça fait plaisir d'être en congé un vendredi. Et puis, c'est pas comme si je suis au chômage.
Today is the last day of May, in case you didn't notice. How was it for you? Here, it has been a bipolar month: it went from cold to hot to cold. Almost more like April than May. Sometimes May is summery, like a rehearsal of summertime, this was the case yesterday and the day before, but two weeks ago, it was properly, unexpectedly and surprisingly autumn cold. Which, as you most likely know (if you have been following this blog a bit), doesn't bother me in the least. All in all, it has been bearable, which is more than I usually get in May. I hope the coming months will be similar, with bearable temperatures and not too hot. So that was my May anyway.
Well, what do you know. It turns out, May can sometimes be as treacherous and unreliable as March or April. If it wasn't for the greenery, one would think we're in autumn: it's been cold and rainy for the last few days. This should change in the next few days, but it has been really cold. And, as you probably guessed, I am not complaining. I find rain particularly relaxing and I don't mind staying indoors and just being comfy. I recently read an article about how the bad weather affected people negatively, people feeling bluesy because it was so wet. Sometimes I feel like I come from another planet: I feel theexact opposite. Am I the only one?
I almost forgotten it: today is Cate Blanchett's birthday. I will spare you a long post, just watch this clip from Elizabeth. Don't you dare tell me she wasn't robbed from an oscar that year.
I know we are meant to be at the peak of springtime, and May is generally fairly warm, if not hot. But these days, surprisingly, after a really hot end of April, it has been a very cold month of May. As in I am wearing thick jumpers and I could even get my old winter coat out and I would be comfortable. These days, May feels like a cool September or October, or at least like these months used to be when I was younger. I do not complain, on the contrary: I love colder weather and I love autumn. So if I ignore the trees full of green leaves, I can almost imagine myself during my favourite season.
Now we are two days into the month of may, and I haven't seen any maypole yet anywhere. You may remember (you may, ha, ha, ha, that is one bad pun) that I have been looking for them since at least 2016. Because I am interested in folklore and I love when old traditions are still in practice. But sadly, they are nowhere to be seen, except in books about folklore and traditions. So like every year, I will keep looking for maypoles, hopefully I can find one nearby, take afew snapshots and share it on the this blog. If you live in England and know of a place where they display maypoles, especially if it is in the South, round Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, please let me know in the comments section.
