Julie's Raintree

May Day & 'MAY DAY!!!!'

Blessings to all this first day of May from the Black Hills of South Dakota! Here, once again, is what it looks like on this coldish day.

This was upon opening the front door.

& these are around our yard! Although it's 'brrrr' cold, it will all be gone tomorrow because it will be in the fifties, but if not for the snowy white background we would have missed this.

My daughter caught this shy little bluebird on camera. It was a blessing because we rarely see bluebirds in this area & they are one of my favorite birds. Such a bright, burst of color on this wintry/springy morning.

So, warding off the cold, I put my tea kettle on & before long, it's singing up a (snow)storm! ⛄

Ahhh...so good & warming to my whole being. I had to add a little ambience with the rose.

When I was a girl, May Day was a very special day of surprises to give away. We would make our May baskets at school mostly with construction paper, then fill them with colorful flowers that were growing wild all around the neighborhood, usually tiny daisy-shaped dainty little treasures, or miniature wild plum colored pansies, sweet purple violets,

& the ever faithful...

...dandelion.
What mother hasn't received a precious bouquet of dandelions in her May basket, golden jewels of sunshine? I have many dried Dandelions that have turned to dust over the years that were given in such innocent & child-hearts of love. & were received with the same. & my Mother received many of those flowers in the May baskets that were made especially for her too. Remember the excitement of hanging the basket on the doorknob, knocking on the door & then racing to the corner of the house, peeking out just far enough to see her open the door & exclaim with happy surprise, "Oh what beautiful flowers! Now where in the world did they come from?!" & there you would be, hand over mouth to keep from giving yourself away, hidden in the corner, giggling with delight at your accomplished mystery mission. & how proud you were when your basket was the centerpiece at the dinner table that evening.
My own children made May baskets also, but extended their mystery missions to some of the elderly ladies in our neighborhood or our local Nursing Home. They never failed to delight & bless.

May Day is hardly recognized anymore by the giving of baskets of flowers made by little hands, but we can still celebrate the harbingers of the blossoming Spring, like,

but look more like this at our house,

or the heralding Meadowlark at the top of one of our

tall fir trees...

& of course, new life.

twin mule deer fawns we happened upon, so vulnerably sweet.

We rescued these bunnies when the mother was killed. My son is cupping it in his palm while his sister is making a bunny home-hutch for it.

re-purposing popsicle sticks!

Oh my gosh! Don't you just want to huggle these bunnylets to pieces?!

🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

& this sign of new life among my roses...

This is the same little rosebush that was annihilated last summer by a fierce hailstorm. It had bloomed so heartily & continuously & even joyfully, even more so than my other more expensive roses, & I delighted in it's happy little blooms each time I walked past it as if it willed me to notice it & take joy in its gifts of rosy gems. Then, the devastation of the ice barrage & it was stripped to nothing but bare stems. It broke my heart to see its frail nakedness, when I thought I heard a small voice say, "don't worry, I'm coming back. The storm took my leaves & blooms, but it couldn't get to my root." & believe it or not, within a few days, leaves began to grow again & a tiny bud appeared. By the end of the summer, the little rosebush was flourishing & 'outblooming' every other rose bush in the garden. It did come back! & in the words of Anne Shirley, "with a vengeance!" It has earned a name, so I call it 'Prevail'.

Prevail: "To prove superior in strength & power, to succeed, to win out."

This is the time of year when new life is fragile & at times helpless & so vulnerable, totally susceptible to raging storms or even death, when a different kind of 'May Day' is sent out. A distress call for deliverance! & the deliverers respond to the calls to rescue them from the storms, the predators, the life-stealers, to set them on firm, safe & solid ground. Jesus is in the deliverance business too. & every time we call out with a desperate 'MayDay!', our Great Deliverer is 'Jesus on the spot'! & then, as we "grow in grace & in the knowledge of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ" our 'roots' in Jesus become stronger & we also can prevail over every storm, spiritual predator & the life-stealers.

I remember once my grandson was hitting a helium balloon with a plastic baseball bat & no matter how many times he struck it down, that balloon always came back up. Always. That balloon prevailed. Thanks to the helium! & the Lord told me, "that's you, every time you get back up after the enemy strikes you down." Wow. Jesus, my own personal helium!

So, as I come to the end of this visit, here's a prayer that your

"MAY DAY" s !!!!!!!!!! are few but that your 'May Days' are filled with flowers, babies & new awakenings. & here's a May Day bouquet just for you!