May Day

How to stitch together two scans in Gimp, the photoshop alternative I have on my laptop. 3-2-1- go! The youtube video was short, informative and done in under a minute, I watched it 3 times, I tried 7 times, I switched to the equally brief, informative minute long tutorial on changing a watercolor into a vector, simple, press here, upload there, and then a series of clicks and you are ready to go. I clicked, I uploaded, I pressed here and there... A lot happened, none of it planned, none of it like the video, none of it good. MAYDAY, MAYDAY...

Today, the first of May, Labor Day or May Day, is a holiday not only here in Austria but in a number of the surrounding countries as well. A day for the worker to rest, it is observed more or less seriously depending partially on political leaning as well as geographical location. Those in the countryside tending, in overall, to do more of the traditional things than those in more urban areas.

Our town center hosted a gathering comprised of tents, a stage with live music, and roasted chicken at the foot of this year's May tree (Maibaum). The long bier tables filled with people, and the music blasted from said stage at ear-shattering volumes. Up the street, a small band of people had organized themselves into a protest of sorts and were carrying signs and using megaphones neither visible nor audible from the peaceful bubble of the pulsating waves of sound radiating out from the center of the square.

Juxtapose this with our own private may tree raising which takes place in the countryside about 45 minutes from here. A group of about 20-30 people meets at the ancient home of one of my husband's colleagues, and removing a slim tree from his woods, they proceed to strip the bark and make a hanging wreath. Everyone plays a part and although our efforts with the long notched sticks are not at the top of the ladder result-wise, we are always immensely proud of ourselves when the tree is standing and the children are slowly sliding down as they try desperately to inch their way toward the 'presents' hanging from the wreath. The embarrassing lack of ability displayed in the adults in our small group means that the same bottle of wine has been rehung on subsequent trees over the past several years. It is a token, and each year climbers are promised a magnificent bottle from the cellar should they make it. The magnificent bottles stay safely deposited in the cellar, awaiting the day when a new colleague will join the group and clean up. We usually eat sausages and pretzels afterward, beer, mineral water, and juice served throughout and there is cake as well, if anyone remembers to bring one.

Life being the busy event that it is, we always put up the tree, not on the first, but rather on the weekend closest to it. This year won't be any different. Our trees are always simple but the trees set up in towns are beautiful pieces of art.

Although the bark is almost completely stripped off to create a (non-) climbable surface, rings of it are left fairly low down. These pieces of bark are intricately carved by a local carver. They often include the year, a saying, the name of the town or location and pictures associated with traditional life; a dancing couple, food (pretzels pumpkins, apples, etc...), local animals (a pig for example or bird), flowers (Enzian or Edelweiss) and patterns (such as diamonds). the pieces of bark which have been lifted out leave the exposed whiteness which provides a beautiful contrast to the deep brown of the bark.