Does anyone else remember delivering baskets of flowers to your neighbors on May Day? You'd ring the doorbell, leave the flowers on the front door, and run away. In school we made paper baskets with handles long enough to slip over doorknobs and flowers on pipe cleaner stems to put in them. We giggled all the home, thinking how much fun it would be to surprise someone with our present.I can't say that I saturated my neighborhood with May Day baskets today, but I did "gift" one of the people down the street with a ding-dong-and-dash when I left a May Day arrangement on their front porch.
No one is home on my street during the day, so I had to wait until late in the afternoon to do my good deed. When I saw a garage door open on the other side of the street, I cut an iris from the back yard, wrapped it in a damp paper towel, and attached a card that said "Happy May Day". I took off the flip-flops I was wearing (so I could run faster) and snuck across the street toward my target. The house had one car in the garage and another on the street, so I was afraid someone might see me before I got there.
When I reached the front porch, I put the flower on the door threshold so it couldn't be missed, rang the doorbell, and ran away as fast as I could. I tried to go somewhere where I could see the reaction to my gift, but I couldn't get a good view and still be hidden from sight. I do believe I saw a puzzled smile on the woman as she closed the door, though.
Oh my gosh, what a wonderful idea. That must have been back when neighbors knew each other. It's kind of scary now - no one really knows anyone else and it's almost completely deserted during the day.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the Maypole, though!
I've never heard of this, but it sounds fun! Maybe next year...
ReplyDeleteBut, agreed - we don't know any of our neighbours. And people rarely answer a doorbell ring unless they are expecting someone [I know I don't].
What a fun idea! I'm putting it on the calendar for next year!
ReplyDelete