Dear Reader:

Today is the fifth of May… I took two years of Spanish in college and actually ” aced ” both I and II without being able to speak a word… never had an ” ear” for different languages but I could memorize anything …so I did great on ” writing number quizzes ” and even sentence structures… and reading for understanding was no problem…but ” No hablo espanol.”

( What saved me was working for my Spanish professor on work scholarship… she was very kind ( and compassionate) to me.)

I have always been drawn to the month of May…so beautiful…but for years I never really got to enjoy it to its fullest … first as a student ( cramming for end of year exams) and later a teacher. So many end of school year activities are crammed into May … that ( especially) as a teacher… I felt like all I was doing was planning events, grading papers, and filling out report cards! May was exhausting!

I still remember my first year after I retired … May was everything I had dreamed it would be. It soon became our Ya retreat month as everyone retired … which made the month even more endearing and today May and early June are the most spectacular garden months… the delights of new spring flowers and plants… never grow old… unlike their gardener.

My desire to keep planting is undermined by my back wanting to take a rest… have to remember ” Inch by inch and row by row… slowly watch my garden grow.”

One quick history lesson behind Cinco De Mayo celebrations. ( Actually the United States celebrates it more than Mexico.) It is an annual celebration that commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

It is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day ( September 16-gained freedom from Spain) which is Mexico’s largest national holiday. But our country loved the Mexican-American culture exchange… ( particularly advertisers and retailers) starting with California. Today Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston lead the country in tequila and taco 🌮 celebrations!

So until tomorrow… Taco’s anyone?

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

May is also Pip’s favorite month since two years ago he was voted the month of May calendar dog … now I wouldn’t go so far as to say he got the ” big head” about his winning selection ( after all his head is still tiny) BUT we do have to address him as Pip May or ” Mr. May” for the rest of the month!