Spring is springing, birds are nourishing their young with insects and song, the smell of green is in the air, and the sound of bees vibrates everywhere. Hummingbird scouts will arrive around mid-May. Please have feeders out for them. They are ravenous from their long migration.

May Day and Cinco de Mayo begin the month. Then Mothers’ Day. Life couldn’t happen without all the mothers in the world, including Mother Earth. Thank you, to all.

Global Love Day, International Day of Light, Good Neighbor Day, and Day of Living Together in Peace call on the best within us: equanimity, wisdom, charity, and justice.

Memorial Day was established as a day to remember all who have passed. Many people still do so by tidying grave sites and placing new flowers or calling to mind a loved one through stories. But for the most part, Memorial Day has become a weekend-long indication that summer is here. Cottages and cabins are opened, first barbecue is on the grill, and a first swim for the intrepid. Gardeners are busy, and hikers inventory their summer hiking gear to see what needs replacing for camping off-road throughout the region. The fish will be biting, mosquitoes too. Ah, Memorial Day weekend! This year, in addition to whatever you will be doing this Memorial Day, please bow your head for all the people lost to COVID-19, all the families still grieving, and to everyone whose lives still haven’t found a new normal.
Appreciation? We have School Principal’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, International Firefighters Day, and International Nurses Day.

May includes days focused on health, with World No Tobacco Day, Bike to School Day and Bike to Work Day, plus Senior Health and Fitness Day.

Did you know that the teachings of the Buddha were the most widespread in the world through much of the last 2,500 years? Most of Asia, including Mongolia and Siberia, from Afghanistan to Burma, across China to Japan, and the countries of the Himalayas—all followed the way of the Buddha for centuries, and in some cases more than a thousand years. Buddha didn’t create a religion; people do that. Many of his teachings were philosophical and psychological. He was a revolutionary who accepted everyone regardless of caste or gender.

The Buddha taught for almost 40 years. He asked a seeker to search within his or her mind and experience for the truth. He said, “Test a teaching before accepting it. Question it, analyze it, put it into application to determine its benefit or lack. After these methods of evaluation, if a teaching is truthful and is wholesome, then accept it, but not otherwise.”

El Rito, north of Questa, has a stupa, sometimes called a peace pagoda, that is open to the public year-round. It is a building whose shape symbolizes the Buddha and his teaching, and the innate truth of being that anyone can uncover for him or herself. Its hand-painted images are intended to serve as mirrors. One looks into one’s purest potential when looking at them.

Lastly, spring is a time of renewal and awakening. Here is a promised tree-planting tip. Get a PVC pipe, no less than 2-1/2 feet long and a minimum of one inch in diameter. When planting a new tree, enlarge the hole by four inches of width. Place a small pile of medium rocks (not little pebbles) at the bottom of the hole against one side (not in the back). Place the PVC tube on the pile of rocks and lodge it with one or two. Fill in the hole, plant the tree. Leave 18 inches or so of tube above ground. It will serve like a well shaft. Water through the tube every couple of weeks for deep root watering. Fill the tube once or twice depending on the diameter of the tube and size of the tree. This method provides water directly to the roots where it is needed.

Special Days in May

• May 1 Global Love Day, May Day, Mother Goose Day, School Principal’s Day
• May 2 Orthodox Easter, World Laughter Day
• May 4 Teacher Appreciation Day, International Firefighters Day
• May 5 Cinco de Mayo, African World Heritage Day, Bike to School Day
• May 8 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day
• May 9 Mother’s Day
• May 12 International Nurses Day
• May 16 Day of Living Together in Peace, International Day of Light
• May 18 Buddha Day/Wesak
• May 2 Bike to Work Day
• May 26 Senior Health and Fitness Day
• May 31 Memorial Day, World No Tobacco Day