Meeting Persephone

Brow furrowed over her construction paper as she weaves small strips of color together carefully placing dots of paste at the seams she blows a stray piece of hair from her eyes. She's creating a basket - small and bright - to place tiny flowers she'll gather on her way home from school. It's a tradition.

The bell rings and today she skips the blocks from the school with a tiny basket swinging in her plump little hand, scanning yards along the way for dandelions to adorn her basket. She spies a lilac bush and plucks a few blooms to put in her basket. She knows just where this basket is going and wants it brimming with blossoms before she gets there. Time's running out as her journey is nearly at its end but she still needs a bit more to fill her basket. Yellow flowers, purple flowers, white flowers, pink flowers. Careful not to take from anyone's garden like she'd been raised not to do.

Finally her basket fills as she arrives at her own yard and tops of the miniature construction paper basket. She glances across the street where a family she's known her whole life lives. A man. A woman. Their two grown daughters. Their old buff colored poodle. These are the dearest people on the block. They've always shown her so much kindness - buying just a couple more boxes of girl scout cookies than they'd intended to help her reach a goal, or offering her a drink of milk and a cookie while they listened intently to all of her tales with indulgent smiles on their faces. They would be the recipients of this May Day gift.

She stealthily sneaks up their front steps, carefully places the basket on the top step, stretches up to reach the doorbell (she only rings doorbells once a year - it's rude any other time - you just knock!), and runs like crazy to hide behind a bush. She watches for signs of movement from her hidden spot, giggling to herself and heart pounding with all of the excitement of the moment. The door opens and the old woman comes out to the front step, glances down to see the rainbow colored basket brimming with small flowers, smiles and picks it up. She looks to the left. Looks to the right. Smiling. The little girl giggles harder. The old woman carries her new prize into the house. The little girl thinks herself incredibly clever and runs into her own home to tell her tale of the day.

The May Day mission is complete. Joy spread from one heart to another through the blessings of the Earth.