happy Beltane

Today is a cross-quarter day of Earth's astronomical holiday calendar. Here in the USA, only 3 of the 4 old Celtic cross-quarter holidays are still celebrated as a marker for the change of seasons: Groundhog Day (Imbolc), May Day (Beltane), and Halloween (Samhain). Here in Minneapolis, Beltane used to have a massive parade to Powderhorn Park, but it's slightly smaller now, and the next celebration will be held on this coming Sunday.

Here in my yard, though, it's obvious that spring has finally sprung. Those bulbs that I transplanted during the historic heat wave last month have survived and now are flowering. I'm not sure if these are Glory of the Snow, Snowdrops, or something else, but as a group they're always the first thing to bloom after the snow melts. In the back yard, I transplanted them into a line down the center of my clover walkway. In a few years, they should share the space nicely in spring.

But today is also a Moody Monday, so I'll leave you with this poem, "After Silence". It's written by Neil Gaiman (read by (former?) wife Amanda Palmer) in tribute to Rachel Carson who wrote "Silent Spring" in 1962. This poem mentions a few of the actual changes (bats, jellyfish, emerald ash borers) we've witnessed in this age of changing climate.

Watch on Vimeo

"After Silence": Amanda Palmer reads Neil Gaiman's poetic tribute to Rachel Carson from Maria Popova on Vimeo.

The only constant is change. On Beltane, we celebrate the change that is growth, at least far up in the northern hemisphere.