May Day: Maypole, Family, Picnics, and Fun

[elfs]

May Day Picnicking

The family had a good time May Day. I left work around three, as the commies & pinkos had threatened to close the town down at four and, since I take the bus, there was a serious chance I would be trapped between the unions, the immigrants' rights people, and the anti-war kids. As it turned out, my commute was trivial.

The warning that the city core was going to be overwhelmed reached a lot of people, because the freeways going around the core were also clear as all four of us drove back up the viaduct^[?] back to Woodland Park, where the Fremont Arts Festival hosts an annual Mayday Maypole. Along the way, we passed the Church of Scientology's little block here in Seattle, and there were about a half-dozen Carnival of Anarchy people out front, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Very cool. We drove past them so quickly that I didn't have time for a photograph.

The celebration is really just an excuse for Pagans and other weirdos to get together and eat chicken together, touch base for the Spring and Summer, and have fun. We arrived during the picking of the May King and Queen, so we sat down and ate our quickly acquired ad-hoc picnic. Having an instant picnic basket is a real boon to moments like this.

Unfortunately, Yamaraashi-chan had been naughty about doing her homework and had to finish it before she was allowed to participate. She sat on the blanket with her notebook and a pencil and finished. She was done about halfway through the Maypole ritual, so she missed joining in.

Y-chan's Mom

Yamaraashi-chan's other family was there: her mother, her mother's boyfriend (looking wonderfully butch with horns and a kilt), and two of her three elder sisters. Her mother's been complaining about her health recently, but it didn't seem to be slowing her down; she did the entire maypole ritual, bobbing and weaving in and out of the pattern as well as everyone else.

Y-chan's sister.

Had a lovely talk with Yamaraashi-chan's older sister, too, and snapped this great photo of her and her boyfriend. I'm not sure why she doesn't generally liked to be photographed; she has really good cheekbones and photographs really well. The eyes in this pic are wonderful.

After the Maypole, there was a chocolate fountain with strawberries, pineapple, and chunks of sponge cake and marshmallow treats. Both girls had way too much sweets before we packed up and went home. While I was cleaning up, I found a huge worm had snuck onto the blanket by putting my hand down on it. Yuck!

Still, we all had a really good time. It's so picnic weather.

Comments

[whipartist.livejournal.com]

Wow. I wouldn't have recognized her. She looks nothing like the woman I remember. (You and Omaha, on the other hand, look exactly the same.)

[gromm.livejournal.com]

So, since I've only been paying close attention to your family since the days of Livejournal, I don't know what the story is with Yamaraashi-chan and her mum and all that. Maybe you could fill us in?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I'd rather not. It's an ugly story. Suffice it to say that I did poly badly once upon a time, and while I'll spend the rest of my life atoning for it, unfortunately so will Yamaraashi-chan.

names?

[(Anonymous)]

Did you really want to leave Y-chan's sister's name in the caption of her photo? You make such an effort to leave real names out of your blog...

Joshua

Re: names?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

I leave children's names out of my blog. Adults in public can take care of themselves.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

The family pic is just beautiful. I swear Y-chan looks like she's Omaha's daughter there. It's funny, but what with expressions and body language and all that my little brother was soon looking like Dad's son (he adopted us) and now-a-days there's no question the two are related.

Y-chan's real mom looks a bit like she's in pain in that pic. And yes, the elder sister takes a gorgeous pic. I love the expression on her face.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

I only met her once, years ago at the Everett event, but yeah - the photo doesn't look anything like I remember.