Messy, Muddy, May-hem

Have you ever noticed that the root of the word “Mayhem” is “May”?  Yes, mayhem, defined as rowdy disorder[1], or riotus confusion[2], is based on that lovely spring month, May. I forget every year what happens in May. In the depths of February I look forward to spring, to flowers, to warmer temperatures, to May: the gateway to summer. But in fact May strikes every year with the force of a runaway train.

When my children were young and in school, every evening and weekend in May were booked with the culmination of the year’s efforts: end of year dance and music recitals, championship games and team dinners, volunteer appreciation teas, school auctions, Scout ceremonies. We would arrive at the end of the school year panting, ragged, and ready for summer. The reality was that by then everyone needed a good few weeks of crankiness to readjust to a calmer schedule and to catch up on sleep.

Last May, for example, was a doozy: we had two graduations, one from high school, one from college, complete with visiting family and parties, on top of the other end-of-year festivities. All good and happy times, yes, with many photographs snapped that we will look at later when we are old and gray, but in a word: May-hem.

Thinking I was immune from school scheduling craziness this year, I was shocked to discover that May has still been messy, muddy and full of “riotus confusion.” Take the weather for example: just last week I was still wearing my down coat, and then a few days later it was 80 degrees. We have had thunder and lightning, 30 degree temperature drops overnight, and rain pouring in torrents. Wind has whipped hats off heads in big gusts and sent pollen and petals flying. There seems to be a battle raging among the weather gods.

Our daily lives have followed suit, a roller coaster of angst, contentment, good news and bad. As I have been getting to work on my memoir and enjoying work at WGBH, all my other responsibilities have teetered unsteadily, some toppling over to be dealt with later. We are excited to start what will probably be our last summer with both kids home, but the chaos of readjusting to having us all under one roof has us all a little off balance. The car has chosen this week in May to break down, the week that we will be welcoming all the family coming to town for my nephew’s college graduation.

So now I believe it is time to acknowledge that this “rowdy disorder” is simply the nature of the month of May. In my favorite musical, Camelot , Queen Guinevere enthusiastically sings, “It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May!” I admire her positive spin on it, but for now I think I will just sigh and recognize the “May-hem” it brings and try to hang on till June.

A beautiful sign of spring on Orchard Street in Cambridge.