The Merriest Month

West Cork Cows

When I was a young mother, my friends and I would meet once a month to talk about raising children or to hear a speaker or take a class: our one night escape from the routine of mothering. But we never met in May. Besides our customary family activities on Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, we were overcome by a wave of dance recitals, band and choral concerts, school field trips, and soccer and soft ball games that required plenty of practice sessions. May was the busiest month of the year.

Today, when I look at the calendar and realize it is June, I appreciate that May is still the busiest month for Liz, Tracy, and me. In between trips to New York and Cape Cod, Liz is readying her latest book of poetry for its publication deadline. It may be a labor of love, but it is time-consuming. Tracy, freshly returned from Italy and her encounter with the toad, also went to Ithaca, New York, for Cornell’s graduation ceremonies in May. She is working on short stories.

As for me, I spent most of the month in Ireland observing how the Irish are similarly frenetic during this time of the year. The farmers are watching the skies and worrying about having their fields cut and their cows out to pasture. Parents are carting their children to Gaelic football practices and matches, preparing them for first communions, and cheering them through the school year’s final exams. There are also weddings and commencement parties aplenty. Everyone is looking forward to the summer holidays.

Tracy, Liz, and I are also looking forward to our summer holidays, especially our July week in Findley Lake, New York. In addition to teaching our week-long writing workshop and eagerly greeting our writer friends and meeting new ones, the three of us will have a chance to catch up on stories from each other’s lives. The stories too long to put into a single email, stories that meander and require postscripts and speculation, stories that will make us laugh from the joy of being together again.

And we will continue to have stories to share with you as our summer rolls on.