every first of may, when i was a girl, my mom got out packets of coloured construction paper, doilies, stickers, elmer's glue and scissors, and helped us create may baskets. they were all styles and sizes: sometimes we used strips of paper and wove them together, adding one to to the top for a handle. other times, we created square boxes with stable bottoms and strings running through punched holes. using wild flowers we picked from the roadside ditches near our iowa home, we filled the baskets, wrapping the stems in damp paper towels and plastic to keep them from soaking through.
once they were finished, we delivered them. although the tradition wasn't known to anyone else, we went around to our neighbours' homes, hung the may baskets on their door handles, rang their doorbells, and ran away.
my mom said we should run away fast so we wouldn't get caught, but we liked to hide around the corner of the house, just out of sight, and watch the recipients discover their gifts of spring.