Photos from our May Day wedding...
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| Video from Crow Manor before we left on the annual bike ride to Belle Isle |
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| Brides to be... |
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| Resting |
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| Checking from higher height to see what the hold up was (someone got a flat tire) |
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| See all the cuteness--Carolyn hugging Rowan baby and Clara's family there |
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| We always pass a bottle of Old Crow around and toast to...lots of things. |
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| Rev Bobby had us stand IN the river for the final pronouncement of benevolent rulers of the fairy kingdom or something like that... |
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| Marrying everyone else to May Day (and getting them to jump in the river!) |
BACK STORY
On Wednesday, May 1st, anyone is invited to celebrate May Day with us by riding bikes to Belle Isle (BYOB) as we traditionally do with our friends every year to The Secret Spot. No RSVPs needed. Swimming in the Detroit River is optional, Clara does it every year! There will probably be mud so don't dress up.
This date is our 4-year anniversary of being together. Because many people have to work on Wednesdays, we decided to have a more formal, family-oriented ceremony on Saturday. If you don't go to the raucous ride, you can still attend the dance party in the evening fueled by the Trumbullplex's sweetheart DJs, the Cup Cake Collective.
The tradition of riding bikes to Belle Isle with our community began on May 1st 2008. Friends from the anarchist houses Trumbullplex & Crow Manor and others celebrated the life of our close friend Dave K who passed February 25th, 2008.
After the funeral, there was a need to gather our community who was in mourning. The worker's holiday, May Day, was chosen since Dave was indeed a man who worked with his hands on most days, along with many of our friends who are carpenters, cooks, builders, roofers, brick- layers, teachers, media-makers and artists--we are all workers.
The crew started at Crow Manor, at Trumbull and Sycamore, a home Dave cared for and improved for years, along with his friends who lived with him and people like Jhon, who was also working on our house a few miles away. The two would often spend time together through house projects; Dave helped plan and build the glass block window in our living room.When they reached the river in 2008, a hand-constructed pirate ship was launched into the river's tributary and set afire by his lover's flaming arrow. A bottle of Old Crow whiskey was passed from hand to hand and words flowed from the heart: toasting Krow Daddy Dave, toasting workers internationally, toasting each other and our love for this community--a new annual practice to occur every May Day had been born.
Though the "secret spot" is not so much of a secret now, it's still holds important meaning for us and a place we go to as often as we can.
May Poles
"They also set up a May-pole, drinking and dancing about it many days togaether, inviting [20]
the Indean women, for their consorts, dancing and frisking togither, (like so many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse practises. As if they had anew revived & celebrated the feasts of the Roman Goddes Flora, or the beasly practieses of the madd Bacchinalians. Morton likwise (to shew his poetrie) composed sundry rimes & verses, some tending to lasciviousnes, and others to the detraction & scandall of some persons, which he affixed to this idle or idoll May-polle. They changed also the name of their place, and in stead of calling it Mounte Wollaston, they call it Merie-mounte, as if this joylity would have lasted ever. But this continued not long, for after Morton was sent for England, shortly after came over that worthy gentleman, Mr. John Indecott, who brought a patent under the broad seall, for the governmente of the Massachusets, who visiting those parts caused the May-polle to be cutt downe, and rebuked them for their profannes, and admonished them to looke ther should be better walking; so they now, or others, changed the name of their place againe, and called it Mounte-Dagon."
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