May holds the promise of better things to come

May Day got me thinking on Saturday with the change of the month, comes the season most of us wait for all year.N

ot only are our gardens growing weeds, but tender shoots of vegetables are beginning to sprout, flowers are blooming and grass is practically growing before our very eyes.

Boating season got underway over the weekend, shrimp and halibut sport fishers were out in large numbers on the bay, and festivals soon begin.

This week alone is packed with activities in our own community. On Thursday, National Day of Prayer is celebrated at noon in the west parking lot of Haggen, on Saturday the city of Stanwood is again hosting Operation Clean Sweep, after a year off, an event to not only spiff up the town, but to bring neighbors together.

The 12th annual Mother’s Day Art Tour also begins this weekend with 35 studios participating in Stanwood and on Camano Island. For the first time, the tour will take place over two weekends.

If you notice the rumble of bikes in the city, about a hundred motorcyclists will gather at Four Square Church across from Stanwood Hardware for the fourth annual bike blessing. It’s quite a sight to see.

Bags will be placed in mailboxes this week for postal workers and volunteers to pick up approximately 11 tons of food items to benefit the Stanwood-Camano Food Bank on Saturday, a needed boost after the holiday donation stores have run low.

On Sunday, families will gather in homes, restaurants and parks to honor their mothers. And in three weeks, May 19 -23, a barn raising spirit will prevail at Terry’s Corner when Rotary Adventure Playground is built by community volunteers in five days.

Take some, or all of it in. It’s time to climb out of our winter dens and get nourished by the people we love, the friends we haven’t seen enough of, and meet the neighbor we’ve been meaning to introduce ourselves to.

In the process, we build community.