Greetings to Her Majesty, Mrs. May

Oh, yes!  She’s married. Hubby’s name is Vulcan. Occupation: The Fire-God. Together they bring the heat.  But enough about him (for the moment), he’s out of the picture until August (well almost.)  Anyway, today, it’s time to bow deeply to the Queen.

We all know the Romans knew how to throw a party – through not the kind you wanted to get an invitation to if you were an early Christian, gladiator, slave – or just some poor schmuck who got on the bad side of the Emperor.  I’m just saying.

So it wasn’t too big of a surprise to learn that the “Merry, Merry month of May,” was named for the Roman god of “springtime, warmth, and fertility.”  Back then her email address would have been: Maia maiestas@RomanEmpireGoddess.gods.  Her minions today, would send her a “shout out” at QueenMaytheMajestic@RomanEmpireGoddess.com/flowers, confirming all the details of the two  festivals held in her honor on May 1st and the 15th every year. No doubt she would want to “Spell Check” everything and download it all to her private server in the Cloud.

It isn’t hard to imagine that her main interest would be the flowers and how they looked around the Kingdom; all the old standbys, maybe a few new varieties to enchant the Lords and Ladies of the Court.  Get the Senate’s reaction.  But the Citizens were the ones to please – who would really appreciate the show.  After all, you can’t invite the Empire to breakfast, lunch and dinner and have the public domain looking drab and dreary.  And we all know that beautiful flowers transform the landscape like nothing else can do.  Not to mention the fresh fragrances that fill the air.  And let’s face it, Rome could probably have used some fresh scents along about then.

But the bottom line is when you are “Queen May the Majestic” your reputation is on the line.

Plus, you had to deliver some sunshine and warm weather, too!  I mean free bread and wine – fish and cheese goodies – a couple of lambs to the slaughter is great, but I am of the opinion that no self-respecting Roman Citizen wanted to huddle under some tent or in the arena in the cold and rain.  Been there, done that in April.

What’s a Queen to do?

She got by with a little help from her friend. Some back up. Someone to help turn up the heat.  Who better to turn to than the love of her life.  Mr. Fire-God himself.  Vulcan, you devil!  Sneaking home from winter’s war to the warmth of hearth and home – just for a hot minute, mind you.  Can’t let the Queen’s annual beautification banquets turn into a bust.  Gotta do what a God’s gotta do: and that’s to make sure those flowers start blooming, turning the heat of the Sun up a notch or two, and get the green grass growing all around – all around.

Everything is set to go: its nice and toasty, flowers are giving the Empire lots of color and smelling up the place; the grass, trees, blue skies – and the rest of Mother Earth are all feeling pretty dag gum good. No doubt about it, the Citizens of Rome are set for their annual merry, merry month of May celebrations. Taking time out to stop and smell the Roses, Azaleas, Orchids, Dahlia, Geraniums, and Bougainvillea.

Got your invitation to the party?  Great!  I’ll see you at the Coliseum.  Long live, Queen May.

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