Writing - Spring Madness

Throughout the ages the disappearance of winter and onset of better weather and a new growing season has generated a lightening of the spirit which humans have signified in a variety of ways, not all of which could be described as a 'celebration'.

Here are some examples.
Stilton Cheese Rolling
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An "ancient annual tradition" invented about 50 years ago to revitalise local businesses attracted about 2,000 people to a Cambridgeshire village on Monday.The cheese-rolling competition is a May Day Bank Holiday Monday tradition held in Stilton - the village which gave the cheese its name.
Teams roll wooden blocks resembling the cheese through the streets.


Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake


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A 9lb round of Double Gloucester Cheese is rolled down Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire. It is believed that something similar had been happening on the site since pagan times. It is truly international. Last year a man from USA and another from Japan won two of the four races.
Shin Kicking
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Moving away from cheese we have shin kicking or hacking contests found in the Cotswolds. Two combatants wearing white coats (representing shepherds smocks!) grab each other by the collar and proceed to try and kick each other's shins. Success depends on the ability to bear pain and agility!!!
Sweep's Festival

This takes place in Rochester in Kent. It began because chimney sweeps welcomed the fine weather which enabled them to start their work.
Maypole Dancing

This is a tradition in most places around the UK and is followed by children in primary schools and in churches. The custom goes back to medieval times and may have started in Germany.
I could go on but brevity demands that I simply list other activities:-
May Day LiftingCrowning the May Queen + ParadesMay Day GarlandsEarly morning washing - young girls used to wash their faces in early morning dew as it was supposed to be beneficial to the complexion.
Obviously, if you want to find out more then you need to carry out some research. As writers I'm sure we are familiar with that.
News
Amazon have now made it possible to shop via Twitter. It is still necessary to pay through the Amazon websites but by using special hashtags - #amazoncart for the USA and #amazonbasket for the UK - you can add items to your shopping basket. You need to reply to a tweet containing an item and an Amazon link and use the appropriate hashtag.
For us writers it could make buying our works more simple. I'm going to try it! Here is an example,
Cessation - want to buy add #amazonbasket to your reply to this tweet.
It needs work!!!!

On VG today:

http://venturegalleries.com/serial/they-didnt-expect-to-find-a-lot-and-found-nothing/
God Bless