Welcome to May, a special month indeed. Bet you don’t know why.
Well, May is National Water Safety Month. Seems like it’s always a good idea to strive for safety around water, but apparently this month especially. May is also National Chamber Music Month. See you at The Florida Orchestra? May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, National Mediterranean Diet Month, National Barbecue Month (the opposite of the Mediterranean Diet), National Asparagus Month and National Strawberry Month. Of course, in Florida, Strawberry Month should be held in February, right?
Speaking of food, May is National Salsa Month, National Salad Month, National Egg Month (if you can afford them), National American Cheese Month and National Hamburger Month. It’s also National Lyme Disease Awareness Month. And May is National Get Caught Reading Month. Pick up a book while you enjoy your hamburger with American cheese.
Oh, but we are not done. I warned you May was busy. We are also in National Returning Youth Month. At first, I thought this was about boomerang kids, moving back in with mom and dad. But it turns out to be about prisoners coming home from jail. Hopefully not about your kids at all.
Welcome to National Miniature Garden Month, National Jewish American Heritage Month and Global Employee Health and Fitness Month. May is National ALS Awareness Month and my personal favorite National Better Speech and Language Month. (It’s FebRUary and ArCtic not Febuary and Artic Month. Oh, and it’s Daylight Saving Time. Single not plural). Actually this month is dedicated to speech and hearing problems, but I digress.
I hope you are enjoying National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Wildfire Awareness Month, Foster Care Month and National Historic Preservation Month. May is also Correct Your Posture Month, you slouch. We are in National Dental Care Month so go floss. Especially after that cheeseburger.
May is National Moving Month (I’m not planning to) and it’s Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. I am celebrating this by staying off Interstate 275 as much as possible. It’s also National Photography Month. That’s easy to celebrate with the gorgeous scenery around here.
We are also amid National Bike Month, National Blood Pressure Awareness Month and National Inventors Month. Also it’s Date Your Mate Month. “Hi, Honey, want to see a movie?”
We do have one special day in May also. Teacher Appreciation Day. My daughter is a teacher and I appreciate her. She’s incredibly good at her job. Really a calling more than a job. Teachers work hard and don’t get paid well, especially in Florida. So I hope you showed them some respect on May 6.
Finally, as a Baby Boomer I am proud to celebrate Older Americans Month. I celebrate this by waking up with aches and pains and creaky knees. Yipee!
So, before you know what begins soon, you have so much to celebrate this month. Enjoy May. National Hurricane Season is still a couple of weeks away.
Chris Core is a former Washington, D.C. radio and television personality who now lives in Pass-a-Grille. He is a winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism.
