Happy Beltane!

Yes, it's that time of year again, when the grass turns green, spring comes (and not a moment too soon!) and Pagans have another holiday. That's the great thing about those tree-huggin' hippies- eight holidays a year, and really rocking Halloween parties. Actually, they would be Samhain parties, which marks a point during the year when the veil or boundary between this world and the world of the dead grows thin to the point of absence, and the ancestors are honored. And besides, my experience with the Pagan mentality has been, any excuse to get together and have a good time! But Samhain is in October, and here it is May 1 already. The sun is shining, the air is warm and the trees are green, and pretty much everyone I know has allergies.
I heard the schools in Vernon are closed for half of this week, as a student came in with flu-like symptoms. Let's review for a moment- elementary school, kids in elementary school, allergy season. These things are the first to pop into my head, not swine flu. True, there have been over 100 deaths, and I regret the loss of life and wish well to those families affected by it, but this does not a pandemic make. But then again, I'm not an epidemiologist (another word we don't get to use enough). But closing the schools does seem a bit extreme. The press, that guardian of free thought in the world, seems to have blown this a bit out of proportion. The ebola virus, which is probably one of the worst ways to die, occasionally pops up in the depths of Africa once in a while. If it spread, it would indeed be a pandemic. But the press seems to let that slide. (actually, the virus is so destructive it usually burns itself out, decimating a population before it can spread). So be on the lookout for sneezing pigs, and don't eat them. As for the rest of us, wash your hands, don't kiss strange animals, and be good to each other.