shewhomust | Free games for May

May's a funny month: the calendar shows all sorts of high days and holidays, about which I have nothing to report. Nonetheless we observe our own red letter days:

On May Day itself, we neither marched for workers' rights nor danced around a maypole (though we might easily have done either of those things). But I bought myself a calendar of Eric Ravilious woodprints, so the first of every month is a special day. May's image is particularly festive: the frontispiece of a book based on the game of Consequences.

In France, you are likely to be given a sprig of lily-of-the-valley to celebrate May Day. There's a garden that we pass on the way to the Elm Tree, along whose edge lily-of-the-valley grows. Eight days ago, on May Day itself, I saw a single spray of white bells among all the leaves; but yesterday, a week later, the flowers were abundant.

May 2nd was election day, but the excitement passed us by. For one thing, we had already cast our postal votes by the time the day arrived; for another, this is not the year we have council elections. We failed to raise any enthusiasm for the election of the Police and Crime Commissioner, which we regard as a pointless post (as it happens, the incumbent was re-elected). That leaves the mayoral election. We have not hitherto had a regional mayor, and I remain to be convinced that we will benefit from having one. But for what it's worth, I voted for Jamie Driscoll (he came second to the approved Labour candidate).

So you'd think that nothing the Labour Party does would surprise me, but you'd be wrong. Even so, if the party is that desperate to increase its tally of MPs, might I suggest that Diane Abbott would be a better choice than Natalie Elphicke?

It's puffin season! Later this month, Amble will hold its puffin festival. Meanwhile, this is how you train AI to recognise a puffin (but only during the daytime).

On May 9th 1969, Pink Floyd and others played a free concert on Parliament Hill Fields. We were there, as I have said before and may well say again. Tonight I'll raise a glass to the memory