May - Short or Long?

The month of May has the shortest name of any of the months, barely beating out June and July, and way outpacing the “-ary” months at the first of the year and the “-ber” months at the end.

But at least when I was growing up, May seemed to be the longest month of the year. The first of May was always exciting, because it meant that the school year was winding down. But then it seemed like it took for….ev…..er for the end of May, and the end of school, to arrive.

Why did May have to be so long? Why did it seem like the days just crept on by? Why did May suddenly become a time warp of ever so slow days? I think on some days time actually stood still. And then, you know from the law of inertia that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. That apparently applies to time when it stands still, too. No movement at all.

But then finally the end of May arrived, bringing the end of the school year with it. Right after that, ZIP ZIP! That was June and July zipping by, and then it was August and time for school to start again. Too bad we couldn’t capture some of that time warp to save for the summer months. If anyone invents that, they can buy their own tropical island where it is summer all the time.

Once I got in college, May seemed to go by a lot more quickly, because there were always projects and papers that were due at the end of the semester, and it seemed like I never had any time to work on them. I could have used some of that time warp to slow things down then, too.

And now that I am an adult and I go to work every day, May seems to be about like any other month. Probably because I am not anxiously anticipating that glorious end of school at the end of the month. I do look forward to school getting out, because it does mean more relaxed days at our house. But still, the end of the school year doesn’t quite have the same meaning for me that it once did.

However, for all of those still in school, I’m sure the month with the shortest name still seems to take the longest time to pass by.