Sunday was a blustery day in Woodland, and I suppose we should be grateful it was only the wind and not the thunderstorms predicted for the weekend, which was why the California Honey Festival was put off until June.

Because I still like to know what’s going on in Woodland and Yolo County, I decided to take a look at my “May Calendar” — an all-inclusive compendium of coming public and private events that I put together for 2025.

In reviewing the calendar, I was shocked to discover that even though we’re in the first week of May, it is a very busy month. We have BerryFest 2025 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, on May 10 and 11; the Epicurean Esprit, Wednesday, May 14, at Park Winters; the 9th Annual Woodland Winefest, Saturday, May 17, at Heritage Plaza in downtown Woodland; and StreetLow Woodland Car Show & Concert on May 18 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds.

I’m also writing this after last week’s Spring Show at the Fairgrounds, an annual event that has been going on for decades and features the animal husbandry skills of local youth.

That aside, however, I got interested in “what makes May May?” Why do we hold the Spring Show in May? Why is the BerryFest held in May? Why the Winefest in May? Why is May 3 Free Comic Book Day as well as World Naked Gardening Day? Why is it the “Merry Month of May?” I do get “May 4” as being Star Wars Day.

I looked in my personal collection of books about words and writing, which is more fun than Wikipedia and found “On Words,” by Paula LaRocque, a former communications consultant, who was assistant managing editor, writing coach and columnist at The Dallas Morning News. I met Paula at a newspaper editor’s retreat years and remembered her because she was funny.

In her book, she covers the origins of the various months of the year and I learned May was originally referred to as “Tri-milce Monath,” because the days were getting long enough to milk the cows three times.” That might explain why we have the Spring Show in May.

By the way, August was “Woed-Monath,” or weed month, which doesn’t explain why we have the Yolo County Fair in August. Technically, according to LaRocque, harvest celebrations should in September, named, predictably, “Haerfest-Monath.”

In more modern usage, I learned March comes from Mars, the god of war, and is so named because March was the season-opener for doing battle. Historically, March was also the first month of the year because the vernal equinox was the first day of spring, also known as New Year’s Day.

As for May, it derives from the mother goddess Maia, and is known as the “lusty month.” In ancient times it honored chastity. It’s considered an unlucky month for marriage, as LaRocque states, “maybe because of its confusing connection to both lust and chastity.”

I don’t know all the reasons for Free Comic Book Day or World Naked Gardening Day, but I did find out “The Merry Month of May” is a poem written by Thomas Dekker as part of his play “The Shoemaker’s Holiday,” first performed in 1599.

As for June, it’s named after the god Juno, protector of women, which is why June has been the bride’s preferred month for marriage since the Roman Empire. But that doesn’t explain why May 11 is Mother’s Day and June 15 is Father’s Day. I think it would be reversed.

Well, here’s to Tri-milce Monath. It’s a time to get that extra milking done as well as celebrating being lusty and chaste.

Jim Smith is the former editor of The Daily Democrat, retiring in 2021 after a 27-year career at the paper.