In which we have a heyday of May Day and segues.

In much of Europe, May 1st is a national holiday supporting workers and rights, etc. (It took longer than anticipated to get this post going because of getting lost in the maze of Wikipedia vs. Vikipehdia histories:) As my Wikinlightenment (not to be confused with Wiccan enlightenment) informs me, Labor Day in the US stems back to the Haymarket Affair of early May 1886, where a peaceful “labor demonstration”/strike supporting an 8-hour workday limit ended with the deaths of workers and policemen alike. Labor Day as we know it was established the next year, but in September rather than May to avoid commemorating the event (…maybe I would have remembered it had it been commemorated), and is now celebrated by parading, BBQs, and people in the retail industry working overtime to support one of the hottest sales weekends in the US of A (because you, yes YOU, have the right to spend those hardworked dollars on stuff you had no idea you needed! Yeah!).     

The Haymarket Affair certainly played a part in labor movements worldwide. In Germany, a national workers’ day didn’t successfully come into being until May 1, 1933, ironically under the Nazi regime. Any celebrations sponsored by non-gov parties or groups were forbidden, with all labor unions banned and their headquarters raided the next day. Today the official name varies by state and country, ranging from the all-encompassing “Tag der Arbeit” (Labor Day) to the also-broad-but-much-longer-winded “Tag des Bekenntnisses zu Freiheit und Frieden, sozialer Gerechtigkeit, Völkerversöhnung und Menschenwürde” (Day of the Declaration of Freedom and Peace, Social Justice, Reconciliation of Peoples, and Human Dignity). Mostly, however, the day just goes by, well, the day – Erster Mai. Like in the States, this generally work-free holiday has somewhat morphed into a BBQ-fest, though unlike in the States, everyone has to rush to get their charcoal and Grillgut the day before, as all stores are closed for the holiday. Protests are also far more likely to be seen than parades, as extreme left-swinging groups have been using the day for demonstrations for the last few decades, often ending in violence (par exemple). In Hamburg, it’s public knowledge that some sort of demonstration will go down in the Schanze and the riot police arrive in helmets and shields even before the protesters. The bank located in the center of the action had its windows shattered so many times that they invested in steel shuttering. Not really a hip thing in one of Hamburg’s hippest neighborhoods, otherwise known for its graffiti, ample outdoor bar seating, and the best falafel in town, etc.

This year I avoided all that and instead hit the Alster with a sailor friend, off into the gray. The winds were pretty easy on me (the newbie), only throwing in a mighty gust now and again when I looked too comfortable.

We headed back to shore when the cold started settling in and came across something adorable on the walk back downtown. I’d remembered a waterfowl perch at the edge of the lake where puffball chicks can usually be spotted in springtime. I look a peek and spotted a mountain of tiny fluffy bodies. 

My first reaction was of horror, thinking for whatever reason that some terrible person had taken their bad day out on the little poofs and then piled up their remains. It was then with much relief (and teeheeing) that I noticed the squirming and funny little legs popping out here and there. They were just cold, I guess, which reminded me of – SEGUE –

A slight obsession with the BBC Planet Earth series recently led to watching March of the Penguins for the first time. The flowerdy spoken penguintalk was often sappy enough for syrup (alas, no Morgen Freeman on the German version), but GOOD LORD, THE WORLD IS SO COOL, PENGUINS ARE SO, SO AMAZING! I knew the basics already – hundreds of miles traveled to breeding grounds, the singingsqwacking, the males’ egg-warming balancing act maintained through the ferocity of Antarctic winter, the females going back the hundreds of miles to fill up on (but not digest! HOW DO THEY DO THAT?!) fish to regurgitate for hilarious poof chickies hundreds of miles later – but this incredible footage and later-learned infos just made the whole thing even more wowzalike, such as how they are able fill their feathers with air to make them zoom underwater or create a bubblescreen when sneaky and terrifyingly ginormous (hah – my spellcheck wants to correct that to “gunrooms”) leopard seals want to munch on – SEGUE –

The leopard seals seen on film looked particularly gunrooms when seen next to a penguin, at least based on my idea of how big an emperor penguin was. As it turns out, emperor penguins aren’t quite as big as I thought, but the seals are still ginormous. My quest to find leopard seal stats brought up this amaaazing story, which taught me that a leopard seal could also be a mensch, whiiich then made me want to check out the website of the photographer in question, which –

(just looked out the window – RAIN! UNTIL THE END OF TIME!)

– displays what are probably some of if not the most incredible swimming penguin photos on the planet, as well as fascinating info blurbs. Check it out. Really. And stop polluting the planet and causing climate change that is hurting the Antarctic+ environment, dwindling fishes for hilarious poof chickies, etc.

What I’m getting at here is that the pile of fluffy goslingalings squirming about reminded me of the male emperors bracing together in a giant, ice-frosted cinnamon roll of protection against the darkness, wind, and cold cold cold, constantly in motion as each penguin tries to work its way toward the warm center of the colony.

Ah, the wonders of marine life and associative thinking.

…Which reminds me of this photo from a zoo trip a few years back:

Oh, and back to the Labor Day topic, let’s not forget that there’s still a long way to go. Should the day ever come when people are paid equally for the same work, when all people are paid decent living wages instead of a few with voluptuous economy-eating wages, when everyone gets the benefits and securities they need and time off for families, when all is generally well and good in the world – then, we’ll rock the BBQ.