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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES
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| With the early spring, early morning sun casting long, lovely shadows across the Weeks Footbridge, hardy 6 a.m. revelers from Lowell House process (some formally) to welcome in the spring. |
Lowell House rings in the May:
Jesters, masters, dancers, and Livingston Taylor
waltz in the spring at Weeks Footbridge
Staff photos by Rose Lincoln
"Summer is a-coming and the winter is away-o," sang Lynn the Fool just after dawn on Thursday (May 1). The bells on her jester's cap jingled as she entertained several dozen students from Lowell House, gathered on the Weeks Footbridge to celebrate May Day with their traditional waltz.
While Lynn and other pagan revelers danced around a Maypole nearby, the Harvard students put a distinctly Ivy League stamp on the centuries-old celebration of springtime and fertility.
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| Jenny Davis '06 and Luis Campos, a Lowell House tutor, dance on the lawn of the Malkin Quadrangle. |
"Happy May!" greeted House Master Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, pouring champagne and dispensing fresh strawberries. The dancers, dressed in formal wear and waltzing to a string trio, were undaunted by the chilly breeze off the river or the early hour.
"It's such a great Lowell House tradition. It's one of those very memorable things," said Rachelle Gould '03, who has participated in the 6 a.m. festivities all three years she's lived in the house
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| Bonnie Lee '05 (from left), Catherine McCaw '03, and Elizabeth Garcia '04 greet other May Day celebrants along the banks of the Charles River. |
"The memory of these traditional events lasts a lifetime," said singer-songwriter and Lowell House artist-in-residence Livingston Taylor, breaking briefly between waltzes. "The inconvenience is minor."
After an hour of merrymaking, the Lowell House students retreated, some returning to their beds, others joining Lynn the Fool and the larger pagan gathering as it processed through Harvard Square. But the early morning quiet of the Charles, usually the exclusive domain of serious runners and rowers, continued to buzz with May Day gaiety and the promise of spring.
- Beth Potier
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