By John Hayden

May May be the best month of the year in South Florida. Maybe. Sure, this May be an essay conceived around low-hanging linguistic fruit. But give it half a chance and I’ll give you four reasons why May rocks and you May find yourself agreeing with me.

MAYteorological

The weather is perfect. The pool is warm enough to use but you May also sit outside without your drink’s ice melting before you can lay out your towel. Also, said towel is not immediately soaked in sweat.

Snowbirds are up north so you May find yourself with plenty of room to stretch out on the beach.

A lot of this mirrors South Florida’s Novembers, but there is one crucial difference: we’re not staring down an expensive and chaotic holiday season. So you can skip the trip to May-cy’s.

May the Fourth

This one May be the most far reaching with galactic implications. Commonly known as Star Wars Day, May 4 has fans posting “May the Fourth Be With You” across social media.

The franchise’s most ubiquitous catch phrase May be the best part of any of the films made after The Empire Strikes Back.

The pun finds its origin Maybe in the most unlikely of places: British conservative politics. 

On May 4, 1979, nearly two years after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. The Tories placed a newspaper ad with the phrase “May the Fourth Be With You.”

People thought it was clever and it caught on with sci-fi fans. It got new life with the premiere of Internet: Rise of the Memes.

Like Emperor Palpatine, Thatcher reigned for a very long time and was eventually overthrown by her number two, saying “I May have a bad feeling about this.”

May the Fifth

Best known as Cinco de MAYo, this celebrates the Mexican army’s unexpected beatdown of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. While not analogous to July 4, it is still a celebration.

Cinco de MAYo, much like St. Patrick’s Day, has become a bigger deal for Americans than people in the country of origin. Tuesday, May 5 will see places like Tulio’s packed with sombrero-wearing celebrants guzzling margaritas then passing out, I mean “taking a siesta” until their Uber arrives.

Here is my Basic Bitch Margarita recipe:

2 oz Silver/white tequila

1 oz Fresh lime juice 

1 oz Grand Marnier (or triple sec for the truly basic)

1 tsp Agave syrup

Shake and pour on top of muddled jalapeño slices in a sugar rimmed glass.

You May want to take an aspirin before sleep.

MAYmorial Day Dichotomy

While celebrated up north as the end of winter and start of summer, MAYmorial Day weekend in South Florida is mourned as the end of winter and start of summer. This May be our last chance for a not-super-hot weekend without a named storm bearing down on us.

After May you can just put meat on an unlit grill and it May cook itself. The pool May be as warm as bath water (that is why it’s warm, right?).

And now, it May be time for pool parties and Pride!