THAT END-OF-MAY FEEL: We equate the last weekend in May with a sort of long-weekend-ness, even if May's holiday three-day observance happened on the early side, as it did in 2015. This eternal approach to the close of the lightest and loveliest of months -- hugs, April and June, you both rule, too -- means we get in our minds that the end of May must be mirthful. Mirthful like the sonnets suggest, and even if a known sonnet has not implored us to make merry at the end of May, it feels like all spring sonnets imply we should.
ARTISAN FAIR AHEAD: Thank goodness, then, for the large-scale artisan fairs. We're talking about the booths-lined-up, live-tunes-a-flowin' happenings that are all about the great goods crafted by makers, goods that are nice to both admire and purchase. Need a new plant holder or bird feeder or pair of earrings or scarf or belt buckle or art for the den wall? These are the sorts of places you find such things, and you usually get to meet the creator, too, as a bonus. Walnut Creek has one of the venerable art affairs of the area, one going on three and a half decades, now, and it has landed plunk upon that light and lovely final weekend of May. Also light and lovely? Admission to the 34th annual Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival is free.
SATURDAY, MAY 30 AND SUNDAY, MAY 31... are the dates, and 200-plus artisans are expected, bringing with them all sorts of whimsical and useful and beautiful wares. There shall be area wines on the pour, as the name suggests, so look for Caymus and Cakebread and a host of craft beers, too, and a kid's area, and, as an ode to autumn (which isn't all that faraway), a grape stomp. The local tunes shall be "non-stop" through the big-sized two-dayer. Are you feeling that end-of-May feel yet? The one that's super-sonnet-y and high-spring-like? The one that compels you to get outdoors and sip and sup and look upon lovely sights? There's no time like the present feeling it, for May is on its merry, springlike way out.
