It's May Day and we're counting down the days.

 It's May Day and we're counting down the days. 

We all know that today is May Day. The excitement is building and the Travelodge hotel across the road from us is eagerly anticipating its first guests. The curtains are up, bedroom pillows thoroughly plumped, cleaned and ready to be slept in. For ages there was nothing but advertising hoardings and a bus stop that looked as if it would remain in the same position for ever. Manor House tube station and Finsbury Park were geographical landmarks rather than the backdrop for a highly impressive new hotel. 

Across the United Kingdom the first day of May has more than the symbolic significance it might have had in years gone by. The fact of the matter is that May could be one of the months of the year for quite a while. We are now seemingly weeks away from freedom, clarity, transparency, nerve tingling, palpitating fun, the bright clearing in nationwide forests around Britain. In fact this could be one of its finest hours, weeks, months of our lives in recent times. You can almost sense liberation from illness. 

We've waited long enough so Ladies and Gentlemen all being well, it's time to put on your glad rags, dig out the party hats, fling open your front and back door and dance, dance and dance again down your roads, through your neighbourhood, your high streets, your meandering country lanes and then tell your butcher that you want as much meat as possible for an impromptu barbecue today. It almost feels as though we shouldn't be celebrating the imminent end to this year long coronavirus because it could be a false dawn. Perhaps we've been given the wrong information before and the virus is still rampant, poised to come back again behind our backs. 

And yet today is May Day, a day that would usually be marked with the now yearly march in Red Square, Moscow. There is something military and intimidating about the sight of countless rows of stern looking Russian soldiers seemingly goose stepping in regimented formations that most of us now think of as dated and anachronistic given the Second World War has been over for 76 years now. Besides, who needs to be reminded of tanks, guns, rifles and threatening poses? Who needs a reminder of men wearing grey uniforms and hats, ready to fight yet more bloodthirsty battles in countries far and wide? 

But those dastardly days of stifling Communism and disciplined nationalism still exist in those far off corners of Russia. Sure, Stalin and Lenin are but far off historical names from the past whose ideologies can still be felt. Since the arrival though, of Lithunia, Estonia and Belarus, Russia has become a modern, trendy, highly influential and dynamic country open to change, willing and able to embrace topical technologies, an accessible and approachable nation that now reluctantly smiles and laughs because as much as it may not be feeling it at the moment, even Russia may be in the mood for some vodka fuelled happiness. 

Meanwhile back in Britain the collective forces of the trades union movement normally take to the streets of London to air their grievances, shouting at the top of their voices, protesting loudly, seeking justice and generally advertising the important influence they can still exert on the day. They wave their banners and flags, slowly winding their way along the roads and streets, announcing those grandiose statements and kicking up a fuss. 

But this year London is still coming around from its psychologically demanding virus and you suspect those august members from the professional classes, the blue chip companies, the shopkeepers and traders will have something to say although not quite in the way they used to. Although the world may be on the threshold of complete recovery, there is still a sense that the pavements aren't as golden as the perception would have you  believe. And yet this is May Day so this could be your chance to make sure that May Day is simply the prelude to a glorious June.  

Shortly that cultural songfest that goes by the title of the Eurovision Song Contest will be returning to our TV screens yet again rather like a long forgotten uncle and aunt you may have given up all hope of meeting again except for those who may be secretly dreading them. For years the merry month of May has been brightly illuminated by the widest variety of songwriters and composers who believe that their European pop gem has to win for their country. Since 1956, Europe's most memorable ditties have attacked our ears rather like a pneumatic drill on a building site or maybe not. Perhaps the lyrics are so melodious and easy on the ear that one day Great Britain will win it hands down again. 

Still, here we are on the first day of May and wondering whether the world will ever right itself again. That lengthy queue outside your chemist is longing to be on a healthy footing. We are about to receive our second Covid 19 vaccine and it can only be a matter of a time before we're out of this appalling horror movie. There have been rumours and endless speculation, whispered thoughts which imply that the virus is fading slowly into oblivion never to be seen again. 

Last night the young and hip movers and shakers of Liverpool were allowed to enjoy themselves once again. In an experimental, pilot event, a nightclub on Merseyside was the venue for a Friday night boogie, a magnificent rave that was on the right side of legal. Then there were the first gulps of alcohol and it just felt right.  Roughly 4,000 attended last night's musical homage to the latest sounds and trends. It was a very tentative move forward and finally tantalising glimpses can be seen. This is wonderful. But let's not be too hasty. 

The next couple of weeks could be absolutely crucial. If the nightclub event went according to plan then we could be looking at full steam ahead and all systems go. In a couple of weeks time Chelsea will be meeting Leicester in this year's FA Cup Final. None of us can be sure whether a full contingent of supporters from both teams will be given the go ahead again. But May is upon us and the trees have never looked so picturesque even though they don't really look too bad during the winter. Life has hope in its heart and even the TV weather forecasters look much happier and upbeat. Summer is there at the bottom of the road so let's switch on that smile and wave at it. This could be the summer of all summers. Keep well everybody because life is like the sweetest peach. Hold on tight.