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| Preparing bags of Maundy Money |
For us in government offices, Maundy Thursday meant the start of a lovely extra-long weekend off work. Most had a half day off on Thursday, then on Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon offices remained completely closed. In our legal-based office, even the following Tuesday was quiet, because in the city where I worked local lawyers, or some of them, following a peculiar local tradition, took Tuesday as holiday too. Easter was the longest and best best Bank Holiday of the year. Nowadays, in retirement, all days are much the same.
Easter. One doesn't have to be a devout Christian to appreciate the reality of resurrection and re-birth happening all around.
“In the oddity or maybe the miracle of life, the roots of something new frequently lie in the decaying husks of something old.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
“It’s hard to walk briskly at this time of year; the accelerating pace of unfolding spring slows my own. I repeatedly stop- to watch what’s moving. Soon the torrent of migrants will completely overwhelm my ability to keep up with all the changes. But it’s easy to revel in the exuberance and the sense of rebirth, renewal.”
― Carl Safina, The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World.
“There is a fragrance in the air, a certain passage of a song, an old photograph falling out from the pages of a book, the sound of somebody's voice in the hall that makes your heart leap and fills your eyes with tears. Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die?”
― Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale.
“If anyone or anything tries to curse or kill the Goodness at the Center of all things, it will just keep coming back to life. Forever Easter.”
― David Housholder, The Blackberry Bush.
9 comments:
Easter was a Sunday-only holiday in my youth, with no Good Friday recognition, nor did we have a week off school for spring break. The same for all of my adult, working years, though there were floating holidays to be used as the employee desired on top of the mandated holidays.
I'm Pagan-agnostic, so of course, I'm not in favor of religious observations as holidays. The USA's predominate Christian population has a stranglehold on the country's ideological concepts of democracy and individual rights, with tentacles extending into politics, health, education, capitalism, jurisprudence, etc, with constitutional rights interpreted through the gossamer of Christianity.
It's defying that the holy celebrations of Christianity were blatantly subjugated from the natural-world, Pagan beliefs. It will be such a relief when the Age of Pisces finally concludes and takes the dogma of with it.
As to your post...we are well into the spring season here and the resurrection is happening as I type! The mosquitoes have already appeared, too, with our abundance of rain (we've been in drought the past several years). I finally harvested the lemons, tangerines, and oranges during March. I have a huge crop of dill waiting for the migrating Monarch Butterflies to lay their eggs (the adults die after laying eggs...it's their offspring caterpillars eating the dill that make the migration north). We are in the low 80s daytime, upper 60s nights, and humid again.
mike ~ At the rate we're going, the exit of Age of Pisces will probably take us all with it. From water creatures we came, and to water we shall return(?) Age of Aquarius will enter with its winds of the most basic kinds of changes on this planet we've called Earth. There's a way to go yet though, lots more of the crazy!
You're further into spring down there than we are. When we went out to the supermarket the other day it was good to see the trees palely leafing out and the Red-buds in bloom - parts of the town were looking quite picturesque. Temps are in see-saw mode: today up to 85 degrees, tomorrow tipping down to mid 60s again, punctuated by passing storms.
We're in stage 5 of water restrictions here - no watering outdoors at all, no car washing etc. on pain of a hefty fine.
Stage five water restrictions sounds serious! What is your primary water source? Arkansas River?
We are in stage three restrictions and our reservoirs are at 30% full. We've had considerable coastal rain, but minimal inland where the reservoirs are located. One of our reservoirs is just south of San Antonio.
I've been very dismayed at our city residents' lack of concern for rationing. 40% of our annual water consumption is used on lawns! This region is semi-arid naturally (we border a desert), yet most residents plant grasses and ornamentals popular in much higher rainfall regions. Also, the two-stroke engine of a lawnmower is a major air polluter.
I grew-up in Kansas and the lawns were browned-out by July...we had to be careful with fireworks. The ritzier homes sprayed their dead grass with green dye! I suppose that the notion of beautiful, verdant lawns comes from the image of affluence that we Americans love at the expense of reality.
This should make some Christians belch:
"The report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center says that by 2050, Muslims are projected to nearly match Christians in both number and share of the global population."
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/02/report-islam-fastest-growing-major-faith-in-coming-decades/21160720/?icid=maing-grid7|maing15|dl2|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D637775
mike (again) ~ Our primary water source is Waurika Lake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waurika_Lake
Prospects are not good!
We're much the same here re lawns. Nearly every house has grass lawns/yards back and/or front. We've never watered the grass, ever, but we're the only ones on our road who haven't ever done so. I did water the narrow strip of garden containing 4 bushes, during the hottest months, but can do that no longer. If the bushes die off I'd like to have the strip of garden covered with big pieces of river rock or similar.
I'd love to get rid of all the grass, back and front too, but there's too much of it. When it's green it's green, when it dries it's beige and stays that way. :-)
Oh my, yes that'll put 'em off their Easter eggs!
I like Easter ... more Bunnies everywhere.
And chocolate for those that can eat it.
And back in the day, Mom was big on the Pansies I would give her.
...
I live in a sea-level city.
But you can see the ski-runs.
In 2012 all the snow was gone by July 1st (Canada Day).
I hate to say it's gone already.
kidd.
Anon/kidd ~ We don't often see bunnies, lots of squirrels though - and moles digging up the back yard as though it was theirs - well, it really is theirs, moreso than ours in fact!
Easter eggs (the choc kind), back in the UK always seemed to taste better than ordinary chocolate bars. Something about how thin the choc. I think. Mum used to buy me one every Easter, even in my adulthood, until she died.
Dear oh dear - evidence of the Earth's warming is everywhere now, and likely past the point of no return. :-(
Two short videos from Betty's:
"Crafting Our Easter Eggs" and "Easter Windows"
http://www.bettys.co.uk/about-us/videos
mike (again) ~ Ah thanks for the video links - Betty's! Well-known for their Choc Eggs at Easter. Yes I remember Betty's well. There was a Betty's Tea Room/Restaurant in a town near where I worked. I didn't get to go there often. It was one of those places for "ladies who lunch" (hats an' all, rather posh!) in those days, anyway. They made a mean Welsh Rarebit though, and scrumptuous thin-cut toast dipped in cinnamon sugar...went down very well with a nice pot of tea. :-)
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