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Remember Easter as a kid? I loved Easter. And despite my advanced age I do remember a few things from Easter as a child...
I was allowed to wear my new shoes and spring coat for Easter mass.
Is it me, or was the weather nicer then? Seems it was always beautiful and warm at Easter. Or I could possibly be losing my mind, it seems to wander off more and more regularly these days.
Mom and Dad would hide our Easter baskets somewhere in the house.
We didn't to an Easter egg hunt - I think maybe that wasn't a French thing to do. But oh, the thrill of hunting down the Easter basket full of goodies! We each got a basket AND a present. It was always so damn hard to find, although come to think of it, it was usually hidden behind the couch or curtains - pretty much the first place I'd think to look today.
For once in the year, I could eat as much candy as I wanted.
Of course I went overboard. One particular year I ate waaaay to much and was sick for two days. The very thought of milk chocolate disgusted me for years after. Poor mom, not only did she have to hold my miserable head and wash up after me, in subsequent years she had to find dark chocolate Easter bunnies. Not an easy thing, those many many years ago. The things mother will put up with!
Cute little chickies
I loved those petting farms they set up at Easter. And I always wanted a pet chick. Of course my evil mom always said no. I completely understand now. I can't help but wonder how those poor little things fared at the hands of all those children. How many survived past a few days? And if they did, did they make it to chickenhood? Did the disinterested kids ever end up eating Fluffy without knowing it?
And a few questions:
What are peeps?
Why a bunny and eggs?
Why not a chicken and eggs, it would be much more logical. Or a bunny and baby bunnies which would be much cuter.
And how did bunnies and chocolate and eggs come to be mixed with the crucifixion? Ok, I know christians co-opted the pagan "Hey Spring is here" party, like they did with pretty much all the other pagan feasts and bunnies are fertile and spring is too and yadda yadda yadda. Meh...
Edited to add: I just took off the pic that was here as the author red Xed it with the whole "you're evil" text. I can understand his not wanting me to put it up, but as I emailed him about it, he coulda just emailed me back saying I'd rather you just take it down, and I would have. Go figure.
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18 comments:
Funny, I still remember many Easters with dreadful weathers, cold Easter days or rainy ones. But I remember more the sunny ones. And the romantic part of me thinks that while Easter Sunday should be sunny, Good Friday should be cold and rainy.
Oh, as for the bunny and the eggs, the egg represents new life (of course) and the bunny/rabbit was often associated with Spring in Pagan traditions. But I also read a story that said that a couple of German kids, doing their Easter eggs hunt, saw a rabbit running away from a spot where their parents had put the eggs, hence they believed that the rabbit had left them there. But I think it is a urban legend. There is a pretty good "Atheist Eve" comics that explains the many traditions Easter. Jesus does not have much to do with any of them.
Guillaume - I probably blocked out the bad weather. By this time of year I'm more than ready for warmth. And I had heard of all those pagan traditions. Somehow the christian crucifixtion seems to put something of a damper on the party, eh? Even the resurrection doesn't quite cut it for me. The thing I'm amazed at is how the marketers co-opted the whole damn thing to make it about chocolate... ;-)
Have a wonderful one punctuated with all the things you cherish, and blessings to you and Mr. Jazz.
Actually, the crucifix/cross is a modified phallic symbol. There were Celtic crosses in Brittain before the Christians came. Which is not to say that the cross was not an instrument of torture used by the Romans (it was), only that the cross already meant something for the Pagans, and it had to do with rebirth, life and so on.
Don't you just love those peeps!? Have you ever tried microwaving them for 10 seconds? -- absolute heaven!
I seem to remember a lot of warm, sunny Easter Sundays as a kid, too. I also remember Good Friday as always being rainy.
I don't know exactly how the bunnies and chocolate and eggs got mixed up in the crucifixion and resurrection either. Nor do I know what peeps are.
Have a good Easter weekend anyway!
Ha ha! I like Charlie's message.
I'm not used to you posting two days out like this so here's my comment on your concert weekend:
I was going to say how hard to believe it is that we are about the same age and you still do concerts but then I thought that you met me and seemed to like me so I figure you have a high tolerance for "the crazy."
OK, peeps are marshmallow chickens. The best fun you can have with them is to have a "Peep Joust", which is outfitting each Peep with a jousting stick (or whatever they're called) which is actually a toothpick, and then putting them in a microwave. Peeps expand in a microwave, and the first Peep to puncture another Peep with the toothpick wins the joust. Most fun if you have a microwave that revolves, as then the Peeps appear to be chasing each other.
Enough of that. The reason behind getting chocolates and such at Easter, for Christians, is as follows: Lent is a period of fasting, as you know from your own upbringing, no doubt. Children are encouraged to give up something for Lent. Being kids, what can they give up that is especially a sacrifice? Many choose candy or chocolate or other goodies. The baskets are a reward for the giving up, and display the concept of giving up a little and receiving much, in the end, for the effort. And there you go!
I remember Dad bribing me by allowing me to have my egg early as long as I split it with him. He'd then head out to a garage on the Saturday and snag me a cheap one for Sunday. I used to love this our little sneaky tradition.
Nice collection of Easter memories. My basket with chocolate bunny was always right outside my bedroom door. But eggs were hidden all over the house. I enjoyed decorating them more than eating them.
Shame on you for stealing images. LOL
Ian - Thank you.
Guillaume - Interesting; from rebirth to torture...
Susan - Until Suldog's explanation I had no idea what a peep was.
Pinklea - It must be an American thing.
Geewits - I love me the crazy.
Suldog - OK, that's my type of activity. Jousting marshmallows...
Hagelrat - Gotta love a subversive dad.
Gaelyn - Stolen, but with full credit!
the rabbits: the whole spring thang is all about rebirth and fertility, and what's more fertile than rabbits?
Ricë - The lady who just had 8 kids?
Peeps are to candy what the author of the Red X picture is to humanity. In short, perhaps not the best.
In fact, Peeps (which are marshmallow chicks covered with sugar) are disgusting and only hold appeal to children who have no idea that the world actually holds wonders.
I never really cared for easter. As a kid I wondered why the F**K was I dying these eggs in pastel colors and then hunting them down the next day in various parts of the house? Bunnies? Pshh!
I liked the chocolate part though.
Jocelyn - Well I guess it's good that I've never come across any peeps then.
Rachel - The chocolate part was pretty much the only reason for Easter - at least when I got over my disgust of the stuff.
What came first - the bunny or the egg? :)
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