April 4th Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday comes in the most

beautiful time of the year in 

southeast Louisiana.

Not too hot, not too cold...

it's a Goldilocks,

just right,

time of year.

Ever wonder how a bunny delivers eggs,

or why eggs in the first place?

Well, I looked it up.

Easter, or more correctly Christian Easter,

is a movable feast.

That means it'll always fall on the first Sunday

after the first full moon after spring equinox.

So, this is relatively new in historical terms.

In pre-history, it was just another rite of spring.

The egg symbolized new life, rebirth and fertility.

In Persia, the egg was colored to give as a gift

during the spring rites.

In Judeo-Christian rites the egg symbolizes new life too,

but in early Christianity,

the egg was forbidden to eat during Lent,

so the faithful collected them for 40 days,

colored them and gave them as gifts to

celebrate the Resurrection.

As far as the rabbits go,

ancient Greeks thought the rabbit

reproduced spontaneously.

So the (obvious to them) connection

to the Virgin Mary was their conclusion.

This is the reason hares are commonly

seen in medieval religious art depicting Mary.

But,

the Easter Bunny is taken from the German Protestants.

He was called Osterhase.

 (translated to Easter Hare)

He brought colored eggs and sweets to good kids.

(Kinda the same as Santa, that also came from

the Germans. It was probably a way to

keep the kids in line for 6 months till

Christmas. Ha!)

Back to the Germans...

 Their traditions followed 

them to the American Colonies.

This is where a kinda new twist

started with Easter traditions.

The children of those colonists

fashioned "nests" in baskets for 

the sweets and eggs that

Mr Osterhase brought on Easter Sunday.

They decorated them to "encourage"

more goodies. 

The lamb is a symbol of Easter too.

It's roots are deep in the Jewish tradition of Passover,

where the angel of death passes over the homes whose

 doorways were smeared with sacrificial lambs blood,

 thus sparing their first born sons.

Now, it's an integral part of a Seder plate.

The lamb to the slaughter, the Pascal Lamb and

The Lamb of God are synonymous 

with Christ as well.

Oh, and why ham as dinner on Easter?

That's another tradition stolen from the Germans.

The pig was considered to bring good luck

and prosperity, so they slaughtered

a pig to eat in a communal meal

with relatives and friends on Easter.

So, here's hoping this cleared up those

burning questions that

inquiring minds want to know.

😂

*******************************

The Amaryllis are in full bloom!

What a beautiful flower!

These are a much more scarlet

color than they look in the photo.

This one fell over on a windy day,

so I cut it to bring inside.

I call them my peppermint Amaryllis.

The Louisiana Iris's are starting to 

bloom too.

This one is white with a pale yellow throat.

This is the typical purple.

You can really see the "Fleur de Lis"

in this one.

More white ones.

This will open up to be a pale yellow.

These are Stargazer Lilies.

They're beautiful but stink!

*******************************

Here's a few of the beets we harvested

(and ate) recently. 

They were huge!

A baby Artichoke.

We have 4 plants, but this is 

the only one bearing fruit so far.

Cauliflower X's 3

And 2 Mirlitons waiting for a spot in the garden

Some herbs and some veggies,

ready to plant in the raised garden.

******************

Easter Chicken Humor

Here's hoping that your Easter

was great.

*******************************

Here's a shout out to my sister

who suffered the loss of her

Easter, Halloween and Christmas candy yearly.

You see, she always took a long time to finish her candies, 

( mine were eaten faster than you could say

"Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail")

so I took on the responsibility

of assisting her in that endeavor.

I don't think she saw it as a helpful gesture.

In fact, looking back, neither did my Mom.

😔

But,

In my defense,

 I never ate her coconut candy.

(Because I hate coconut)

I even ate her Sugar "Looking Egg".

Yes, I was that kid.

Thanks baby sis, for a goofy memory,

Love you!

💚