Happy Easter
I won't be enjoying any ham or lamb today- I don't do much for Easter anymore now that I've outgrown eggs and baskets and even Peeps (if that is possible. Check out the cool peep art featured in the Seattle Times today).
I'm not a regular church-goer anymore. As I told someone the other day. the only thing I've given up for Lent lately is, well, Lent.
Anyway, I always feel a twinge of guilt around Easter, as it is a reminder of some of my less-than-proud moments though I think I was a fairly decent kid. I wasn't mean or jealous or too bratty that I recall...but I think Easter must have brought out the worst in me, because two of my uglier moments as a child came out around this time.
Incident #1: I don't know how old I was, but on one Easter Sunday, I was playing on the playground at the park near my house. There were lots of kids there, including one little girl I didn't know with the biggest chocolate bunny I had ever seen. It had to have been almost half her height, with big candy eyes and holding a colored chocolate basket. It was impressive. She thought so too, as she stood in the middle of the playground, holding the mammoth bunny with both hands (required). There was no wrapping on it, and she stood there, proudly licking one of the ears while watching all of the kids who enviously watched her. This went on for some time, and I remembered getting annoyed at her showing off unapologetically for so long. Suddenly, she lost her grip and dropped it. When she picked it up, it was covered with sand..especially the parts that were softened and moist from her hands and mouth. She was very upset. It was ruined, and we all smiled and laughed with satisfaction that she got what she deserved.
Incident #2: Annual Easter egg hunt held at the Missoula County courthouse. The usual colored eggs and candy were hidden all around the courthouse lawn, with kids racing around in their Easter clothes and baskets to load up with the goodies. Every kid hoped to find one of the special eggs. These eggs were half pink, and had numbers, like a math problem, written on them. Any kid who found one of these eggs could trade it in for a silver dollar, which seemed like the most exciting thing ever. I really wanted one of those eggs and was desperately scouring the lawn looking for one. Out of the corner of my eye, this girl got my attention and I watched as she obviously had spotted something and was heading in a direction to retrieve it. I traced where she might be headed, and I saw it. She spotted a telltale pink and white egg, balanced on a ledge of a post. The post was much closer to me than it was to her, and I went and "found" it. She never said anything, she may have never realized that I never would have seen it were it not for her.
Since I was a child, there has not been one chocolate bunny or easter egg that has not reminded me of these incidents and caused a twinge of remorse or guilt.
However, I did get that silver dollar and kept it for several years. Maybe I didn't like the reminder that I cheated to get that silver dollar, or perhaps I just wanted some candy.
I'm not a regular church-goer anymore. As I told someone the other day. the only thing I've given up for Lent lately is, well, Lent.
Anyway, I always feel a twinge of guilt around Easter, as it is a reminder of some of my less-than-proud moments though I think I was a fairly decent kid. I wasn't mean or jealous or too bratty that I recall...but I think Easter must have brought out the worst in me, because two of my uglier moments as a child came out around this time.
Incident #1: I don't know how old I was, but on one Easter Sunday, I was playing on the playground at the park near my house. There were lots of kids there, including one little girl I didn't know with the biggest chocolate bunny I had ever seen. It had to have been almost half her height, with big candy eyes and holding a colored chocolate basket. It was impressive. She thought so too, as she stood in the middle of the playground, holding the mammoth bunny with both hands (required). There was no wrapping on it, and she stood there, proudly licking one of the ears while watching all of the kids who enviously watched her. This went on for some time, and I remembered getting annoyed at her showing off unapologetically for so long. Suddenly, she lost her grip and dropped it. When she picked it up, it was covered with sand..especially the parts that were softened and moist from her hands and mouth. She was very upset. It was ruined, and we all smiled and laughed with satisfaction that she got what she deserved.
Incident #2: Annual Easter egg hunt held at the Missoula County courthouse. The usual colored eggs and candy were hidden all around the courthouse lawn, with kids racing around in their Easter clothes and baskets to load up with the goodies. Every kid hoped to find one of the special eggs. These eggs were half pink, and had numbers, like a math problem, written on them. Any kid who found one of these eggs could trade it in for a silver dollar, which seemed like the most exciting thing ever. I really wanted one of those eggs and was desperately scouring the lawn looking for one. Out of the corner of my eye, this girl got my attention and I watched as she obviously had spotted something and was heading in a direction to retrieve it. I traced where she might be headed, and I saw it. She spotted a telltale pink and white egg, balanced on a ledge of a post. The post was much closer to me than it was to her, and I went and "found" it. She never said anything, she may have never realized that I never would have seen it were it not for her.
Since I was a child, there has not been one chocolate bunny or easter egg that has not reminded me of these incidents and caused a twinge of remorse or guilt.
However, I did get that silver dollar and kept it for several years. Maybe I didn't like the reminder that I cheated to get that silver dollar, or perhaps I just wanted some candy.
posted by kerrymac @ 1:32 PM
0 comments
