Easter Bonnets Or Warm Jackets?
It has certainly been a crazy so-called Spring, and the Easter weekend was no exception.
Easter Bonnets? Easter Egg hunts on a nice warm day? Bright, colorful Spring clothes? No way! At least not in 2013! The early part of the weekend was great for melting our snow pack, which we have seen much too long, but Sunday was cool and blustery, with warm jackets being the fashion trend of the day.
Many people often question why Easter has such a changeable date, sometimes early, other times late, rather than a set place on the calendar such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, etc. We are told it’s because Easter Sunday celebrates the Christian belief of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The Easter date is set around the time of the March Equinox.
The March Equinox coincides with Easter Sunday and holidays that are related to it (referring to Palm Sunday, Good Friday, etc.). These holidays do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar or the Julian calendar, which is still used by many Orthodox Christian churches.
According to the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover, which was celebrated on the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox.
This soon led to Christians celebrating Easter on different dates. At the end of the 2nd Century, some churches celebrated Easter on the day of the Passover, while others celebrated it on the following Sunday.
Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25. March 21 is the date of the Vernal Equinox, the start of Spring in the northern hemisphere.
There have been a number of suggested reforms for the Easter date, but apparently none of the suggestions have been adopted.
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This column often carries words or wisdom or poems reflecting a particular season, hoping they will be uplifting to the reader on a cloudy day.
Following is a beautiful piece about Spring, which we know is here to stay, even if questionable at times, and will lift our spirits in a special way:
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The Beauty
Of Spring
So much of beauty
can be seen
When Spring makes
her debut...
Bedecked in finest
raiment, a lovely queen
Bows low for all to view.
Within her arms
she carries
Bouquets for all who stand
And revel in her glory,
The fairest of the land.
So much of Nature
can be seen
When Spring comes
to call...
A lazy day spent by a stream,
Beside a waterfall...
What more of pleasure
could one seek,
Than to loll around
any day of the week,
Sometimes in sun,
sometimes in shade
And take in all the
wonders made?
Red roses in my flower bed
Have taken on a
deeper red...
And other flowers of
every hue
Are kept afresh with
morning’s dew.
And then as Spring
comes to a close,
She grants me one
remaining rose,
As I wave a loving
and fond farewell...
I’m still in awe
of her magic spell.
