It was the first time in 19 years that I didn't have my kids with me for Easter. Somehow, in the 6 previous years that I've been divorced, Easter Sunday always fell on my days with them. Which is just as well - their father got them chocolate bunnies this year but all the things I always did - dyed eggs and baskets and an egg hunt, he skipped. I told them we would have the regular celebration the next time my older son was home.
In the meantime, I was left to my own devices on Easter. I know, it's a religious holiday and you're supposed to go to church. Unless you're a nontheist like me and prefer the older Spring-based associations of new life. Birth, death, rebirth - a celebration as old as humanity. So I observed the day my own way - I made an omelet for breakfast (you have to have eggs, right?), planted a bunch of cheery pansies to remind me that we are almost to more consistently good weather, and settled in during the rainy afternoon to watch a couple of thematically appropriate movies:
Jesus Henry Christ (a quirky little movie about a boy genius conceived through IVF who sets out to find his biological father) and
Jesus Christ Superstar (that 70's musical told from the perspective of Judas).
And I got dinner ready to go - French bread with this wonderful port-laced cheddar, a shrimp pasta dish jam-packed with delicious ingredients, and a bottle of pinot grigio. And chocolate for dessert, of course, since you must have chocolate at Easter.
Well Eostre, sounds like a good time to me. And that cheese pictured, my daughter gave me a slice of it without telling me about it and I expected chocolate, but it was quite good.
ReplyDeleteThey were handing out samples at Trader Joe's so I bought some. Good stuff.
Delete"Birth, death, rebirth - a celebration as old as humanity. So I observed the day my own way."
ReplyDeleteSame here. That's how I celebrate as well.
Beeeeautiful pansies! Aren't they such a happy-looking flower? Love the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. That was actually one of the first off-Broadway shows I saw after moving to NYC in 1974.
Your dinner sounded delish! And I gotta try and find the cheese you mentioned because I adore cheese.
Glad you had a great Easter day!
X
P.S. love the candy jar filled with malted eggs. love that candy!
I just love the happy little faces on pansies - they look like little dogs or maybe lions.
DeleteI'm a big cheese fan, too, and love finding new ones to try. The jar actually has Cadbury mini eggs, my very favorite Easter candy. But I do like malted eggs, too - the ones called Robin's eggs? Yum.
Sounds like you had a nice Easter Sunday. I've never seen that cheese before, very interesting. I do love cheese! Glad you had company for the evening.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm glad to have him as company any evening.
DeleteYou make me giggle with your commentary!
ReplyDeleteGlad to entertain!
DeleteI celebrate Easter as a more general sort of holiday of rebirth and renewal as well. Your day sounds lovely. I actually haven't seen Jesus Christ, Superstar...but I have seen Jesus Henry Christ, which was not bad!
ReplyDeleteIt's very dated, but still worth the watch - the entire thing is singing (and dancing).
Deletenice looking cheese...and sounds like a good easter...know you would probably enjoyed having your boys...haha and good job marking the holiday...smiles.
ReplyDeleteSeemed like a better idea than just doing nothing!
Deleteoh you make me giggle (in a good way) with the way you chose to observe the day. i like your style. it sounds like in spite of not having your boys it was indeed a celebration though so it's all good. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much my approach to life - might as well celebrate, right?
DeleteThe music in Jesus Christ Superstar is great. We had a good family get together. I didn't think of this until now, but the announcement at the party of a niece expecting does fit the fertility aspect of the spring celebration.
ReplyDeleteYes it is - we had that soundtrack album when I was a kid.
DeleteI had the eggs, the chocolate, the (almost ) pansies,the warm body. But due to the roll of random dice I did not have a good day . Still, a temporary state :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy spring for real :-)
Love
kj
Oh, I'm sorry, but hope it looks up soon.
DeleteThat sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day. Secular Easter. I love it. Sec-easter? Oh, heck, it's just a celebration of spring!! and Yay for spring....I wish it was pansy season here.
ReplyDeletePansies sometimes make it through the winter here, so I felt like it was safe enough to get them in the ground now.
DeleteOnce the boys are both out on their own, will they be coming to visit you or their dad on Easter? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteOr neither, maybe. I have no idea if they'll come home for that or spend it with girlfriends/wives or whatever.
DeleteIn lime's words, I like your style! You marked Easter Day in your own special individual way and it went well. And as you say, topped off with a reminder of sex and fertility!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the port-laced cheddar either. I bet it's delicious.
Thanks! I'm determined to get to the end of my life happy with how I"ve spent it.
DeleteAnd that cheese was delicious.
I didn't go to church or have any eggs, chocolate or sex. Now I feel like I missed the holiday!
ReplyDeleteNot to late to have a delayed celebration!
DeleteThat sounds like a peaceful, pleasant Easter to me! My mom and I didn't go to church either. She came over to my place and we ate crab legs for an early dinner and then cherry pie and Easter candy for dessert while we watched "Skyfall" and a part of "Snow White and the Huntsman". When we were bored with "Snow White", we watched last week's episode of "Justified". It was a relaxing day!
ReplyDeleteMovies and good food, sounds pretty nice!
DeleteSounds like a lovely day and you still get to celebrate Easter with your boys at a later date. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, kess than two weeks from now.
DeletePort-laced cheddar AND cuddling with a warm body?
ReplyDeleteWay to make the holiday your own.
I do my best.
DeleteOh this sounds like a pleasant and sweet way to spend Easter :) Plus, cheese is always a good idea!
ReplyDeleteYes it is, isn't it?
DeleteI'm afraid to say that Easter just passes me by. I'm just not interested in all that silly superstition etc.
ReplyDeleteI too was alone, as Lady Magnon is away in London looking after grandsons. Just before her departure we did the usual shopping for choco-eggs, which I had presumed were for the boys. Imagine my surprise when I found two large empty packs in the bedroom; she'd eaten the lot!!! Naughty, naughty.
The superstition is inconsequential to me. I just believe in celebrating life.
DeleteAnd grown-ups need chocolate eggs, too.
Your "sacrifice" to the goddess will give us all prosperity in the coming years. :)
ReplyDeleteEven though your kids weren't with you it sounds like you had a damn fine holiday. I didn't go to Church either. Not for me any longer. Great post as usual. I am playing catch ups so will read all posts I have missed out on.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to let holidays just pass me by, even if I'm normally celebrating them with kids.
Deletewarm body and pasta. niceeee.
ReplyDeleteNothing better than a nontheist celebration of the burgeoning colours of renewal and rebirth.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the colours of your dining room, so inviting.
XO
WWW
Thank you - those colors make me happy every time I'm in there.
Delete