To all you moms, grandmas, great and great-great grandmas out there. Mother's Day is one of those holidays that are celebrated throughout the world, not always on the same date, but with the same intent … remembering mothers. So whether you're called mother, ma, mum, mom, mama, mere, madre … this day is dedicated to you. Rest, relax, enjoy … let someone else do the dishes for a change. Here are some mother/child photos, I thought you'd enjoy.
May Day. May Day. May Day.
No, there is no emergency. Sorry, if I alarmed you. We just celebrated May Day on Sunday and I thought I'd share it with you. May Day, aka Beltane, is a celebration of fertility. It is Mother Earth's consummate union with The Green Man, signifying the beginning of the summer season and the abundance and fecundity of the earth after a long, harsh winter.
So how did we celebrate? We joined Lin's wicca/earth-centered group once again at the UU church in Milton. Lin loaned me a long, gauzy, billowy skirt to wear a la my hippy wardrobe of the 60's. She was the mistress of ceremonies this time and led the group. She spoke of the festivals celebrated for centuries past with bonfires, flower wreaths and dancing around the Maypole, a phallic symbol, for sure. We drank mead, broke bread, jumped over our mini-Beltane fire and then … yup, we danced around the Maypole … on the church lawn.
Long, colorful ribbons had been attached to the top of the pole before it was erected and each member (20 or more of us) grabbed a strand of ribbon and began weaving it around the pole. One person strung the ribbon over, the next person under … everyone lost track and before long, it didn't matter. Laughing and good fun ensued till the ribbons were short and the weaving was complete. A potluck feast and a bit of wine topped off the late afternoon celebration. I'm ready for summer. Bring it on!
Easter has always been a fun holiday in our family. As a kid, growing up in Massachusetts, I remember getting a new Easter dress, hat and shoes. Many times there was still snow on the ground. We went to church and then came home for a ham dinner with the grandparents. Easter baskets were filled with hollow chocolate bunnies and Peeps, those disgusting, bright yellow, marshmallow chicks which now, I find, come in any number of neon, unnatural chick colors.
With our own kids, Easter was more of a “welcome Spring” holiday than a religious event. We dyed and decorated eggs. Casey and I usually made a large 3-D lamb-shaped cake frosted white and covered in coconut. The two boys found great joy in leaving a trail of black jellybeans near the lamb's butt ... the ultimate gross joke on Mom. Hee, hee, hee. Of course, they forgot I was the one who bought the black jelly beans in the first place.
The Easter Bunny hid candy treats and plastic eggs all over the house and the yard. The kids used their baskets to collect all the booty. As they got older, the egg hunt became more of a scavenger hunt with clues to follow and riddles to solve and monetary treats as well as confectionery ones.
In Australia, it's the Easter Bilby, not rabbit, that brings all the goodies. The rabbit-eared bilby really does look bunny-ish, although Lord knows, there are plenty of rabbits in Australia, too, though they're not native.
So now, fast track to being in New England for Easter. I was here last year, as a matter of fact, and the whole family, all adults now, spent the morning coloring and decorating eggs. I thought it would make sense to try that again this year with Mom, Lin and family.
We'll have lots of flowers … tulips, lilies, alstroemeria, daffodils, colored Easter eggs, a bit of chocolate and generally a celebration of Spring and family. The bad part? David is not with us. He's celebrating with the refrig/freezer in Adelaide. Hopefully, he'll be in Boston with us soon.
It makes no difference if you're celebrating Easter or Passover or the coming of Spring (or autumn, if you're down under). In my book, it's the opportunity to celebrate that counts. Carpe diem … every single diem.
| Days and Ways to Celebrate |
| A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them. |
| Crayola Day |
| Crayolas were first introduced in 1903. Remember getting a new box of crayons as a kid? No broken tips. All those wonderful colors. That waxy smell. Check out the Crayola website for some fun things to do and then checkWiki for a list of colors...WOW! |
| Bunsen Burner Day |
| Remember chemistry class? This day celebrates the invention of the Bunsen Burner by German chemist Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen. Do not melt your crayons! |
| Easter Sunday |
| Put on your Easter Bonnet and join the Easter Parade. Go to church, celebrate Spring, see what the Easter Bunny brought or participate in an egg hunt. Of course, if you're in Australia, you'll be checking to see what the Easter Bilby brought! |
Hi there and welcome to Just A Little Further!
We are David and Marcie Lynn and we've lived aboard our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sailboat since 2000.
What began as an urge to travel slowly and economically at our own pace ended up an adventure of a lifetime.
Well, here we are ... nearly 90,000 miles under the keel, 5 continents, 5 Great Southern Capes, 36 countries and almost two decades later, still taking one passage at a time and going just a little further.
