Good morning, Happy Easter to you and your family. Before I get off to spend time with Charlie as David is working this evening. I wanted to bring you Daily Bizarre and Unique Calendar Holidays – April, 4th, 2021.
Easter Sunday – varies
The real meaning of Easter, is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To Christians, like my family this is the most special day of the year. Yes, the birth of Christ is quite important. But, his resurrection offers the hope of everlasting life to everyone!
The Lenten season leading up to Easter Sunday is a time of fasting, sacrifice and prayer. This is the Christian way of replicating in a small way what Christ sacrificed for us, in his fasting and his final death on the cross.
Did you know that the word “Easter” comes for the Saxon pagan festival, honoring the goddess “Easter” (also called Oestre). The goddess Easter’s symbol is the rabbit.
Did You Know? Approximately 1.5 billion “Peeps” are sold for Easter. Which is one of Suzzane and David’s favorite candy. Along with my sister. As for me and Charlie we don’t care for Peeps. Do you like them?
Easter is celebrated with the Easter Bunny, colored eggs, jelly beans, and lot’s of chocolate. The Easter Bunny might be a He (or she, but in my household the Easter Bunny like Santa is a guy) comes on Saturday night leading up to Easter Sunday morning.
For most kids the Easter Bunny brings lots of chocolates and other candies. That’s one meaning to Easter, especially if you are a kid or a “Chocolaholic”. Not in my home as there is minimal candy in the basket but lots of toys and Art Supplies along with a movie and book.
There is a famous Easter game called the Easter Egg Hunt. Early morning kids go outside to find the many colored Easter eggs that the Easter bunny has hidden the night before.
The Easter Egg Hunt was the first game ever invented and its said that the tradition started because the Easter Bunny dropped the eggs on the way to deliver them and they hide themselves.
That is how the Easter Egg Hunt was supposedly invented. For more information check out the Easter Egg Hunt page. Noe, I never heard of this game but as a child we used to play Colored Eggs. Which I am not sure Charlie has ever played. I guess its time to teach him so one day he can share the game with his children.
Most of us will celebrate both parts of this spring holiday awakening Easter Sunday morning, the children will hunt for the Easter basket left by the Easter Bunny.
The family will dress in their finest clothes, and a lof of family will set off to church to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Then the holiday tradition varies. Some have a big breakfast or brunch feast.
Other families will have a big main meal with baked ham being the most common meat. Colored hard boiled eggs will also be popular. This isn’t a day for high cholesterol diets. Its a day to feast as the long Lenten season is over and Christ has arisen.
Easter Lilies are a popular flower and sign of Easter although I always think of Tulips which I try and bring to Suzzane as well as my mom and grandmother. Who are celebrating Easter in Heaven with my dad and many other family members.
Lilies or Tulips are great as gifts for mom or grandma, to decorate the Easter table with. Garden stores and floral shops force the blooms to peak as Easter arrives. Providing a splash of color to the early spring season.
These flowers are grown from bulbs. They can be transplanted into your home garden after the blooms have died off. They will bloom in your flower garden every spring! Here is more information on how to grow Easter Lilies.
Don’t forget that the date for Easter changes every year. It is the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. Which means it can fall in March or April.
The Polish Blessed Easter Breakfast
A joyful tradition that anyone may start.
To the Christian church and Polish culture, Easter is the highest holiday of the church year. Its a celebration of Christ rising from the dead, and our own promise of eternal life in Heaven.
The Polish Blessed Breakfast on Easter Sunday morning, is a very special event. After fasting for 40 days during Lent, the enormous breakfast is an inviting feast, that’s certain to put back on some of the weight lost in fasting.
Let’s dial back to the day before…. Holy Saturday. On the morning of Holy Saturday, a basket is filled with portions over every item to be served at the breakfast on Easter morning.
This includes: breads, meats, eggs, sweet breads, and more. The meal even includes the salt, pepper, butter, horseradish, and wine. Yes, wine will be served at breakfast!
In Christen churches with large Polish communities, and other Christian churches, there is a special Holy Saturday morning ceremony. If you have never attended, it is a sight to behold.
Prior to the ceremony the church is a buzz with cheerful conversation and laughter. The long Lenten season is past, and the celebration of tomorrow’s Easter is truly something to put you in a celebratory mood.
In addition, outside the church walls, spring is breaking out all over. As the ceremony is about to begin, the participants open all of the items in their baskets, in preparation for them to be blessed. The pleasant aroma is overwhelming.
The ceremony is short, and the baskets are blessed with holy water. Upon completion of the ceremony, the foods are wrapped back up, and participants take there Basket home.
Traditional Easter Basket Foods:
These foods are most commonly included. If you do not have these items or they are not what you or your family would like then variations are fine:
Bacon – a symbol of the overabundance of God’s mercy on us.
Bread – Home baked bread, the staff of life
Easter Bread (Babka) – a special round loaf, make of rich dough and raisins, and decorated with a cross. It reminds us of Jesus the Risen Lord.
Candle (non-edible) – It symbolizes Jesus, the Life and Light of the world.
Horseradish – Represents the bitter herbs of the original Passover meal. It symbolizes the bitterness of the Passion of Jesus.
Cheese – a symbol of Christian moderation
Colored Eggs – Indicates hope, new life and resurrection
Butter – Shaped into the figure of a lamb, or a cross. Celebrates the end of Lent and the richness of Salvation, which flows from the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Ham – be symbolic of great joy and abundance
Salt – Symbolizes wisdom and preservation from corruption, and reminds us that Jesus did not undergo corruption from the grave.
Sausage – This is a Slavic tradition and the links remind us of the chains of death. Which were broken when Jesus rose from the dead.
Gives us the opportunity to give a hug to your local news person. Although, in this day and time we may not have a news person as most people don’t subscribe to a newspaper.
Is an important day to avoid problems and risks, by simply walking around the potential problem. You wouldn’t walk under a ladder, would you? Then, its wise to walk around objects, especially those that pose risk or danger. For Charlie this is his friend Bradley. Which is sad since they have been friends most of there lives.
“Walk around things” can also be used figuratively. Its wise to walk around, or avoid, issues, and problems that are sticky, (Politics) which may provoke an argument, or are not readily solved.
Being Charlie’s teacher, Principal and Librarian if your Homeschooling your children like I am. Then I think we deserve a Gift don’t you? A new book by our favorite Author would be the perfect Gift for me. How about you?
Honors those who serve our students l in the local school libraries. But it should also serve those of us Homeschooling. The education of young minds needs to be nurtured and fed. Feeding these minds with good quality, reading material and reference materials is what school librarians excel at.
Take a minute today, to thank all the librarians for there hard work they do daily, and the patience the librarian displays, as he or she aids our youth. As well as adults if they work in a Public Library.
Here is ways to show appreciation to Librarians in a variety of ways, including:
- When you see them give them a big smile and say “Thank You!”
- Tell them there doing a wonderful job.
- Send an Ecard if you don’t know there email address just ask them
- Buy an age appropriate book and donate it to the library
Which isn’t something I want to teach my child. But I know we all lie or fib at least once a day. So we could tell a lie and use it as a teaching lesson and why we shouldn’t like and how it can hurt someone’s feelings.
If you ever need to tell a lie, today is the day to do so. But please, do not make a habit of lying. Make sure you also stress not lying to your children and even a fib is a lie.
. Why someone would create a day to encourage a person to lie is hard to comprehend but be that as it is, today is the day to tell lies, big and small and yes, this includes fibbing.
Tomorrow, it’s back to “honesty is the best policy”.
Did you know today is World Rat Day? This is a Holiday to honor, celebrate and promote pet rats. Did you know Pet rats are also called “Fancy Rats”? World Rat Day holiday may seem bizarre and unique as they come but this isn’t no joke. There are plenty of people around the world, called “rat fanciers”, who love and care for rats as a pet.
Although, this isn’t me and never will be. I could see Charlie and David having a Rat for a pet. That is if I would let them which isn’t happening. Would you have a Pet Rat or do you?
In researching this Holiday, I found many adjectives to describe the fancy pet rat: clean, dear, devoted, gentle, sweet, wonderful, intelligent, and lovable.
Charlie asked me to share a quote with about Rats with you “You dirty rat”, from the movie “Taxi with James Cagney . What Cagney actually said was: ” Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow bellied, rat, or I’ll give it to you through the door”. Can you think of other quotes from or about Rats? Charlie and I couldn’t but we did think of a movie you might want to watch this morning Ratatouille.
Think back to your childhood and the poem the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He used his magical pipe to lure rats away from the town of Hamelin, Germany, saving the town from an epidemic.
Rat fanciers celebrate this Holiday by hosting Rat Day parties and rat fests, treating there pets to special treats. If you would like to celebrate this day and you don’t have a pet Rat visit your local Pet Store.
