Decorating for Easter

I pulled five boxes of Easter decorations out of my garage, yesterday.

Five boxes and I am not done because everything I have is not out yet.

I must think that the celebration of Easter equals that of Christmas if I can judge by my commitment to buying and saving Easter decorations.

I have yet to find my cloisonné decorations from China and I am sure that I have more Easter baskets than the four I pulled out.

Michael, Alice and Betty helped me open boxes. Michael was given the task of opening my most precious decorations – small wooden rabbits in hot air balloons, riding bikes, dancing, sitting on park benches, all of them from the Christmas shop in a German city whose name I have long forgotten.

Each one he unwrapped he said, “Oh this one is darling”.

Probably a script I have given him, but he was correct. He dropped the second one he opened and when I picked it up, I redropped it. I suppose it just slipped out of both our hands. We put aside that one and all the others we broke while bringing them out of their boxes and today I pulled out the glue gun and made as many corrections as I could. One bunny needed an arm, an ear, and a foot – three major operations.

I have twelve purple tea light holders. I am thinking that I will bring out some matches and let the kids try lighting the wicks. I can’t think of what else to do with them. I am not a big “light a candle for ambience” person. But if the task is for children to learn how to light candles, well, I can go for that, though I hardly can think of why anyone would have to learn to strike a match these days.

My whole island is covered with Easter decorations. I am doing this in a big way: 2 baskets full of eggs Ukranian eggs, opaque glass geese added to an alreay full Easter tree. Even my Halloween tree, a black trunk with black bats sitting on the black tips of branches has been brought into service for Easter. I am hoping that the yellow and purple decorations will overwhelm its potential spookiness.

Catherine told me that if I will buy some of those plastic Easter eggs and fill them with candy, and then hide them in the back yard, I will become a favourite grandmother. I asked Miranda for permission to give her kids candy in that fashion. She said Friday would be fine. I said, no, I meant all week leading up to Easter.

I got pumped up on this idea of extreme-Easter-decorations from going to church this Sunday. The new bishop wasn’t there but he had a letter read over the pulpit urging people to think about how they can truly celebrate Easter next week.  I think he was meaning bringing your friends and neighbours to the service.  I as thinking along the lines of joy and happiness with a 3, 5 and 7 year old.

Arta