EASTER PARADES

Traditionally, many celebrants bought new clothes for Easter which they wore to church. After church services, everyone went for a walk around the town. This led to the American custom of Easter parades all over the country. Perhaps the most famous is along Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Zion Lutheran Church had there own Easter Parade. On that special Sunday, the congregation would file up around the altar and place their offering. Mother never did the walk, she didn't wear a new bonnet on Easter Sunday either. To a child, it was a fashion show, I did not grasp the idea of the money and the altar, only that Mrs. Peterson seemed to have her own private offering table. She stood near the table singing a hymn but it seemed to me she was singing for offerings. Odd the impressions we have as children, isn't it?

What was the name of the movie with Judy Garland? Wasn't it Easter Parade?

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THE GREAT EGG ROLL

Dolly Madison, the wife of the fourth American President, organized an egg roll in Washington, D.C. She had been told that Egyptian children used to roll eggs against the pyramids so she invited the children of Washington to roll hard-boiled eggs down the hilly lawn of the new Capitol building!

The custom continued, except for the years during the Civil War. In 1880, the First Lady invited children to the White House for the Egg Roll because officials had complained that they were ruining the Capitol lawn.

It has been held there ever since then, only canceled during times of war.

The event has grown, and today Easter Monday is the only day of the year when tourists are allowed to wander over the White House lawn. Michelle Obama, or any other wife of past presidents, sponsors it for the children of the entire country. The egg rolling event is open to children twelve years old and under. Adults are allowed only when accompanied by children!

EASTER BUNNY

On Easter Sunday, many children wake up to find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy. He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week. Children hunt for the eggs all around the house. Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the "Easter Hare", hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births so they became a symbol of fertility. The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass. The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg."

Christians consider eggs to be "the seed of life" and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


Why we dye, or color, and decorate eggs is not certain. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, beautifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.

hop to it

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PALM SUNDAY

It is one more week until Easter Sunday. For Christians around the world, it is a week of additional spiritual preparation leading to Good Friday and He his risen!

And she said..................Post this on your page if you are a Christian. I am talking about someone who does not recognize other religious beliefs. How sad to think she believes our Universal Higher Power only sees Christianity.

She went on to say, "I am not ashamed to call them Easter eggs".

The meaning of the many different customs observed during Easter Sunday have been buried with time. Their origins lie in both pre-Christian religions and Christianity. In one way or another all the customs are a "salute to spring" marking re-birth.


The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday. The word "Easter" is named after Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.


People celebrate Easter according to their beliefs and their religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that He was resurrected. Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.

Tomorrow: What about that Easter bunny?

FALCON EGGS TWO

And she said, I heard the birds in the back yard, they were so loud! He asked if she had seen the robins. Old Trunks saw two crows!

The most fascinating pair in Fargo are the falcons. Their man made nest is high on the Bank of the West. In the past, there was, at best, a crude sort of camera system which took stills every so often. Nevertheless, we did have pictures and near the end of June waited to see eggs.

It is exciting to share with you there are new cameras, LIVE images; one in front of the box and the other placed to see the ledge. My only concern with the placement of the first camera is if they poop on it, there goes the image!

We did not have cameras last year, although we all wondered. The chicks were born, named, and grew up to fly away to their own territory. This year, we will watch them from hatch to flight with a daily watch.

The adults stun their prey in mid air and grasp it with their strong talons. Often, they will sit on the top of the Fericho Building where Tom has his business to eat. Tom has picked up numerous of bird caresses in the past.

One year, Tom had a telescope set up in the store as the Bank of the West where the nest is, can be seen from the front windows. This was before cameras and people truly enjoyed seeing the birds in real time.

How wonderful for all of us to have these cams available. Whether it be falcons in Fargo, the Panda Cam in California or Mother bear in her den in Northern Minnesota, one has to be fascinated with watching and waiting.

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24 MAR 1922

My Mother was born on this date. We know she was born at 9:30 in the morning but we never learned just where. Was she a hospital born child or a home birth. How would they know the time?

She was the last of four children of Clara Jensen and Phillip A Lundberg.

Mother stated she had a good life, apologized for any wrongs or harm she had done, said she loved me, and died on 17 NOV 2002.

She liked to knit, crochet, and read. She was a volunteer with Girl Scouts and within the church. She liked to have her hair done and her car clean including in the winter, when the gas station would come and get it, clean it up and keep it over night so it would be dry. Bet you thought I was going to say the beauty shop came to get her and kept her over night!!!

She moved the lawn because she did it best.

She was a lot of things but one thing she was not was someone who put on airs. She dressed up to go to the grocery store because that is what she did.

She didn't say much but when she got mad it lasted a few days, day and night she ranted, then went to sleep and the next day, dinner was on the table and that meant it was over.

She worked once for three days.

She threatened to work more often. The conversation read like a script.

She: I am going to go to work at the nursing home and wash dishes.
He: Look pretty silly pulling up to a nursing home in that new Caddilac, fur coat, and diamonds.

When not ill and away or having a tyrannt about something, she was always there for her family. She cooked, cleaned, washed, ironed, and like I say, mowed the grass.

I was telling my sweet Thomas recently about a plumber I knew with really chapped hands. Since mother's hands were so soft, I figured her lotion would work on his, so I have him the bottle. She wondered where it was. Well, he seemed to need it more than her. Lesson: Ask.

But you know, I didn't know who she was, only what she did. Regrets? No, just the sign of the times.

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Old Trunks does not wish to get into a debate about the recently passed health insurance bill.

Before Medicare, my grandparents had no coverage. One summer, Grandma had to have gall bladder surgery. Before the leaves fell from the trees, Grandpa had the same surgery.

He told his son, "Take me to the dump, I can't afford this". Granted, the price of a trip to hospital was considerably less but so was everything else.

How did they deal with the loss of savings? Grandpa built a couple more houses and made up the loss.

Granted, not many people would build several houses to make up the difference, the last one being with his younger brother of 80+. When I say built, I mean with HIS hands. The house they lived it would sell and the two of them would move into the garage of the new house until it was finished. Now, I ask you this, would you have the stamina and the will to live in the garage when you were almost 80? Or does it really have to do with what a man's gotta do?

Think about it.

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