Easter Eggs

Easter is one of the most recognized Holy Days or Holidays throughout the world - be that if a person is religious or not. And with Easter comes the idea of hiding colored eggs for little children to search for before screaming in delight at the discovery of one of those elusive little treasures.

Hiding eggs or just sort of CREEPY?

An Easter egg is something to marvel about.when looked closely at with an artists eye. The decorative talent, the colors of paints but the question why would someone spend so much time illuminating an egg is always there.  It's that very thing - the why, the how, the when questions which are constantly driving a researcher.

Questions abound within the minds of explorers and thus J and L did a little of their own research on this subject.

Colored ostrich eggs of at least 60,000 years have been found in Africa. For what purpose is still being debated.

Talent from 60,000 years ago - okay recently but . . . 

Early Mesopotamia and Egyptian people looked upon eggs as being associated with birth and death. Five thousand years ago the Sumerians and Egyptians placed golden eggs within tombs as a reminder of the rebirth after death.

Okay - not an egg but a nice watch - it is gold though

Sumerian death golden egg - not a Rolex but cool anyway 

The idea for Christians to use painted or colored eggs during Easter came from a story - some say a myth at the time of the death of Jesus Christ. As Jesus was dying on the cross Mary, his mother supposedly brought a basket of eggs and laid them at the foot of the cross where her son was crucified. Drops of his blood spilled down staining the eggs red. The early Christians celebrated coloring eggs red after that as a memory of his sacrifice for humankind.

Red - the color of blood

Around 1610, and some researchers believe earlier, the Christian Church officially recognized the painted eggs as the sign of resurrection of Jesus Christ. From there the eggs became more and more decorated through the ages.

During Lent (the forty days prior to the resurrection of Jesus) many people fast as a show of penance. The idea is simple - if Jesus gave his life for all of us surely I can give up something meaningful to show my respect. But the forty days of giving up something can weigh on a person and many can not make it resurrection Sunday.

The term Mardi Gras actually refers to the last day before giving up rich and fatty foods. And what does one usually have related to rich and fatty foods (like cakes, sweets and every desert our doctors complain about us eating) - eggs. Chickens unfortunately do not fast from producing eggs. At the end of the forty days there are a lot of eggs laying around and should not be wasted.

I  like  Fat Tuesday - not saying I'm fat but you gotta love the beads

So, there is a great idea - color them, hide them, hunt them, and eat them. No sense in wasting eggs but they do have to be eaten quickly!

But there are still current traditions.

Even today in the country of Romania the practice of keeping gaily painted eggs within a household still stands. They, the eggs, will deter evil spirits from invading the abode and provide assurance of good luck.

We hate eggs - you're safe . . .  unless you have some good Salsa!

In the town of Haux in France on Easter Monday a huge omelet is served in the town square which feeds up to 1,000 people. Over forty-five hundred eggs are used - that's a lot of eggs!

They want hash browns too - you've gotta be kidding!

And of course in the good old U.S.A. there is the Easter egg roll on the south lawn of the White House. Rolling hard boiled eggs with a wooden spoon doesn't sound like fun but it is for the folks, mainly little ones, who partake in this annual tradition.

Drop the spoon and just run!!! There's a big bunny after you!

So the Easter Egg has been around a very long time in many traditions but the point is that it is an important aspect of a day respected world wide.

No matter the reason you and your family decorate the little creation from a chicken just enjoy the thought behind it - no matter what that thought would be.

Happy Easter from J and L.

Easter During a Pandemic

These are strange times for the United States; no, strike that - for the entire globe. This Coronavirus, COVID-19, has changed how each and everyone conducts daily business. Nothing is quite the same any longer.

If it is, then you're not following the guidelines. Wash your hands constantly. Sneeze into your elbow. Don't shake hands. Don't hug anyone. Stand six feet apart from any other human. Stay indoors whenever possible. Wear a mask covering your mouth and nose if you dare step outside - some counties in the country have made it a misdemeanor not to follow that last guideline.

How we got here as a world population can be discussed or argued about at a later date. That conversation will surely take up volumes of new books, countless documentaries, and enough politicians blowing hot air at each other to inflate every balloon in the world.

But what about Easter? One of the holiest and important religious days on the calendar for Christians. It's right around the corner - how do we celebrate such a momentous holy day when we are stuck indoors - alone or with a few family members?

During the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918, people worshiped indoors and actually maintained social physical distancing from each other. As we are hunkering down now, so did our ancestors during that time period.

The toll of that pandemic, lasting from 1918 to 1919, caused an estimated 50 million deaths world wide, the United States saw at least 675,000 fatalities.

It was a horrific time to be alive, wondering if you would be the following day. But, the human spirit was strong and endured. People stayed home as best they could, didn't gather in large groups, wore masks, and began to practice better sanitation. It all worked.

They celebrated Easter, as well as the other holy days and holidays, avoiding each other but they still celebrated.

Why celebrate when things are going so badly? Because it is the human spirit. There are good times and there are bad times.

Good times are easy to get through. Stock market nearing thirty thousand on the DOW, that is easy to deal with. A promotion at work, really easy to deal with.

But people getting ill and dying from an invisible virus, not so easy. Sadness and despair wreaks havoc in homes and towns. Uncertainty fills the air, but again, the human DNA will kick in and we will move forward, knowing things will get better.

Lives may never really return to normal, but what does that mean in the large scale of things anyway?

When passengers gave up boarding trains in lieu of airplanes, life wasn't really the same. When the horse was given up for the automobile, life wasn't really the same.

So, perhaps, in the future, when this monster of a virus is laid to rest, life will return to something approximating normal but it probably won't be quite the same. It will be a new normal.

And that's okay. It will become the norm in the very near future and the normal we once recognized will be written about in the history books.

So, celebrate Easter at home this year - watch a church service on the television or internet. Worship with those in your own home. Read an uplifting piece of writing - religious or not. Our opinion only, going to church does not require a building or specific denomination - no, worshiping comes from within - no matter what religion. Depending on what source, the word church, actually means where people gather for a common purpose. So, have that church at home.

These are strange times for everyone - but we will get through this and hopefully be better for the trials and tribulations thrown upon all of us.

In the meantime though, the new normal will be fine and we will adjust.

From us to you - Happy Easter