Easter Sunday

This is a day full of memories for me, although I don't have "church" memories of Easter.  
The Church of Christ didn't celebrate Easter or Christmas; I guess in some instances this has changed, since Max Lucado's congregation seems to celebrate both holidays.  But when I was a kid, we did our Easter at home, and we never discussed the religious aspects of it, for the same reason we didn't have pianos or other instruments in church:  The Bible didn't say to use pianos in church, or to celebrate Christmas and Easter.  (I know all about instruments being used in the Old Testament, but the way I was raised, that was for the Jews.  So there.)  As an adult, I've enjoyed many Easter services at churches of various denominations, and loved the organs, pianos, and orchestras of all sizes that I've heard at churches.    
Still, Easter was a wonderful family time.  There was usually a new dress and new shoes, not that I was ever thrilled by that. Shoes never did do much for me, nor did silky, scratchy, uncomfortable store-bought dresses .  Give me the home-made cotton dresses made from chicken-feed sacks, any day. 
There were Easter egg hunts with cousins, and huge dinners with lots of chicken and noodles, ham, deviled eggs, and other goodies.  
Good memories.  
Families are all so scattered these days, and many of the ones who live nearby feel forced to eat three Easter dinners in one day to keep everybody happy, so they can't actually enjoy any of them.  Buying ham will break the grocery budget, and let's not even talk about the cholesterol, calories, and sodium.  
It's just one more thing that has become too much bother, I suppose.  
Cliff and I will probably have something stir-fried, and a low-fat brownie with a half-cup of ice cream for dessert.  
I'll walk around the yard and garden several times to see if anything new has popped out of the ground, and there's an iris I'm checking often, because you can see it's about to bloom.  The red leaves on the Crimson King maple tree Cliff bought me for Mother's Day last year are showing.  It's nice to know that such an expensive tree made it through its first winter here.  
Mushrooms are being found on our property; I found a few on my own, early in the season, not enough to make a "mess", but enough to dice up in some scrambled eggs; I paid for them with elevated knee pain for a couple days.  Morels are just one more thing I've lost interest in.  It just isn't worth the effort and worry, no matter if the whole town sneaks in and steals them.    
Of all the things I've lost, I think I miss my enthusiasm the most.