The Easter Bunny

THE EASTER BUNNY VISITS ITALY: I have shared with the girls’ one of my favorite childhood stories of Easter- The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward. In it one learns that there are actually 5 Easter Bunnies, one of whom has gold shoes to help go far and wide to make all her deliveries. Last night, (Easter night, March 23rd) as I tucked Alyssa in bed, she was musing about what size the Easter Bunny might be, and also thought that maybe there might actually be 7 bunnies, one for each continent, but that the world was still really big for it to get everywhere. I love the magic of childhood! Besides the joy that Easter brings in celebrating new life and rebirth, I love the magic and the childhood joy.

I had hoped to have at least one floor of our home cleared of boxes for the bunny to hop in unencumbered, but it was not to be… In the end, a few boxes and packing paper just made more interesting places to hide some eggs. The girls had a great time gathering jelly beans from the trail left on the stairs, and there were many shouts of glee (along with a few whines, grunts, and shouts of “NO FAIR!” as one would snatch a candy or egg they had both spied). The girls joined me in going to an 11:00 service on base. It turned out to be the Catholic service- which in this case, was rather boring, without any of the joyful music, organ, bell choir, Hallelujah chorus, etc. which are all a part of the tradition and ritual for me. But it still felt good to be there and to hear the same message.

Bill found himself knocked out with a nasty cold that had surfaced overnight. I spent the afternoon in the kitchen preparing what I thought was to be a simple meal. (It still makes me grumpy that Bill doesn’t like ham and I have to find something else to cook!) Fresh sliced mozzarella, tomatoes, and toasted bread with garlic sounded quick and easy, but all the rest to go along with it seemed to keep taking time. Our friend Eric came over for what is likely to be the last time before he moves back home to the States. It feels good to share our home with a friend. Now if we just had some friends to share it with….. I had indulged in buying two of the traditional Italian desserts that are specific for Easter (I don’t think that desserts are part of the homemade fare very often). We had the Pastiera” for dessert last night- a small round tart/cake thing with a sort of cakey- biscuity crust and inside very moist, slightly sweet custardy cake- made with ricotta cheese, some sugar but not too sweet, bits of marmalade in it. Today we tried the “Columbe”, a light, buttery bread with sugar and almonds on top, and bits of raisins and candied orange inside. Both very nice- very different than American style desserts and what I think of as Italian The table looked beautiful with placemats handmade by my sister in law and it turns out the blue glass plates had also come from her before my time, and the boxes stacked next to the table could be ignored. I finished the day with phone calls to family, greatly appreciating having a phone again. As a whole, it felt like a great day together, wonderful to take a break from moving in, and just enjoy the holiday.

So now, after sitting here awhile, I’ve decided that the typical 61 degrees in the house is only warm enough when I’m up and moving, or snuggled under the down comforter, so time to get back to work.