The candy is not great. Kind of like Nutella but not as good. But like Cracker Jacks used to be, the toy is the real reason for these.
Also, my DuckTales: got Louie (green shirt), Dewey (blue shirt), Launchpad, and Donald. I was kinda hoping either to get ALL THREE triplets or maybe Webby or Scrooge, but no such luck:
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Church was *full* today. Part of it was lots of family of regular members were in town, but we also had some visitors - or maybe, they were what are sometimes referred to as "CEOs" - Christmas and Easter onlies, which, yeah, you do you and all, but for me the whole feast-day thing is more meaningful when I've also slogged through the darker times like Lent, or through the endless round of Ordinary Time where you are just being faithful and keeping on keeping on.
Easter sermons are pretty standard, but two things the minister pointed out today: First, notice that nearly all accounts have women at the tomb first, and at least one has the women figuring out "Oh, hey, He TOLD us this was what was going to happen" first. (I also noted in my Sunday school lesson - it was over Matthew 28 - that I was experienced with "you tell them and they don't listen;" all the tsuris I have keeping students from cross-contaminating chemicals in lab).
But yeah. Also, of course the women were there because tending the dead was their job. But I also wonder if maybe, given all the unrest happening at that time, if women - marginalized, disrespected, not-noticed - were actually safer out on the streets than the men known to be followers of that crazy rabbi....
Also, he noted, and there may be some truth to this: a lot of dramatic attention is given (at least in those who do the regular round of things, and not the "CEOs") to the arrest, trial, and death, and sometimes the reaction to the Resurrection seems more...muted. And I wonder if that's because after 2000 years, at least if you're a believer, it seems like a foregone conclusion. That maybe we take it a little for granted? Or maybe we just really love the drama of horrible happenings, and can....almost revel in it a little, because we know the eventual outcome? (Yeah, that's...not really a very nice thing, if true)
But this year, I also realized: in a broader sense, it's a reminder not to give up hope. That when things look really bleak, just around the corner, things could get better in a way you never imagined they would. (Of course, in day-to-day life, sometimes that also does not happen). But yes, that's the kind of thing that keeps me slogging along through Ordinary Time and Advent and Lent and all of that, and also fundamentally what keeps me entering data at work or teaching my classes or whatever, that promise that if things aren't great now, they might get better.
Of course, all of this is in the wake of horrible (and apparently targeted against a religious minority - here, Catholics) attack in Sri Lanka. Not a thing I wanted to hear upon waking up this morning.
This has been a long and strange Holy Week, starting as it did with the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral (which could have been far, far worse than it was: no one died, apparently the few first responders who were injured are going to get better, many of the treasures were saved, the building will be rebuilt) and ending with a horrific loss of life around the world. (And yes, I know, bad things happen every day, but those seemed to be two particularly attention-grabbing ones).
***
And a couple other things, just random:
- a couple people commented favorably on how I looked (Mike said I looked "beautiful," Dana said I looked "gorgeous," a couple other people said I looked nice). I don't know. I was wearing a ten year old dress (not one I wear often, and now I see there's a tiny stain near the neckline I'll have to try to get out). White with large coral-colored chrysanthemums on it (REALLY large, like dinner-plate sized; I often think bigger women like me look better in large scale prints). Sleeveless, but it has a little coral-colored jacket I always wear with it because I have pretty much a permanent farmer's tan and also I am not real fond of the state of my upper arms.
I wonder though. A lot of times I think maybe when people tell me I am "beautiful" or whatever maybe they are more seeing....the relationship I have with them? Or something more internal, more character-based. Not that it matters, and honestly, I'd rather be "beautiful" for my unchanging nature than for some fleeting aspect of outward appearance (We all age; we all change).
(There's also a famous bit from a Roald Dahl book - I think it was "Matilda"? - about how if you are a kind person, you can be physically unattractive* but if your kindness shines through, you will be beautiful, even with your wonky teeth and your moles and everything, but if you're a mean person, even if you're objectively beautiful...people who know you will not think of you as beautiful)
(*I don't think...anymore....that I'm particularly unattractive. I guess I'd say I more don't think I'm unusually pretty or anything; actually fairly ordinary and I can point to several flaws in my appearance, but then, any woman can, I think. And as I said: I'd rather be "beautiful" for what's inside my soul than for what's on my face)
But still, it does do something good for me - maybe in an egotistical way, I don't know, but it is a confidence-booster - to have people favorably comment on my appearance. I had a VERY long awkward period as a teen, and also, one of the way the mean kids wore me down was to make jokes about my cheap clothes or my frizzy hair or my freckles or my fat legs or my big nose or whatever, and it does do something to a person to hear that kind of thing on a regular basis. So....maybe it won't give me a swelled head to get the occasional "Wow, that color looks so great on you" or "You look lovely today."
- Easter Egg hunt after church. (The timing was changed from "during Children's Church" to then so the parents could watch their kids). There were some parents commenting in dismay about "all the candy" and yeah, I don't remember those kind of Easter egg hunts being a thing when I was a kid (one person said her kid had been to three this weekend). We did baskets, of course, but our parents pretty closely controlled how much candy we got (and how much we were allowed to eat at one time), and we hunted for the boiled-and-colored eggs (and now, I wonder that no one ever got food poisoning).
Some of the eggs had quarters in them, which would have been a big thing for me when I was a kid. (I think some also may have had small toys, which also would have been a fun non-candy choice).
- And a lot of the good old hymns. "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," which is a favorite of mine. And the choir sang the Hallelujah Chorus as the post-Benediction music. Often I sing along with what they choose but not today: I have to sing the alto part for Handel and I don't know it that well (Handel is really high in the soprano range; I am more of a halfway-mezzo than I am a true soprano) and also I felt like my voice isn't quite good enough (it is not expected we sing along with that but many people do). And the Communion hymn was a newer one, but one I love dearly: Come Share the Lord (We sing it just a bit faster than that). It has a nice, graceful tune, and I like the words. (Again with the idea of no one being a stranger and everyone being welcomed. Like I've said before: one of my childhood issues that being part of a congregation like this helps to heal is my feeling of being on the "outside" and not-quite-belonging)
- One thing I like about Easter weekend though, really, is it's a chance to pause. I didn't do much work this weekend - just some grading. (I did take the scholarships home but didn't do them; I will probably make time for them tomorrow). It is important, I think, sometimes to have a day or two when you don't think about work or the stuff in the world and can take a break - Friday was my trip to Sherman (getting out of town but also getting out of "my head" and getting some food ahead and a few fun things), Saturday I kind of lazed around the house (but also graded) and then did some more yardwork, and then today I cooked and worked on the Ocellus stuffie a little more. And knit on the current socks.
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