It feels wrong to say we had a lovely Easter today, but we did. Everything was different because everything is different. And though we missed our people and our traditions terribly, we did ok.
Maybe it was because we had no expectations.
In the morning we enjoyed a socially-distant egg hunt with our neighbors. In other words, we picked a common time in which to hunt for eggs in our yard, while they hunted in theirs.
We put hot cross buns on the property line and stepped away so they could take some. Rose ate a bun, but did not enjoy it out of loyalty to our absent Auntie Gail, who is the hot-cross-bun-maker in our family.
Our neighbor brought out her ham. Shane looked at from a distance of 10 feet before giving her some advice on how to cook it.
My sister and brother in law checked in via face time.
On a “normal” Easter, between the egg hunt and dinner we would typically spend hours cooking, clearing and washing dishes, dying eggs, doing Pysanka, socializing, drinking and telling kids to quit it with the candy.
This year there was nothing to do between 10 and 4. In those hours, my mom graded student work. Shane slept. Rose made us a new walkway with old house paint and tape. Sid burned leaves with a magnifying glass and played in the log pile. My dad puttered.
We had no grand plans for our Easter meal because there were only 6 of us, rather than the usual 30. And because we were not able to procure a grocery delivery time slot.
We made do with what we had: A Torta Verde made with spinach, sweet potato and mozzarella instead of swiss chard, regular potato and feta. A barley, corn and endive salad made with barley, corn and capers. A carrot salad because we have a lot of carrots. And pork chops because that was the only meat left in the freezer.
We did ok, but we miss our people. My mom says we’re going to have Easter again when this is all over even if it has to be in the fall. I like the way she thinks. Miss you friends!
