DQ25 - Reaching Out for Easter

First things first - Paloma is much better today. She awoke without a fever, and her headache has much improved. She’s still a bit lethargic and without appetite, but I’d say she’s most of the way back to normal. 

I’m relieved for her sake, of course, but we have to proceed on the assumption that she has Covid19. That’s not just the CDC guidelines, it’s also common sense. Flu season is over. What’s circulating now? Covid. We are in hard lockdown mode for the next 10 days.

Which means that Hope missed attending my sister’s Seder yesterday, and that Rowan will not be able to come share Easter morning with us on Sunday. There has not been a year since my first child was born, 26 years ago now, that I have not dyed eggs with my children. And it’s been many years since we havent  gone to gather for Easter brunch at my mlm’s  house. It will be a diminished Easter celebration this year, but I insist there will at least be colorful eggs and fresh flowers on the altar. Even if our eggs this year will be dyed with household spices (tumeric! Onion skins!) and the chocolate may be Hershey bars from the gas station. 

I am not the only person who will be experiencing a much altered Easter this year. My local church, Zion, has a congregation made up almost exclusively of elderly farmers who are now isolated in their homes. Like a lot of other churches, Zion has made pans for online services. I’m not paying a lot of attention to that because I am wholly computer illiterate - probably more so than most of the aforementioned elderly parishioners. 

So I was thinking about what I could do to participate in Easter celebrations. I decided to make cards, Easter cards, just like Christmas cards. A few weeks ago, before businesses closed, I had sent the girl a to a local craft store to stock up on craft supplies, so we had a set of blank cards and envelopes. I spent a happy couple of hours this morning drawing spring-themed scenes and addressing them to friends from  Zion. They went out in this morning’s mail. Hopefully they will arrive in time to brighten up a few people’s day.