On Christians’ resurrection holy day, animal-rescue volunteers have an earnest plea for parents: “Please don’t get your kid a bunny for Easter.”Bunnies are cute and fluffy but require care, exercise and a specialized diet. A rabbit’s typical lifespan is about twelve years, about eleven years, eleven-and-a-half months longer than a typical family’s interest in caring for the furry pet. Animal-care groups estimate eighty percent of rabbits bought as Easter gifts will die or be abandoned within the first year.
Cannon Beach, on the Oregon Coast, is overrun with rabbits. The so-called “beach bunnies” breed like, well, rabbits. They attack garden vegetation and decorate local yards with their bunny waste. Cannon Beach residents are calling for action from the city, but the popular tourist destination does not want be known for rabbit massacres.
For an overview of how bunnies and eggs – chocolate and other – became part of Easter celebrations, take a look at this previous post.
How did we go from the Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection to a bunny hiding eggs – chocolate or decorated – for the delight of children? You may not not recall any mention of it in the Gospels.
The two major Christian holidays coincidentally are observed on the change of seasons, times of celebration for much of humankind: Christmas at the winter solstice when the sun starts its return and Easter at the spring equinox, recognized from antiquity as a time of fertility. What follows may or may not be true.
Whence came the name “Easter?” It is thought to derive from a pagan figure known as Eostre who was celebrated as the goddess of fertility by the Saxons of Northern Europe. She was represented by that symbol of prolific breeding: a rabbit. There is, however no historical evidence for this.
Or maybe it’s because rabbits were thought to be hermaphrodites, able to reproduce without sex. Hence a connection with the Virgin Mary.
Eggs are an ancient symbol of new life and have been part of spring festivals for millennia.
Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’s emergence from the tomb.
Eggs were considered forbidden during Lent. Christians decorated them to celebrate the end of fasting and ate them on Easter.
What is probably true is German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century brought with them stories of egg-laying(!) hares. Children made nests for the “Osterhase” to lay colored eggs. The Easter Bunny story expanded from there.
So honor the holiday that is the basis for Christianity but whose symbols have few documented origins and only the most tangential relation to Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
If you missed New Year’s Day, April Fools’ was created for you.
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1, and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1, became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.
Increasingly annoyed by Martin Luther and the growing Protestant Reformation, the pope convened an ecumenical council in the northern Italian city of Trent. The Council officially declared much of the Protestant ideology as heresy. As modern-day politicians slip partisan or pork-barrel amendments into unrelated legislation, the Council of Trent added to its decrees a provision to clean up the Julian calendar and provide for a more consistent scheduling of Easter. Eventually the new Gregorian calendar became the standard in most of the world.
So how did they simplify the scheduling of Easter? The Christ’s resurrection is celebrated on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox (the first day of spring).
As with Christmas, Easter is based – co-opted, if you will – on pagan celebrations related to cycles of the moon, the equinox, the seasons and resultant things in nature. Spring festivals celebrated the earth’s return to fertility and the birth of many, ahem, creatures. Christians related resurrection with rebirth and consequently, the Easter egg. So of course, in modern times, the eggs became chocolate.
The green bean & mushroom casserole was the bomb! I asked Gram for the recipe, but she said it’s a family secret passed down through generations! The sweet potatoes with the toasted little marshmallows on top were dope. The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is there was no PBR beer to wash the meal down with.
★☆☆☆☆
The food wasn’t bad. I would’ve given more stars if I’d felt welcomer. I took a picture of my plate and was putting it up on Instagram when Poppa said he’d really appreciate it if people would not use cell phones at the dinner table. It’s not like I was talking on the phone or anything! If they expect grandkids to come over for dinner, they need to let us text and stuff. It’s like they’re living in another century!
★★★★☆
I have eaten here regularly for many years, breakfast and dinner. Usually it’s been pretty good although the portions were often too small. The food would be brought to the table with the announcement of how many slices of bacon or how many pieces of roast we were each allowed. And then if we didn’t eat it all, no dessert. I’m glad to see that now the servings are of a reasonable size.
★★☆☆☆
My wife told me I would really like this. It was supposed to be a family-style dinner. We drove a long way with our children and then Gram told them they had to sit at a separate “kids” table. Our kids are well behaved. Being kids, of course sometimes they get a little rambunctious. That’s no reason to not let them sit at the same table with the others or to get so upset because one of them threw a couple green beans at another or knocked over a glass of chocolate milk.
★★★★★
The ham was better than Honey Baked. My only criticism is the slices weren’t perfect like the spiral ones from Honey Baked. The brown-sugar glaze made up for that, though. And Gram and Poppa were really nice, too. Gram made sure I got all I wanted to eat. And the pecan pie – Wow! With REAL whipped cream in a spray can. And they had my favorite, Bud Lite.
★☆☆☆☆
I went to a lot of trouble to order a “Happy Easter” cake from Costco for the dinner. I think it was very rude of everyone to eat the pecan pie that Gram made and not mine. They probably just didn’t want to hurt her feelings. At least I got to take the cake home so I can eat it later.
★★★★★
This has to be my favorite pop-up restaurant. You could tell every dish had received the personal attention of the owners. Part of the charm was after the meal we all pitched in with clearing the table and taking care of the dishes. Not sure why none of the guys did, though.
★☆☆☆☆
I really don’t like this place, but my husband makes me go.
★★★☆☆
I thought by now Gram knew that I am a vegetarian. I know ham with brown-sugar glaze is the tradition, but does anybody think about the living conditions of the pigs before they are slaughtered? I didn’t make a fuss but I will definitely have a conversation with Gram before Thanksgiving. I also will tell them I’ll bring the wine next time. Nobody drinks white Zinfandel. I gave three stars because I think they really do try.
