Growing up in a family that really didn’t do the whole church thing, Easter was still a pretty big deal. Like so many religious holidays, Easter has a strong secular appeal and for me it meant marshmallow bunnies, jelly beans, foil wrapped chocolate eggs, and the apparent existence of a giant, anthropomorphic rabbit, who snuck into your house in the wee hours of the morning to hide candy.

Instead of the milk and cookies we would leave for Santa, my brothers and I would sharpen a long carrot for the bunny to defend itself from the cats. In the morning, the carrot had been whittled to the end by two buck teeth, and the note we left was stamped with an ashy paw print. On several occasions, the note was also decorated with dried rabbit droppings.

Somehow we never noticed the cat’s ashy paws Easter morning.

Easter, named after the Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess Eostre, is kind of a hybrid holiday anyway. In countries where it is not named after Eostre, it is named after Passover, the Jewish holiday that Jesus and his disciples were celebrating during what is now the Christian Holy Week.

The symbols of Easter, eggs, bunnies and chicks, flowers and the rest are pagan in origin, representing rebirth and Spring, which of course fits in well with the themes of the Christian holiday.

Regardless, as a significant event in the calendar of my childhood, it comes with piles of memories. Scouring the house for sugary goodness, baskets in hand. There were always a few that evaded even the sharp eyes of my older brother, to be discovered days or even weeks later. The bunny had a knack for hiding eggs on matching surfaces, the black jelly bean atop the black rotary phone we all rented from the Lincolnville Telephone Company, for example.

I remember being amazed by plastic eggs scattered in new fallen snow in my neighbor Cyrene's backyard, without any footprints present. Proof positive for the existence of a supernatural leporid. 

Now I have memories of being a parent for Easter. Helping the Bunny in his duties, and yes, church now. At some point after we had grown my parents started attending the Lincolnville UCC, and attending Easter morning now is something we do as a family. Making the boys dress in their “itchy church pants” finding a new dress and hat for my young daughter. Seeing neighbors after a long cold winter.

There was the year that my middle boy was in the hospital, inpatient with a post chemotherapy fever, and I took the other two to church on my own. His Easter egg hunt was set up by his mother and aunt, in the blankets of his hospital bed.

My daughter heads to college in the fall, and it may be some time until we all go to church together Easter morning again.

Things change, traditions shift. For the last several years, we have gathered at my in-laws after church, where my brother-in-law makes a ham. My mom and Don, my brother and his family, we all go to Dresdon, just one dysfunctional blended family. My niece and my brother-in-law’s stepson, as the two little kids, have developed a friendship through these yearly get togethers, with their older cousins setting up the Easter egg hunt.

Whether Easter for you is an important religious occasion, an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast, or that thing your Christian neighbors do during Passover, I think the themes of hope and rebirth are universal. Happy Easter, Spring is here.

Library Happenings

Needleworkers will gather Tuesday at 3 p.m. The monthly book club will meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. 

On Wednesday, April 1 the library will host The Wonders of Maine’s Wildlife with Ed Robinson. Ed is a writer and wildlife photographer, and will present images, facts and anecdotes as well as animals calls of the various critters we share our environment with.

Friday will have Mahjongg at noon, and Saturday will be Music Together at 10 a.m. for the littlest Lincolnville residents.

Sympathy

For the family of Lincolnville resident John Terry.

I always find it entertaining how much we complain about Spring snowfall, when it HAPPENS EVERY YEAR.  I do feel, however, that this Spring seems to be taking an awfully long time arriving. The solar effect is present though, and sitting in the greenhouse in the afternoon sun with a book is quite nice, even if it remains a bit chilly outside.

Maybe the winds will shift soon. In the meantime, I’m planning a big pot of chicken matzo ball soup for later this week. Passover starts this week, and there is still a lot of sickness going around, of all sorts. Share a meal with someone you care about, read a book in the sunshine.

Reach out at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

Municipal Calendar

Tuesday, March 31

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Lakes and Ponds Committee, 7 p.m., Town Office

Wednesday, April 1

Library open 2-5 p.m.

Thursday, April 2

Library open 2-5 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Beginner’s Meeting, 7 p.m., Lincolnville Historical Society, 33 Beach Road

Friday, April 3

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Library open 9-2 p.m., 208 Main Street

Saturday, April 4

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Sunday, April 5

United Christian Church, 9:30 a.m. Worship and Children’s Church, 18 Searsmont Road

Bayshore Baptist Church, 6 a.m. SONrise Service at Lincolnville Beach, 6:30 a.m. Breakfast at the church, 11:00 a.m. worship, 12:10 p.m. Egg Hunt, 2648 Atlantic Highway