Just think folks, only 359 more days till next April Fools' Day. How many of you fell victim to some practical joke, knowing what day it was? (Come on, raise your hands, I know who you are.) Now if you lived in France, you would be called an April Fish; in Scotland, a gowk or cuckoo. Is it me, or does being called a fish or a bird sound better than a fool?
And then there was the lunar eclipse, of which I got sidetracked and missed.
Our favorite bar has a new "Show & Tell" thing. They managed to get their hands on a 1973 Jim Beam decanter. It is in the shape of a Volks Wagon. It's blue, and quite frankly, the paint job looks like one from Earl Shiebs' discount line. But it's cute, and the owners are thinking about putting a motor in it and racing it on their track upstairs.
Phil just can't let OJ go. Remember how he couldn't take his eyes off the trial? Well, this weekend he's going to Florida for one thing. To play on the golf course that OJ first played on after his release. He's hoping to beat OJ's score. (Phil...we're betting that OJ didn't use balls he found in the woods.)
Kris took us back to "those days". Reminding us of that taste sensation---the bologna sandwich with potato chips on it. She says it's gotta be on soft white bread, and you mash the sandwich to crush the chips. And the crunch when you bite into it! (Ohhh, yes, and ketchup.)
Nikki and her roll of duct tape strikes again! As she was ready getting for work, she noticed that the hem on her skirt had come undone over her left knee. Never mind that she didn't have *time* to mend it, she doesn't know how to sew. And she speculates the skirt may last for 3 or 4 washings before she has to replace the tape.
Josh got a speeding ticket.
OzarkLad got drunk and embarassed all involved with extraneous E-mail.
REPLIES-----
EASTER-----
While Easter and Christmas are the greatest festivals in the Christian calendar, they are celebrated with customs that originated in superstition and heathen rites hundreds of years before Christ was born. Even the dates owe more to pagan practices than to the birth and resurrection of Jesus.
Easter, still a movable feast despite much pressure to allot it a specific date, falls according to the phase of the moon that the pagans long ago decided was the appropriate time to venerate the gods.
The pagans were reluctant to give up their false gods and ancient practices. So the missionaries, unable to convert them easily to an entirely new code of worship, did the next best thing. They took the pagan festivals as they were and gradually grafted the observances of the new faith onto these festivals and the rites and customs surrounding them.
That's why we have such symbols as the Easter Egg. Originally painted with bright colors to represent the flowers of spring, and given as gifts or used in Easter-egg rolling contests. And egg rolling goes even further back in history. Most of the ancient civilizations regarded the egg as the seed of life and fertility or a symbol of reincarnation. Way back then, the farmers would hopefully roll eggs across their fields to ensure good crops.
The Easter Bunny. The rabbit, another symbol of fertility.
Even the name "Easter" is contributed to Eastre (Eostre?), the Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility (dawn). Her festival was held around the vernal equinox.
What I want to know is, who's idea was it for the Easter Bunny to hide our baskets?
Happy Easter everone, and try not to let the time change get to you next week.
Your President,
Kaye Coffey