The spring showers finally ended. The last remaining clouds drifted to the east leaving behind a brilliant canopy of stars. In Hickory County there were no city lights to interfere with the light show raining down from the heavens. At the center of this display was an electric full moon, the first since the Spring equinox. Thus, this Sunday would be Easter.
Born in Texas and married in front of the Alamo, she moved to Missouri during the Great Depression. Her moral compass pointed due north and her intestinal fortitude carved from metamorphic granite. She had looked forward to this day for some time. Her grandsons would be arriving soon for their traditional day-before-Easter ritual. First on the agenda will be venturing into the woods to hunt mushrooms.
Her oldest grandson called her Macaw, a name by which she would be forever known. After the mushroom hunt, Macaw sent the boys to the chicken coop to gather eggs. She added their contribution to the stash that she had been putting by all week. Once lunch was eaten, the PAAS Easter egg dye was brought out. Small tablets were dropped into individual bowls of vinegar, revealing six different color dyes. The boys decorated the eggs in a variety of ways. Wax crayons were used to draw designs on the eggs before dying them. Some eggs were dipped in multiple colors. Others needed a sticker or two before they were complete.
When it was time to go, the boys took their decorated eggs with them. The next day their parents would hide the eggs for the annual Easter egg hunt. Later, they would get dressed in suits and ties and go to church with the family. After church there would be a big Easter meal. Ham was always on the menu.
A kid could only eat so many eggs so the boys would commandeer the extras for an outdoor game of wiffle ball. There was something satisfying about the “whack” of the bat as it made contact with the hard boiled egg. Rogue eggs that had escaped discovery during the Easter egg hunt were always uncovered a day or two later by sensitive noses.
“I Need You” is a song by the Beatles and appears on the album Help!, the fifth studio album by the Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film Help!. Produced by George Martin, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form. “I Need You” is the second George Harrison song the band released after two albums without any songwriting contribution from Harrison.
I enjoyed the music and your story. You paint such a vivid picture of your memories. I have similar memories growing up in Kansas in town, of the PASS Easter egg dye process and visiting about once a month my LOVE grandparents and cousins who all lived on farms and a good drive from our home. My grandmother also raised chickens, made great fried chicken and had lots of eggs. My Dad talked about growing up when the big package would come in the mail with the chicks peeping away, We frequently came home from our country visits with some living thing like turtles and once our new dog Queen who had brothers King and Duke left at the farm. But one Easter my brother, sister, and I came home with baby chicks. Our home didn’t have a basement. When the tornado sirens would sound, our parents would take their chicks (my sister Sherry, brother Doug, and I) to Dad’s office to go to the basement. Sherry, Doug, and I would have our Easter chicks safely in boxes with holes cut out on top and other treasures we took with us while waiting in the basement for the sirens to stop. However, before too long,when the chicks started to grow up we needed to return our chicks to the farm. I never wanted to know what happened to our Easter chicks upon their return. Thanks for the memories, and Blessings this Easter!
Such a lovely memory! Thanks for sharing. Have a blessed Easter!
Dyeing Easter eggs was always a tradition. Only my mother used the concoction of vinegar and food coloring. The PAAS kit was a rare treat! Love your story, aren’t grandmothers a precious memory? Have a blessed Easter!
Just now opened your Easter post. You capture so beautifully the childhood experience of “ham and eggs”. I too have these fond memories of being a child and then recreating that experience with my children. Thank you for your wonderful posts. I always enjoy them and the music you choose.