Easter thoughts

watercolour by Sunshine, age 7

The purple Pasque flowers bloom for Easter, honouring the festival for which they were named. I was delighted to discover their Latin name is Pulsatilla which happens to be the most beneficial homeopathic for my constitution…perhaps that is why I hold it in such high esteem. Or perhaps it is merely because it is one of the first flowers to emerge after a long, dreary winter.

We celebrated Easter a little early this year as Josh was working away for the rest of the weekend. There were no hot cross buns that I’ve made in the past, though no one missed them. However, there was a last minute dash to the nursery for seeds and flowers…not to mention a late night kitchen session of making sugar-free chocolates in little bunny molds. In the end, the chocolates were so sloppily made that I admitted to my kids that I added them along with the Easter bunny’s offerings. I tell myself it is more believable when I admit to adding some of the goodies (a book and the chocolates) while leaving it up to their imaginations where the seeds and plants came from, as well as how the nature table decorations transformed overnight.

This may very well be the last festival of True Belief for all three. I hear murmurings of skepticism, led by my 10 year old, though no one has come outright and voiced their suspicions. I’m not sure where I stand on these festive myths where the line between honest goodness and deliberate misleading is blurred. And now with my oldest beginning to raise an eyebrow here and there, perhaps it is time that I consider how to explain the last decade of magic without the bittersweet aftertaste of disappointment. My own discoveries when I was five or six have left a little ache in my heart ever since. Good thing I have several months to go before the next magical celebration…Christmas is many moons from now, though there are several late night visits from the Tooth Fairy approaching soon.

Every year, tucked into their Easter baskets, the children find a packet of seeds for their garden beds and a flower to transplant. Despite nights that are still cool, if not frosty, these two were excited to add their new plants to their beds, nestled amongst the gnomes and fairies that arrived on Valentine’s Day this year. Tending their own gardens has continued to be a favourite activity, and as the years move along, those beds are becoming gloriously full of cheerful flowers.

The season of transformation and growth and perseverance has begun…and we find ourselves drawn to spending more of our time outdoors. Breathing in the clear smells of greenery and freshness and vitality helps open our bodies and minds and hearts to all the beauty that surrounds us.

And perhaps, a little of the magic as well.