Easter Sunday

I don't go to church any more. As far as Easter goes, I respect the Christian celebration of the Resurrection, but I go back further in my ancestry, to the pagan reason for selecting this date as the day of the Christian celebration. The first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox is the day to honor Eostar, the goddess of spring and rebirth. You see how it all fits together. 

Anyway, even though this little confession offends most of my family and many of you good folks, I say this because it is the reason why, when many of you were in church, I was out walking in the woods. 

Well, sort of the woods, at least a wooded, mostly wild park near my home, one I don't visit that often any more because it requires a  hike down and then back up a steep hill to get back home. 

I went alone, under blustery skies, prepared to get rained on, but I stayed dry. I just had my cell phone camera, so the photos I couldn't help but take are not so clear.

 It's traditionally called a Wake Robin, this native trillium I found blooming in the woods. 

 And the bright magenta flowers of native salmon berry. 

 New green fuzz in the trees just breaking bud, and pathways lined with bright green moss. 

 Yellow blooms of Oregon Grape.

 Fern fiddle heads popping up through lush ground cover. 

 Luxurious blankets of moss. 

 A moss carpet to a brightly painted bench. 

 As DJan informed us last week, this is Hen Bit Dead Nettle, a native lamium. Pretty stuff.

Big leaf maple tree blooms hang heavily from the as yet leafless branches. 

I spent over an hour and walked about three pleasant miles through the neighborhood and in the park, just enjoying my early spring surroundings. The Goddess was good to me. 

And then in the early afternoon we went to Jill's house for the traditional Easter festivities. There was a delicious ham dinner around a festive table, Easter baskets for the kids, and an Easter egg hunt in the yard. 

 As we gathered on the deck to investigate the contents of our found eggs, which Easter Bunny Tom had hid well, we enjoyed warm sunshine. This is how the sky looked - very dark and stormy to the north, bright blue to the south. We were very happy to be on the sunny side of the sky. 

 OCD runs in the family. Jill had all of the emptied eggs grouped by color. 

And fun was had by all!

Happy Spring, everyone.