More than any other time of the year, there is no other season I love and cherish more than Easter, for so many reasons. Perhaps my Celtic heritage runs deep through my blood, or the remnant part of unconscious memory of my soul, Equinox, Spring, and new growth all contribute to my love of Spring.
I am always anxiously awaiting the chance to garden, and get my feet and hands deep into the soil with the warmth of sunshine.
It makes me think of many fond memories, of times spent with my mother, who played the organ in Church while I was in Sunday school. Every year just before Easter, we went on the hunt for the traditional Easter Bonnet. I loved this activity so much and it's something I really long to do again. Not an easy thing trying to find an Easter Bonnet these days!
I remember reading a wonderful story in The Telegraph newspaper, about some women in Nova Scotia who had "hattitude". I wrote a post about this on Easter Day, April 24th, 2011 .
These beautiful women loved to wear their Easter Bonnets, and see it as an essential tradition at Easter.
Of course, I am always so anxious to get gardening. I love to peruse Vesey's Seeds catalog, that appears in my mail box around February. I sure look forward to some serious gardening, a wonderful meditative, and reflective activity, that contributes to my creative process as an artist.
The seed is a remarkable living thing. I found this song by one of my favourite country artists, Kathy Mattea. The lyrics describe how we are all like the seeds in God's hand, a great analogy for this wonderful season of Easter and Spring.
Speaking of seeds and growing living things, recently I have become very excited about permaculture. I first heard about this a few years back and now I want to learn all I can applying the tenants and principles of permaculture philosophy; Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
There are several sites to be found on line, but the one I am most fond of is permacultureeducation.com a complete and comprehensive, creative resource, that offers courses on line. Personally I learn by doing and being able to apply what I learn is vital. Permaculture for me, is a life style that has the potential to make things right with ourselves, with others, with the earth and with the greatest artist of all, The Great Creator.
“The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world - we've actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world, to ourselves and each other.”
~Joanna Macy
Happy Easter friends. May you always care for the earth, care for one another and give your fair share. If you can find a great Easter Bonnet you'll be lookin' good too!