Holy Week and Easter Afternoon at Adrienne's

This year I didn't get to church at all during holy week. Thursday we went to the gym and I left a little early thinking that I had a rehearsal. On my way to the rehearsal I was thinking that there was no way I could go to a Maundy Thursday service . . . . . . then I remembered that the rehearsal had been postponed for a week because the church where we rehearse couldn't make room for us on Maundy Thursday. So I came on home and got caught up on lots of things here. With 7 really "ready" bananas and about 5 different flours I made 5 loaves of buckwheat banana bread - some for all our Easter crowd. As I worked I thought about what would be going on in the service - a diverse community around the tables, the scripture readings, the bread and grape juice and in past years Steve Jordan singing Were You There as a solo.

Brianna kept us posted on her trip to the Holy Lands that ended on Easter Day in Jerusalem! What an amazing trip. I had a funny mixture of memories of my Pop (Dad's Dad) leading trips there, enjoyment reading her posts with the really good report of her travels day by day - to places like "David's City" and the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan, Beersheba. Such unfamiliar familiar words! And I was somehow a little jealous. I found myself wishing that I could go back to be her age and be more willing to wander than I was then. So, as I still do about Michelle and Thianar's wedding in Rufisque, I want to hear (or read) lots of details - and see lots of images. I think that I was strongly affected - internally - by my own experience of Holy Week this year and of my Dad who seemed more present than for a long time most of the week. I realized after the fact that when I called Nancy Shantia and Jonathan to push them a bit to get our Mom a corsage for Easter I felt that Dad was in that somehow. And the corsage turned out (with Nancy and Jonathan's help) to be just right!

Saturday morning I went out to a meeting and on the way home picked up an assortment of beautiful spring plants. Some for our house, some for Putnam Lake and Coumba and Rouky and one for Adrienne.

Rouky didn't come to color eggs and Saturday night I just didn't feel like doing them myself. Bob and I went to meeting (I was a bit late, so we went separately). Just as I arrived a dear Friend was offering a message about the Christ (or Light or Seed) within and "the resurrection" as the resurrection of us inwardly. I stood inside the door, and even when she finished I was loathe to move, just absorbing what she had offered us. It was a wonderful, deep, gathered meeting for worship followed by introductions, afterthoughts and anouncements all around the room. There were only a couple dozen there. The sharing in that time was straightforward, touching, thoughtful, and rich. I could just feel our community growing together. The older kids colored eggs and hid them for an Easter Egg Hunt. As it turned out there were many pretty eggs left at the end of the coffee hour. We chose a half dozen and headed home (even remembering that we were there with two cars). All of a sudden I was ready to celebrate. I stopped in at the corner drug store and picked up some of the family's favorite Easter candy and stumbled upon some colorful nesting Easter egg-shaped baskets. When I got home Bob and I played "Easter Bunny" filling baskets and packing them and the plants into the car, Alexandra joined us and we left for Port Chester and Adrienne, Coumba and Rouky.

We ate and visited happily the rest of the day. There were tasty appetizers and candy coated almonds and the luxury of not being in a hurry. Anna, a friend who lives nearby, joined us. The super-delicious lamb stew was ready with just-right rice and perfect asparagas vinagrette. All that with wine and a variety of cakes (including an almond apple tart, a lemon cream filled cake with whipped cream and cocoanut and A Bulgarian Easter cake) and coffee and chatting and making plans for another adventure kept us busy into the early evening. We are ris'n indeed!