Well … the calendar says it is Spring.

And the news people also say it is so.

This wondrous event happened shortly after midnight today.

Whether it feels like Spring or not, it has arrived, and now we inch ever so slowly toward Summer. (I’m channeling positive thoughts here.)

On this morning’s four-mile walk, I took to the streets and celebrated that Winter was over … it was not as much of a celebration as were the conclusions of those past two wicked Winters, but, it was a good feeling nonetheless.

Now, it is only one week ‘til Easter, and I wonder why we can’t just have Easter on a set date every April instead of just past mid-March? The month of April is so much warmer and the landscape is more colorful for taking all the photos of the kids wearing their new duds and posing with their Easter bunnies and baskets.

You know we all have pictures like that pasted into our parents’ photo albums. For some of us, they are in black-and-white, and the younger folks … well, they are in Kodachrome.  I guess I’m semi-old because some Easter pictures are B&W and the rest are in color.  In this digital age we live in, perhaps your parents have already digitized their photo albums and shared them with you and your siblings to use on Facebook or Twitter for “Throwback Thursday”?

The season is looking a little lackluster with the lack of Easter décor this year, and that surprises me, because there is always so more emphasis on Spring and Easter. Usually there are wreaths made of silk forsythia or door hangers with fuzzy, lop-eared bunnies everywhere you look.  Only two homeowners on Emmons Boulevard had any Easter decorations … one large house had three different wreaths and the other had a collection of plastic rabbits out front.  I probably shouldn’t even make that comment since my own front door is unadorned, and all my Easter decorations are downstairs in tubs.  I’ve always enjoyed Easter and its traditions and love seeing all the bunnies and chicks and pastel décor.  In fact, I was wondering while walking today what happened to the small plastic eggs that people used to hang onto the tree branches?  Is that old news, or did they all blow away in the ferocious winds last week?

Today is Palm Sunday, and it was also the Annual Easter Egg Hunt here in our city. This is an event consisting of kids nine years of age and younger who gather at Memorial Park where thousands of plastic eggs are scattered on the lawn behind the Bandshell.  The goal is to make a mad scramble and scoop up as many colorful plastic eggs with prizes inside as possible.  The event is BYOB – “B” signifying “basket”, and which you use to throw all the eggs into.  I know my mom always told me:  “don’t put all your eggs in one basket Linda dear” … I guess this advice doesn’t apply if you are on an Easter egg hunt though.

The Easter Bunny himself (or herself – who knows?) was the star of the show, thus, it is not only a chance to gain goodies but a great photo op as well.

Here in Lincoln Park you get a “two-fer”, since you get to keep the plastic egg and the treat, as opposed to those cities that have a helicopter dropping marshmallows and kids must trade in their mud-covered, giant marshmallows to receive their treat.

Funny, I don’t remember attending events like this, or even the popular “Breakfast with the Easter Bunny”, when I was growing up.  To tell you the truth, I can’t ever recall seeing the Easter Bunny up close and personal.

But, just like Santa Claus, when someone asked if you believed in the Easter Bunny, you nodded sagely and said “of course!”, because if you didn’t believe, he might not stop at your house. And really – what’s not to believe?  Who else would deposit a wicker basket wrapped in a shiny hot pink cellophane wrapper that had a dozen tiny chenille chickens dancing all around the edge and a tall chocolate bunny nestled in Easter grass and surrounded by chocolate eggs and jelly beans? Ya know what I mean Jellybean?

Childish wonderment back in the day … life sure was simple then, especially if you believed.

[Image by photographer Ryan McGuire at Pixabay]