Happy Easter!

So maybe I’m not the ideal League member to wish everyone a most Happy Easter, self-professed heathen that I am.  But Happy Easter, everyone!

We never went to church on Easter when I was a kid, so most of my Easter memories center around the Easter egg hunt that would take place in our living room, dining room and kitchen.  My dad was always the parent that hid the eggs.  He was very competitive, and made it a point of pride to hide them so that we wouldn’t be able to find at least one.  The rule was that each egg was in plain sight, and could be touched without having to move any other objects.  This rule, though oft repeated during the hunt, was total rabbit pellets.  I remember one year my sister and I finally gave up after about 20 minutes of helpful “You’re getting hotter!  You’re red hot! … Oh, now you’re cold again ” from my dad.  Finally, he stood up with a look of triumph, picked up the table lamp, turned it over, pulled out a screwdriver from his pocket and removed the base.  The egg was inside the base of the table lamp.

Oh, and one year my dad totally forgot he had pulled out the fridge and hidden one behind it, until the smell of it rotting reminded him a few weeks later.

Now I’m a parent, and my kids care little for the eggs.  They’re all about the candy, which being Portlandia-esque anti-high fructose corn syrup parents we never buy them except for Easter and Christmas.  For me Easter is all about friends and family, which for a non-believer is just about right, I think.  We have friends coming over tonight, and we’ll feast on a leg of lamb done on the Big Green Egg (natch), roasted potatoes and asparagus, a mystery salad our friends are bringing, and homemade pastries (made by our friends) and coffee ice cream (made by yours truly).  Oh, and wine.  Probably lots of wine.

Also, our new favorite Easter cocktail, which is truly Boegiboe worthy: Blood Orange & Basil Vodka Martinis.  They’re pretty easy to make.  Just muddle a small handful of basil, and throw it in a shaker with a few cubes of ice, an ounce of triple sec, two ounces of vodka, and the juice of one lime and two blood oranges.  (You can use regular oranges, but I like the tartness and color of the blood oranges.  Besides, it makes the drink look a little bloody, which – with the fresh Spring basil – makes it a drink worthy of the rebirth themes that surround Easter.)  Shake well, and drink.  This recipe fills two of our large martini glasses.

I don’t know how a non-believer like me is blessed enough to be surrounded by so many truly wonderful priests, pastors, and spouses of each.  I know that for all of them today is a work day as much as a holy one, and each will be happy to finally put their feet up this evening.  And so tonight I will make a special toast and drink to Britt, Bryon, Shannon, JoAnn, Jane, Jeff, Dan and Calvin.  I hope each of them finds time to enjoy this day.

And I’ll make a toast for everyone else too, both here and in my life of flesh.  I am blessed enough to realize that in my life it is Heaven, not Hell, that is other people, and those that surround me make me a rich man indeed.

Happy Easter, everyone.

And of course, consider this an open thread.