No, I'm not going religiony. The recent huge earthquake in Japan reminded me of the Great Alaskan Earthquake on Good Friday in 1964. My dad and his entire squadron of P2V Neptunes and all the men who made them fly were stationed in Adak then. As soon as the quake hit (about the same magnitude as the Japan one), they took the planes and humans to higher ground.
Yep, a tsunami was on the way. We didn't call them tsunamis then (maybe you did). We just called them tidal waves, which sounds scary enough. I don't think that wave had anything to do with the tides, though.
My mom and my brother and I were at home on Whidbey Island. We were assured that everybody was safe. We heard that my dad's belongings would be shipped to us soon. (Why did he not need his belongings? I was a kid; I don't know. He came home soon after.)
When you're a kid, you're always looking for cool things, funny things.
This was cool. And funny.
Dad's Navy trunk arrived. We jimmied open the lock, and the inside was filled with wet clothing. Khakis, skivvies, socks. Soaked in salt water. Ocean water. The tsunami had delivered this dose of saline through the keyhole!
Maybe that wasn't funny.
But you know what was funny? There were tiny dead crabs and shreds of seaweed in there, too.
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Well, little heathen that I was, I thought Good Friday was good because we got a day off from school (when I attended Catholic schools), and that was enough for me.
Well, the big heathen that I am thinks Good Friday is good because I get HOT hot cross buns, with LASHINGS of butter (all melted in), in bed. And the day off work. The Monday (can't remember it's name) is good also, for the same reasons, only no buns because we ate then all yesterday and today!
Poor little crabs.
Oh! I get I. I was never Catholic. Yay.
It does seem like source material for a children's book, the Navy trunk arriving filled with wet salty clothes, tiny dead crabs, and bits of seaweed.
Ms Mouse reminds me to go looking for hot cross buns this weekend. Love those!
Here's my favorite Easter joke:
Q. What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A. Hot, cross bunnies! :-D
Makes me laugh every time. I know, pathetic.
Oh man, I have to pull a Zoomie, Was he dead really? "He came home soon after."
That is a kool story and I got a lot of stories from my Dad his last year of life. He could tell stories about dinner in England 1943 but not remember his last meal.
What a remarkable story. Thank you!
As for the day after Easter -- in Italy everyone leaves for the countryside and picnics (of course nobody goes to work that day) and the holiday continues.
I haven't had a single hot cross bun this season. Haven't found the perfect one (refuse to eat those with the jelly-ish yellow "crosses": t'ain't fittin'). Miss my East Coast versions, small and glazed with a white buttercream cross. Currants inside.
Kudzu, I'm going to make my own this weekend. You want some? They will be proper ones with white buttercream crosses, currants inside and an egg wash glaze.
Denise: If only my dad would tell tell the stories. He seems to think there are some things his kids don't need to know. Cold war secrecy, I guess. Well, I could make it all up, right?
Zoomie: I have no cultural heritage there. Never ate a hot, cross bunny.
Chilebrown: He is still here to bother me to this day. His memory is perfect, but he won't share things with me. I'm the girl.
Kudzu: I guess Easter was never a big holiday chez nous. I remember my mom trying to find a parking space near the Navy church one year (might have been earthquake year, dad wasnt there). She failed and we drove home. I thought we were driving straight to hell.
SOBERING THOUGHT... ROMNEY WILL BE THE GOP CANDIDATE.
I have carefully avoided all the sugary, yeasty bread goodies for Easter and here I am blindsided by an insane lust for hot cross buns. It's a good thing that I am very picky. That will keep me from multiple sins of eating sweets buns or too much sugar which I must avoid, coming as I do from a family with a history of diabetes.
Nancy: Really? I am so sugar disinterested I would never covet those buns. But I've never had one, so I don't know of their charms.
Cookiecrumb, actually, hot cross buns are not very sweet. The bun itself is like spiced bread (not cake) and has currents in it. Only the thin cross of icing is sweet. You might actually enjoy a small one - the problem being that bakeries make them huge, and often glaze them with extra sugar. At home, you can adjust that - and some make the cross with a little extra pastry or just by cutting a cross before baking. Happy Easter, in any case, dear Cookie. Long may you wave.
I ate a wonderful hot cross bun at Stella Pastry yesterday morning (still warm)... I have no idea what they "should" be like. I don't believe I've ever eaten one before yesterday. Happy Easter.
Zoomie: I just can't work up a lather for them, never having celebrated Easter in a crucifix type way. I did get a chocolate bunny most years. Naturally the chocolate was grainy and horrible, the bunny was hollow, and my mom bit off the ears. Can I get a do-over?
Denisse: Great that you actually ate one! Maybe next year I'll be more open to the idea. Happy Spring Festivity to you.
Are good Friday and easter Monday not public holidays in the US? They are here, as is xmas and boxing day.
Except this easter Monday fell on the 25th, which is also ANZAC Day and a public holiday. So this year we get ANZAC Day and easter TUESDAY! Huzzah!
You slackers!
Totally Dood ;) Apparently Australians are known for being slackers world wide! You know we get 4 weeks annual leave? AND long-service leave! O yes, this is the workers' paradise! (there is power in a union...)
Mouse: I think you can get Good Friday off if you plead religion. But, no. America is now a peon society with no organized labor. Two weeks off is all you get. We have lapsed so badly, I just wish I had three wishes so I could get something done in this country.
Easter TUESDAY? Ha ha.
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