Love Without Hope

Love without hope, as when the young bird-catcher
Swept off his tall hat to the Squire's own daughter,
So let the imprisoned larks escape and fly
Singing about her head, as she rode by.

Robert Graves

Easter

Easter is this weekend, and my in-laws are visiting, and my FIL is a devout Catholic, so there are several things to think about:

1. What/where to have dinner on Friday, as FIL will not eat meat on Fridays in lent and doesn't consider a vegeterian meal a meal. Go out to someplace with a fish option, or hit the Whole Foods and cook?

2. Try, once again, to convince him that it would be cool for us all to attend Easter service in the Looniversity Chapel. MIL wants to do this every time they visit, and they always end up going to the Catholic church, alone. Maybe it would work if we told him we'd all go? Or he could go separately to an early Catholic service, and then we'd all go together to the ecumenical Looni service?

3. Iron Casper's new Easter dress. My mother splurged on us (http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=SC%7C6%7C2%7C24%7C25%7C1%7C%7C) and it is gorgeous. Dillo has matching pants (well, babypris, but they're a little big, so they're pants right now.)

4. Think of something to eat for Easter dinner. Also, shop. I suppose the thing to fall back on is roast pork loin; we don't like ham. Pork loin went over well with FIL once before, I think.

5. Easter baskets. MIL is bringing gifts from the EB (clothes, we consulted on needs and sizes; she is so considerate.) Will need to acquire some candy, yarn for grass? (I hate that artifical grass; my mother always uses green yarn as she's a knitter). We have baskets. To ponder what our EB tradition will be, as Casper is old enough to remember at this point. My family always did jelly bean trails from the bedroom to the (barely hidden) basket. I think the cat would chase the jelly beans all over the place, plus we do enough wandering around the house at night that it's not the best idea, probably.

6. To think about the message of Easter we want to communicate to Casper. In my family Easter is a Unitarian-y sort of spring/rebirth celebration, lots of bunnies and chicks and flowers and stuff, less corpsified Jesus. Don't think this should be a problem this year, despite devoutness of FIL - he's not a proselytizer. While Casper is okay with the whole "baby Jesus is born at Christmas" thing, I think she is a little young for "crucified, died and was buried," even if he did rise again on the third day.

7. Um, Passover starts tonight [edit: last night. It's not religious ignorance, it's what day of the week is it confusion]. In spirit of pan-religious education, this one is even harder for the 3 year old brain than Easter. Maybe next year we'll try to get together with friends for a Seder.