Vernal Equinox Weekend

To ring in the spring equinox and Ostara yesterday, I went for a long walk with David and our two dogs on a lovely trail that runs close by. The weather was simply gorgeous, perfect for a leisurely walk under a late afternoon sun that was just warm enough to leave the coats and sweaters at home. We observed the blossoms and buds on the foliage, all about to pop at any moment, the sound of the birds busily making nests for the babies soon to come, the squirrels playing tag with one another around tree trunks, the crocuses peeking out from under the bushes in our front yard, and as evening set the sound of peepers calling to potential mates in the wetland behind our house.

I gave myself the weekend off from the seemingly endless spring cleaning I've been doing every weekend for the last month or so (in my usual desperate bid to finish it all before Beltane) and instead, and with only a small amount of guilt for shirking off, did little more than enjoy the beauty of the new season. I did, however, make a multi-layered yellow cake, with buttercream icing and filled with a lovely lemon egg custard and since I normally eat very little sugar, managed to get quite hyper after eating a really large slice.

The only sad note to the weekend was when a sweet little brown marmorated stink bug that had been living in my kitchen for quite some time accidentally toppled off the ivy on my windowsill and into the sink while I was working on my lemon cake and became a very interesting bit of boiled sugar decoration (that, trust me, never made it onto the cake).

I hope everyone had an equally (or even more) lovely weekend and I wish a very happy Ostara to one and all. Blessed be.

Photo courtesy of TT_MAC on flickr.

Eostre and the Hare

Once upon a time long, long ago, there wandered through the forest a little hare who was uncertain what gift to bestow upon his beloved goddess with which to honor her on her spring festival day. While wandering and pondering, he came upon a fresh egg laying on the woodland floor. The hare was absolutely delighted as eggs were a rare thing indeed and finding one was quite exciting. As much as the little hare wanted to eat the egg himself, he decided instead to gift it to Eostre. The little hare was very pleased with himself until it occurred to him that as Eostre was a powerful goddess, perhaps his plain little egg wouldn't be such a wonderful gift to someone such as her. After all, she could have as many eggs as she desired and as often as she liked. So the little hare decided to make the egg something truly special, and by making it as colorful as he could and as lovely as the beautiful goddess herself, he would show her how much she meant to him.

He took the egg to a secluded spot and began to color the egg with all the hues of springtime: the bright, vibrant colors of the trees, the grasses, the water and sky and all the flowers that were blooming. He drew many of the symbols associated with Eostre: hares and other animals, birds, all the lovely things that depicted life in all her abundance. The little hare poured all his love for his goddess into this tiny egg.

When he had finished, he presented his offering to Eostre and she was so pleased with the little hare's humble yet beautiful gift, that she asked him to go out and share this special little egg with all the world, especially the children who embody all that springtime stands for. And to this day, all the descendants of that first little hare honor Eostre's original request by bringing to all the children of the world decorated eggs to celebrate the arrival of spring and the equinox.

Photo of painted eggs courtesy of kellybielec on flickr.