Thanks to Freda Samuels for scanning my Guest Column from the Sunday, March 20 Intelligencer and for Michael Macrone for making it visible to our readers.
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Did
your heart sing when Sunday, March 20, rolled around? The first day of spring
is as welcome as the return of color across the land. Look out your window. The
yellow forsythia stretches toward the sky. Golden daffodils strut in front
yards. If you, your children or grandchildren go up close, you’ll hear the song
of the bees as they bring sweet nectar home to their hive.
What
better way than to teach youngsters the joy of nature? What child doesn’t love
blowing on a dandelion puff and watching it sail across the lawn? Or pointing
out red cardinals who tweet mating calls on the back yard maple?
Spring
is the time to get re-acquainted with the wonderful parks in our area. Peace Valley
Nature Center
in Doylestown boasts Lake
Galena. This man-made
lake was created when Bucks
County flooded the lake
in 1972. Before then, the galena mine (lead ore) had been exhausted. Residents
of the village of
Leven, who earned their
living at the mine, moved out and watched as their homes disappeared beneath
the flood waters.
The
new Pennypack Trail spans 14 miles in Philadelphia,
Bucks and Montgomery
counties. With great effort, old railroad tracks were converted to trails –
“Rails to Trails” – where people of every age can walk, jog or bicycle their
way through this striking landscape.
Spring
is the time for renewal. We shuck off ole man winter’s frosty ways. Memories
remain on smart phones of the Blizzard of 2016 with three feet of snow,
six-foot high snow men, and the ensuing cabin fever that kept us inside eating
canned tuna or mushroom-barley soup.
Every
culture has its spring rituals. Eggs, bunnies, and new clothes were symbols of
the ancient pagans, before the dawn of Christianity, according to Peg Aloi, an
expert in paganism, who writes online. Eggs, she continues, are a symbol of
fertility, easy to see as new nests appear in trees and gardeners begin tilling
the soil.
These
ancients also celebrated by eating fresh greens like sprouts and other
vegetables. This is similar to the Jewish festival of Passover. We remember
when God liberated the Jewish slaves from Egypt. The festival includes a
“seder” where we eat a hard-boiled egg, dipped in salt water representing the
tears of our people during their 40 years of slavery. We eat “charoset,”
chopped apples, wine and nuts.
Because
we fled Egypt
in a hurry, we hadn’t time to bake our bread. We remember this by eating
“matzoh” or unleavened bread at the dinner seder. At the end of our meal, the
head of the household hides the matzoh, or “aficomen” as it’s called, for the excited
children to find.
The
calendar date of Passover is determined by the Hebrew calendar. The seven-day
holiday begins at midnight on the 15th of Nissan in the year 2448.
The year is calculated from the time of creation, estimated to be 1313, BC.
This is when Moses finally broke the will of Pharaoh to “let my people go.”
Easter
Sunday occurs on the March equinox, when day and night are of equal length. On
this joyous day, Jesus Christ is resurrected from the dead. While Passover is
celebrated at home, Easter Sunday takes place in thousands of churches all over
the world.
For
the 38th year, a “Sunrise Celebration” will occur in our nation’s
capital on March 27 at 6:30 a.m. Thousands of people will gather on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial 20 minutes before the sun rises. Holiday
music sounds a “joyful noise,” including a children’s choir. Pastor Amos Dodge
delivers a rousing sermon.
If
you can’t attend, not to worry. Experience it on YouTube.
Closer
to home, Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, 2955 Edge Hill Road, Huntingdon Valley, sponsors its annual
creek clean-up on Saturday, April 9, from 10 until noon. Hundreds of area
residents of all ages don work gloves and boots to remove the likes of bottles,
plastic trash bags and tires from the Pennypack Creek. Our efforts will be
rewarded by lunch in the picnic grove.
Talk
about traditions! New Directions, the support group I founded in 1986, for
people with depression, bipolar disorder and their loved ones, will lend a
hand.
As a
time of renewal, there’s nothing like visiting friends and relatives in
assisted living facilities. Stop by with a bag of goodies, practice patience
and give the gift of your love and attention. You will feel great and so will
Granny!
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