Easter Morning – Passover 2020

This isn’t our usual Easter or Passover. Both are usually time that we gather in our houses of worship or share traditional meals with family and friends. We have Easter egg hunts and watch the kids eagerly look for the basket the bunny left them. But not this year.

As we practice social distancing we aren’t going to church or synagogue. Instead we are watching services on TV or our laptops. We’re no less grateful but I think all of us miss the sense of community we have when we attend services.

I was talking with a fellow town resident and she was saying how she missed attending the Senior lunches. It isn’t just the food, it’s also the social connection that drew her to attend. A time to see friends and have a conversation. She has encouraged me to attend but I haven’t gotten there yet and now it’s on hold indefinitely. I still have it marked on my calendar so when it does start back up I’m planning on attending.

So many things I miss right now but I remind myself of how blessed I am to live in this beautiful area, have food on the table, good health and so much more.

This is a time of renewal. We see it everyday. Trees starting to bud, a bit of green here and there poking up through last years leaves. Yesterday I happened to look out the patio door and thought I was seeing my first returning loon. But once I got the binoculars out I realized what I was seeing was a male Hooded Merganser swimming in the open water off our shore. Earlier in the week I had my first yellow finches at the feeder. All signs of the coming spring. Which, by the way, could hurry up and get here.

I hope that with our quarantine we’ve come to realize that there is time to pause and notice our surroundings, that there is time to have a thoughtful conversation with another, that we can slow down for a moment to appreciate all we have. That we take the time to listen to one another.

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter and Passover.