Easter Parade, 2007-Style

Easter is upon us. I've seen four different Easter-themed flags around town today. For example, the jolly rabbit at JBs, above.

There was also this curious sign at the cash register as I paid for my breakfast. I wonder 1) just how big is the world's largest Easter bunny and 2) who certifies that this particular animal fits the billing. Spoil sport, that's what I am.

This afternoon, when I called on Mom over at Las Fuentes, she was with a group who had been coloring Easter eggs.

Here's some of their product!

And look at the dye all over Mom's hands.

The house of holiday lights has been decorated for Easter for a good week or so.

This was part of the promotional decor at the CVS pharmacy.

Plenty of seasonal merchandise, including chocolate bunnies. After all these years, I suppose they comprise a tradition of sorts. As a kid, I preferred my chocolate rabbits to be hollow. Don't know why, since a filled one adds up to a lot more candy. Maybe it's because the nougat filling diluted the sheer chocolate-ness of the hollow form.

They also had bean bag peeps...

...and, wonder of wonders, one item that rather diffidently brought up the subject of why Easter. It set me to thinking about this totally Disneyfied holiday. Chicks. Colored eggs. Bunnies. Is that all there is? I'm not a religious person, but Easter, after all, has major historic significance. It is the high point of the year for most Christian congregations. A pity to see it so trivialized.

Seasonal note: There have been a surprising number of referrals from The Google to my post about the Shrine of St. Joseph. The shrine must receive many visitors at this time of year.

Wearin' a Little Green

St. Patrick's Day has never been a big deal in my life. My ancestors came from Norway, England, Wales and Scotland; my mother never brought corned beef into the house, and I wore orange as often as green on March 17, being a contrary sort.

It wasn't until I moved to Chicago, home to the likes of the Daley clan, Paddy Bawler and other city machine politicos, that I realized how important ethnic holidays are to the preci'nt captains and ward committeemen.

Of course, if I operated a retail establishment, I would be aware of the merchandising opportunities offered by such celebrations. But I certainly didn't go out searching for a camera-load of Irish symbols for this post. What I've got here is what came my way.

The well lit house over on Park Avenue, where nearly every holiday is celebrated with strings of lights, provided a great chance to wish everybody a happy St. Patrick's Day.

The last time pictures of this house were featured was Valentine's Day and prior to that, Christmas and Halloween. And there below is St. Pat himself, with a pot o' gold. Enjoy.

Valentines Yet?

The house of many lights over on Park Avenue is already ready for the next holiday: St. Valentine's. As you may (or may not) recall, the owners celebrate many holidays -- and frankly all this warm red is quite welcome in the midst of the current cold wave. I suspect that the strings of lights that outline the house and fences serve more than one holiday. The red Valentine's lights plus the green St. Pat's lights certainly add up to Christmas colors, for example.

Here are some past displays I've photographed: July 4th Independence Day (plus St. Pat's) ... Halloween. I will try to catch more night pictures as the year's holidays roll across the calendar.

In the past ten or so years, Valentine's Day has caught on in such major non-European cultures as Japan and India. The Japanese celebrate St. Valentine's day in a rather unique fashion. Women give the men gifts of chocolate as well as other gifts. These gifts of chocolate are divided into two types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate) and honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about). Giri choco is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers. It is not unusual for a woman to buy 20 to 30 boxes of this type of chocolate for distribution around the office as well as to men that she has regular contact with. But, according to this site, there's a Japanese twist to the celebration -- one month later to the day, Japanese men are expected to give chocolates to the women who previously gifted them.

The Indian version of Valentines Day -- not always pleasant -- is detailed in this article, while thumbnails of other international variations can be found here.

Happy Birthday, USA

I suspect that if I were out at night, this eagle-bedecked flag would light up, just like the little flag around the corner, below. It would seem that colored electric lights are starting to take the place of old-fashioned bunting for the new-fangled celebration of July 4th.



The electric flag above spans most of the front porch on this house. I mean, it's big! But then this house over on Park Ave. is dolled up for many holiday occasions -- Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween. All with lights; sorry that my St. Pat's photo was taken in the daylight. Note the string of lights at the bottom.