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April 16, 2006
Hope Springs Eternal In My Easter Bonnet
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Once upon an Easter time women proudly displayed their Easter Bonnets.
A tradition since the 18th century, Easter Bonnets may seem silly,
frilly and outdated to some, but call me a traditionalist when it comes
to Easter. The current holiday fad is little Easter trees. Apparently
in vogue, spindly bare trees are decorated chiefly with plastic eggs.
Some folks prefer the small, indoor decor Easter trees, with designer
painted wooden eggs etc. But not my neighbors... they prefer to string
their as-yet-unbudded-bare-branch-of-a-tree with cheap plastic eggs
which, by the way, continuously fall off the string and roll around the
block. I'd prefer the return of the bonnet.
If I sound anti-Easter, it's just not so. I'm a traditionalist. I
prefer traditional symbols of Easter, of Spring -- rabbits, chicks and
eggs. Symbols which represent the rebirth of earth. Near dead trees
with plastic eggs do not give me this sense of joy. I also enjoy seeing
bouncing baby bunnies and cute, cuddly chicks. (There's no monotony in
neoteny!) I even love to watch the Cadbury bunny 'buck' like a chicken
(who doesn't?)
Ahh, Spring's symbols of rabbits, chicks and eggs... Wait, which came
first, the chicken or the egg?
Why the egg, of course. Obviously it was much more amazing to see a new
life emerge from a seemingly dead object than to just see a young chick
walking about... though I'm sure many a man felt that way about chicks
in Easter Bonnets... too cute, and such a reminder of fertility!
And that's what this season is about, really. Rebirth. Like flowers
pushing their soft selves from earth that was once hard and frozen, we all
long to stretch and return to the world invigorated and renewed. So add
flowers to my list -- rabbits, chicks, eggs, and flowers.
These natural symbols make me feel that I too may Spring forth in
rebirth. And heaven knows that I'll need to, what with the egg
decorating, egg hiding, meal preparation, basket filling -- and now I'm
supposed to decorate another tree? Please, Christmas has dibs on the
tree! (But I could find time to buy a bonnet...)
Posted by photocartoonist at April 16, 2006 12:03 AM