Peeps are marshmallow candies, sold in the United States and Canada, that are shaped into chicks, bunnies, and other animals. There are also different shapes used for various holidays. Peeps are used primarily to fill Easter baskets, though recent ad campaigns tout the candy as “Peeps – Always in Season”....
Where does the name ‘Easter’ come from? Pagan traditions give us the English word Easter which comes from the word Eostre. According to Bede, the English monastic historian, the Anglo-Saxon word for April was “Eostre-monath” (the month of openings). It is important to note that Christians celebrated the resurrection of Christ...
With Easter approaching I thought it would be apropos to make note of themed movies. Naturally a majority are of a religious nature, but not all. There is something for everyone! Easter Parade Starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. The beloved Irving Berlin musical about a dancer who tries to...
April Fool’s Day has been around as long as I can remember, and as it happens for a very, very long time before I was born. All of us “celebrate” the day in some way or another, especially when children, and some pranksters are quite serious about it even when...
I think it is safe to say that the majority of Valentine’s cards are pretty, have sweet verses or loving sentiments, or if meant to be humorous do so in a cheeky way. Even those superhero Valentines that the boys in second grade give are cute! And perhaps in our...
Time for another game! Below is a list of twenty lovers in literature, history, and a few from TV or other silly places. All are familiar – at least I think they are – so should be easy to match up. Again, all in good fun, so no one is...
Today is the official day set aside for lovers ~ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Hopefully couples show their love for one another every day of the week. But, as we have days specially to honor mothers and fathers, as well as veterans and laborers, having one day out of the year...
Valentine’s Day is the time to celebrate love, and what better way than to look into the past for examples of true love? Lessons of sacrifice and committed love can be learned from lovers’ tales that did not end so well. If tragic stories are your cup-of-tea, here are some...
I have never been a huge fan of poetry. That attitude changes, I discovered, when someone writes a poem for you! Many years ago when my husband Steve and I were still dating, he sat down at a local coffee shop in Capitola, California and penned a poem all in...
“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” — Helen Keller “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson “All our dreams can...
What a crazy busy year this has been for me! It certainly feels like one of the wildest years I have had in a good long while. Although, come to think of it, 2011 was particularly insane… Maybe the odd years?… hmmm… I’ll have to search the mental archives on...
The First Noel the angel did say Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep, On a cold winter’s night that was so deep. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel. “The greatest and most momentous fact...
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that...
For seventy-five years after President Lincoln issued his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation for the “last Thursday in November,” all but two succeeding presidents honored the tradition established by President Washington. In 1865 and 1869, Presidents Johnson and Grant, respectively, chose a different Thursday. After that, every other president annually issued a...
There is very little serious dispute that the first Thanksgiving feast in America, the one all the others are linked to, was with the Pilgrims and Native tribes in the fall of 1621. I say “little dispute” because there are always some who want to darken historical facts. Those disputes,...
