It has been an interesting Holy Week around here. My blueprint for Holy Week is the experience of many many Easters at St. Matthew’s. It is impossible to rip that pattern out of my head, or worse my heart, it is the stuff of which I am composed, my DNA.
And now 4 years into life without the anchor of my home church, I am slowly trying to differently shape Holy Week and Easter. To search out new ways in which to live this most special week of the whole year, experiences that now seem to revolve around this house, the work of Crosstalk Ministries and the people who populate my Day Camp world, and the world of St. Stephen’s, my new church family.
Despite knowing that every church with which I correspond is equally bound up in Easter preparations there has been a small amount of Day Camp activity. Plans are moving ahead for next Saturday’s Team Gathering, a few churches have sent in deposit cheques, there have been emails and texts, phone calls and even traditional mail!
The undercurrent of preparations around the house has continued apace during the afternoons and evenings. Alexander’s birthday “gym” bags were completed, as are all my Easter gifts. I got the Chubby Chirps knitted in time (sewing in the last ends last evening!), made the clay butterflies, decorated the containers and wrapped the Pysanky.
Two evenings, and yesterday morning, I hauled out all the Pysanky materials; Monday evening for Sue, Mike and Matthew, Tuesday again for Sue and yesterday morning for Pippa and her 3 “littles”! I have lost count of how many eggs have been crafted on my dining table throughout this Lenten season.
Monday I also enjoyed an afternoon and dinner visit with Jessica, and later that evening I was delighted when our very first Day Camp Billet (from 1980!!) phoned from Malaysia to wish me a Blessed Easter, what a lovely way to begin Holy Week!
This morning the house phone gave the “long distance ring” with another kind of wonderful surprise, a call from my dearest friend, Michelle, who with her husband and 4 children, has lived in the UK for the past 12 years or so. Isn’t it awesome the way one can immediately launch into a conversation with a longtime friend even if one hasn’t spoken to them for months? We talked a mile a minute until the noise level of clamouring small people 3000kms away demanded my friend’s attention and we regretfully wished each other a Blessed Easter and hung up.
It proved quite fortunate that my next job was to head outside to shovel the whopping piles of snow that had appeared overnight (AGH!) since I always find I must indulge in a good cry after hearing the voice of someone so dear to me, yet so far away, however applying myself to the task did wonders and I was soon able to pull myself together!
Throughout the week my cell phone has stayed close by me as I await news of the newest addition to the Huyer Family in Ottawa (Directors of Senior Youth Camp) and parents of two of my Godsons. No news yet, maybe this will be an Easter Sunday Baby!!! Today my own preparations for this exciting event have included more cooking because my plan is to send several dinners to them via Mark, our most excellent SYC “official” courier! Of course there is also an Easter basket to go up to them, plus William’s knitted penguin, whose wing had fallen off and who needed repairing by “Auntie Valerie”.
Last evening I watched Messiah from King’s College Cambridge. This video includes the Academy of Ancient Music with the most spine-tingling trumpeter, wonderful and uplifting! For years St. Andrew and St. Paul Presbyterian Church in downtown Montreal presented Messiah on Good Friday. As a teen I used to go to listen to it since several members of St. Matthew’s Choir (including my dad) took part in the augmented choir for the performance. In latter years dad no longer participated but we still would attend. The huge church filled to the doors and it was such a special opportunity to sing several Lenten hymns with a congregation of close to 1000. So in recent years it has still been part of my tradition to listen either to a CD recording or to watch a video on YouTube.As Holy Saturday evening approaches I have been searching out an Easter Vigil Service to watch and think the Duke University Channel may provide something suitable.
This week my meals have been mostly vegetarian and one evening I made this yummy combo of egg salad sandwich with tomato & avocado salad. It is particularly good on home baked dill bread, but equally tasty on rye or pumpernickel.
Curried Egg Salad
- 6 large, hardboiled eggs, mashed with a fork
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. curry powder
- 1 tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp. each cumin and paprika
- ¼ tsp. each dry mustard and garlic powder
- ¼ cup each sour cream and veganaise
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- Red leaf lettuce
- 12 slices dill bread
Melt the butter in a small saucepan; add the spices and sauté for 5 minutes. Combine the sour cream and veganaise in a medium bowl, blend with the spice mixture. Gently fold in the mashed eggs and scallions.Divide filling between six slices of bread. Place washed lettuce leaves on the filling and top with the remaining bread. Arrange sandwiches on six dinner plates with tomato and avocado salad.
Tomato & Avocado Salad
- 1 pound ripe tomatoes, cubed
- 1 ripe avocado, cubed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp. fresh basil leaves, chopped
Combine all ingredients and gently toss together, being carefully not to break the avocado cubes.