Happy Easter!

A man shovels snow on the sidewalk clearing the path as he does every morning after a dousing. Today is like any other day for him. People walk the streets with heads down plowing thru the snow falling. Today is no different than yesterday. The supermarket is crowded with consumers grabbing produce for the week as though it may disappear tomorrow. Today is just another ordinary Sunday....for them.

For us, it is not just another day. It is different than yesterday. It is anything but an ordinary Sunday. It is Easter. He has Risen!! A day to celebrate our risen Christ who died so that we may be forgiven. A day of Hope and Rejuvenation!

Easter is not celebrated in Russia until May 5th. Those who celebrate participate in an extra long Lenten season consisting of strict dietary requirements. Search the Internet and you will find many entries on the Russian Orthodox Lent.

Given their later celebration, there are not many "Eastery" items to purchase in stores just yet. This made filling an Easter basket quite the challenge! If it weren't for some American friends who generously shared some of the candy they had received in their shipments, our baskets would have been lacking. We went to a beautiful brunch at a hotel to celebrate the day with friends. If it weren't for this time with friends, Easter would not have felt like the special day it is. While it isn't our first holiday away from home and family, it is our first Easter. I suppose the next round of holidays will be easier as we will have been there, done that. All of the people, the decorations, things, food, etc (to make it feel like a holiday) do not really exist here. We have to make it. And to make it here in a country that is so newly celebrating itself (not until the USSR dissolved were celebrations allowed to be had) can be frustrating. None of this matters to one of little or no Faith. So, we made our Easter a blessed one with sweet, dear friends....and one we will always hold precious in our hearts.

I have been running a little low on Hope and Rejuvenation these days. Perhaps you can tell by the lack of entries? The time here continue to pass by quickly while the days run slowly. We were greeted by a 3 day snow storm a week ago. A week ago I was ready for Spring. A month ago I was ready for Spring! According to the Russian calendar Spring arrives on March 1 in spite of whatever weather has been delivered. Imagine my lack luster attitude when this morning, April 1, it is still snowing. Snow turned to rain. Rain turned to rivers. Rivers turned to frozen puddles; big ones, small ones, long ones, short ones, narrow ones. The cycle continues. Temperatures are slowly climbing back up yet it still remains cold. Days are becoming longer. Daylight arrives around 6:30am and departs about 8:30pm. I think I can feel Spring around the corner! This gives me Hope! Rejuvenation shall come soon with a vacation.....