The Retirement Newsletter: Happy Easter
Issue Number: -41 — Spring is on its way (in the Northern Hemisphere)
Welcome
Welcome to issue -41, and if you celebrate such things — Happy Easter.
Reflections — Easter and me
For me, Easter is a funny time of the year.
Easter is significant for Christians, with Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
As a kid, Easter was dominated by my mum attending church, Hot Cross Buns, and Easter Eggs.
What I have always found odd about Easter is that it is movable. It moves around the calendar, and I've never understood why. If the birth of Christ can have a fixed date — 25th December — then why can’t his execution and resurrection? Some years we can have Easter in March, and some years in late April. It seems odd that such a significant event in the Christian faith moves.
For me, Easter is all about spring, Hot Cross Buns, and Easter eggs.
Easter and Spring
I don't know if it's because of all the worry about heating costs over the winter, but spring seems to be teasing me this year. I am eager for the warm days of spring and summer to arrive.
Furthermore, I convinced myself that spring started in late January when I saw the first Snowdrops. But it didn't.
We are now in early April; two months later, the leaves are only starting to appear on the trees. I saw my first Bluebells last weekend, but in most of my local woodland, the Bluebells have a few weeks to go before they are in full bloom. The daffodils are out, which is good. Daisies are appearing on the lawns, and last weekend I saw my first Bumblebee of the year.
And just when I thought we were moving into spring, we had two sharp frosts this week. What is it they say? "Never cast a clout until May is out” — an interesting expression.
"Never cast a clout until May is out” — a clout is Old English for a cloth, and we could now view the word as meaning coat. In Scotland, they say ‘cloot’ instead of ‘clout’. And May is intriguing — May the flower, or May the month?
The month of May is easy. It is a month. But the May might be the flower of the May Tree.
In the UK, we have two native species of May Trees, or as they are also called Hawthorn Trees — Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata — and to me, at least, they look similar — I can’t tell them apart.
Hawthorn Trees flower from late April to June, and I can’t stand the smell of the flowers. The smell is so bad that in medieval times, it was said to remind people of the Great Plague. You should never bring May Flowers into your house because they will stink the place out and are also viewed as unlucky.
Hawthorn Trees are the pagan symbol of fertility and are connected with Maypoles. The flowers of the Hawthorn Tree are used to make a May Day crown for the fairy queen and a wreath for the Green Man.
In the UK, we also have the Blackthorn — Prunus spinosa — which looks like Hawthorn and flowers from March to June. The trees go on to produce Sloe Berries in the Autumn that are used to make Sloe Gin (Sloe Berries are a distant relative of the modern plum). Currently, the UK countryside is white with Blackthorn flowers, and people often confuse the May (Hawthorn) flowers with the Blackthorn flowers.
So, Easter is here, the days are getting longer, and the days are getting warmer, but I had better hang on to my clout.
Easter and Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns have always been a favourite of mine, and as a kid, I thought it was a shame that they were only available for a very short period before Easter. Now, you can get them all year round in the UK.
If you are unfamiliar with Hot Cross Buns, they are spiced, sweet buns that contain dried fruit. A white cross decorates the bun. You can eat the buns cold with butter — but they are better split in two, toasted and served buttered. Lovely.
What I find interesting is the folklore surrounding these buns.
Taking a Hot Cross Bun with you on a sea voyage will protect against the boat sinking. Hanging a bun in your kitchen will protect against fire.
The buns are medicinal, and you should keep a bun handy to give to an ill person to help them recover.
And, you don’t have to worry about the buns going mouldy when you take them on your sea trip; use them to protect your house from fire or cure people because buns cooked on Good Friday will not go mouldy.
Please note that the buns will go mouldy and will not cure people, prevent fires, or stop your boat from sinking.
Easter and Easter Eggs
Finally, eggs.
As a kid, after Hot Cross Buns, this was what Easter was all about — chocolate eggs and the occasional chocolate rabbit.
There is something about the chocolate in Easter eggs — it tastes better than other chocolate. And Easter Eggs are the most expensive way to buy chocolate.
Anyway, Happy Easter, and if you are into such things, I hope you got to eat plenty of Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs. And please remember, keep your clout (cloot) handy for a few more weeks.
Next week
Next week, in issue -40, I will ask, “Why did I start a newsletter?”.
Thanks
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If you want to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not help buy me an Easter Egg?
Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you want to contribute something to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.