We’re feeling a little battered up here by our fourth nor’easter in three weeks. It adds insult to injury that it’s snowing on the second day of spring. At least the daffodils and tulips haven’t started to bloom yet, so they aren’t freezing or covered with snow.
This time of year I long for bright colors and warmth. Too many months of black and white and gray make spring seem even further away. Maybe it’s time to make an Easter basket and pretend the snow isn’t there.
My mother loved dyeing eggs, in the most vivid shades possible. She’d dip them until they were deep purple or robin’s egg blue. No pastels for her! She also loved to shop for my Easter basket. She knew I loved stuffed animals, so every year I got one along with the chocolate rabbit and the other candy in my basket. She still made Easter baskets for me when I was in high school.
Mother was also a fan of the elaborate cakes featured in Good Housekeeping and other “women’s magazines” for holidays. One year she tried to duplicate one for Easter that used tiered cake pans (like a wedding cake), decorated with coconut nests dyed green and jelly beans for Easter eggs. I think the cake must have been too “short” (too much butter/shortening) because the layers crumbled as she iced it. It ended up looking like a mountain with coconut nests clinging to the sides.
My nephew and I told her it was pretty and ate big slices when she cut it. And it was delicious! It just didn’t look like the magazine picture.
I wish you and yours the colors of Easter eggs, the sweetness of chocolate, and lots of spring flowers!
writinghersense 
Thanks Connie, warm seasonal wishes to you too. I’m done with the snow. Around this time, I’m always on the lookout for the robin red breast’s annual appearance. Seeing her has always made Spring’s arrival official. Many of my neighbors have said they already spotted them, I have not.