4/2/10

Sibling Assignment #127: Christ The Lord Has Risen Today

 Easter back in the day with Raymond Pert, Silver Valley Girl as a baby and me.

This month Silver Valley Girl is giving sibling assignments around the theme of April. Here is ours for this week. " This year, Easter falls on the first Sunday of April.  Pick one of your favorite Easter hymns, and write about why it means so much to you." I will link theirs soon.

I can remember Easter in church for at least fifty years. Our church used to be uptown in Kellogg, then we made the big move down on Cameron across the street from our house when I was in elementary school.  At both churches the girls all wore new dresses, hats, white patent leather shoes with new white socks, and sometimes carried a new purse on Easter Sunday. The boys were in slacks, white shirts and ties.  The organist was the same in both buildings, the choir robes were the same, the the opening procession every Easter was "Christ the Lord Has Risen Today."

Fifty years later I get goosebumps when I hear this song. When I was old enough to understand Maundy Thursday and Good Friday I remember a sadness trying to understand The Last Supper and the crucifixion if Jesus Christ. When our organist filled the church with the opening chords of this song and the choir marched down the middle aisle singing the song with the congregation I knew it was time to rejoice. I look forward to belting it out Sunday as we once again celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ at our Garden Valley Church. Enjoy the song with me a have a happy Easter.

Postcards From the Methow Valley: Highway 20 and Early Winters

We toured Highway 20 as far as the road would go yesterday. The North Cascade Scenic Highway is still closed.
We took a break at the Early Winters Campground and enjoyed the beauty of Early Winters Creek and the surrounding area.

The creek was just a bit too cold for Shelby, but Annie waded right in!

April is National Poetry Month: One Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls

The second anthology I am highlighting this month is One Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls compiled by Marjorie Barrows. The copy I have was published in 1930. I found this copy hiding on the shelf of a used book store a few years ago. It has a superb selection of poems, plus I love the black silhouette  illustrations.  It contains many favorite poems from childhood by Rachel Field, Edward Lear, and Robert Lewis Stevenson. I found comfort in this poem picturing  this Rhodes Scholar studying at Oxford, perhaps thinking of animal crackers and cocoa back home!

Animal Crackers
by Christopher Morley.
Animal crackers and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.
What do YOU choose when you're offered a treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love most!

The kitchen's the cosiest place that I know;
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight, how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and Mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;
And Daddy once said, he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!