EASTER IS EARLY

Someone told me that it's rare when Easter comes and Lent falls in the week of St.Patrick's Day. I really don't know what that means, but I'm guessing one is supposed to avoid alcohol during Lent. Something about Fat Tuesday.

Since my only celebration of St. Patty's Day is wearing green so I won't get pinched, it doesn't mean much to me. Even though I'm Irish and it should. Actually I think I should wear orange since I come from Irish Protestamt stock, but I'm not sure if that color prefernce is accurate. I'm just glad things have settled down in Ireland. It's a great country with great Irish stew. You'd have to ask someone else about green beer and corn beef, though I ate the best pastrami on rye at the Downtown Deli in Phoenix last week. So I don't know if that counts or not. Probably not.

But Peeps were part of our Easter celebration. A purist, I liked the yellow ones best, followed by the white ones. Had I taken a spoon and dipped it into the sugar bowl, I probably would have gotten the same effects. Hard boiled eggs, dyed Easter eggs, Easter baskets, green Easter grass, Sunrise Easter Service, setting up extra chairs in the aisles for church service were all part of Easter. Traveling back from Florida after Spring Break was another Easter memory. Working the Holiday Inn Easter Buffet was a part of our last MTV years that became a tradition as well.

And, of course, singing at church. "He Lives," "He Arose," and other hymns mark the greatest religious holiday on the calendar. Good Friday church services, Palm Sunday, yup, lots of great memories about family and God. I know, Easter is three short weeks away. But it's time to stock up on Paas egg dye, and yes, Peeps. But don't overdo the Peeps, and if Lays didn't already have the saying, I'd suggest it for Peeps,"bet you can't eat just one".