We drove home to have Easter dinner in Livermore rather than eat at the bowling alley. Rain was predicted for Easter Sunday – yes, of all days – and when we pulled up in front of out house, there was a small reprieve from the drought. For a brief, less than five minute time chunk, the sky opened up and there was a positive deluge of rainfall. Alex and I had made it inside just at the start but Frank was a few seconds later and got soaked! It was humongous, but oh, so brief. The water level was rising so quickly in the streets, the storm drains could barely keep up. I scrambled to get my camera and the downpour was already tapering off when I took this photo from the shelter of our front door.
Everything got rinsed really clean, almost like it had been power washed, which I guess it had. Our red maple was so pretty, glistening with tiny droplets of rain clinging to its ruby leaves.
As we entered into our living room I had posed a big bunny lounging in the wing chair. Doesn't he look exhausted after his job of delivering chocolates? I'd bought him in a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Oklahoma when visiting Robin many ears ago before she'd even met or married Jeremy or had Autumn. That bunny had experienced a very cozy flight home in my suitcase nestled among my clothes. I still remember trying to cram him in there. Good thing he was very flexible.
On our dining room table, this trio of bunnies from Costco greets guests and offers chocolate. Of course there is not just one bunny. Frank claims that at Costco everything comes in a three-pack.
Alex's Easter basket was carrot-themed this year guarded by a plush bunny holding a carrot. From left to right, first is a carrot shopping bag for his weekly grocery store foray to purchase carrots for his bunny. Next is a paper maché carrot filled with Hershey's kisses. In the far back are two carrot shaped cardboard containers filled with a variety of chocolate bunnies and other chocolate candies inside. In the middle are sunglasses (more than carrots are good for your eyes) and some plush stuffed carrots. At the right of the basket are snack packs of Annies cheddar bunny crackers. Near the front are two packs of Reese's pieces packaged like carrots.
These bags are just so cute! They feel good, too, in a squishy kind of way, just holding them your hand. I think they are on their way to becoming an Easter tradition around our house, so I hope the Hershey company decides to bring them back seasonally in future years.
After only a brief glance at his Easter basket Alex was off to peruse his extensive collection of VHS tapes. This time I had a laundry basket at the ready to corral them when he emptied out the entertainment center.
While the ham baked away in the oven Alex enjoyed doing his 100 piece giant jigsaw puzzles.
But I think the best feature of the day was the candles. Alex loves to blow out candles. I set up five tea lights and a glass jar candle for him to extinguish at will. He would notice them, ask us to count to three as he blew them out, and then go back to his puzzles and videos. When he was not looking, I would light them again and wait for him to notice. When he spied them he would get a little grin on his face, and trek over to the kitchen counter to blow them out again... and again... and again. Frank and I became very skilled at lighting all six with one match.
We collected the used matches in a small dish of water. After Alex left, we counted the matches. We had done the whole light and blow out cycle over one dozen times and Alex had had a ball with it. Frank and I were bemused and agreed to do this again his next visit. It required very little effort for a lot of enjoyment.
After a dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, applesauce, cole slaw, and mandarin oranges – and chocolate, of course – we set out for our default walk, a roughly one mile loop that includes the bike path behind our house. Sunday we traversed it counterclockwise started out on the street adjacent to our court. Our cul de sac empties out onto College Ave. I just learned that cul-de-sac is a mid 18th century French word, translated from the term "bottom of a sack". We began walking west into the sun, our eyes intermittently shielded by the houses we passed along the street.
We made two left turns to continue east on the bike path behind our home that parallels an arroyo. Arroyo translates from mid 19th century Spanish to mean dry creek bed. Our arroyo really is dry this season with our drought.
Since I am being so cosmopolitan this post with the French and Spanish word etymologies, I'll touch upon post-Edwardian, early 20th century England, too. For fans of the award winning period drama television series, Downton Abbey, there is the familiar opening scene with a closeup of a dog's butt out for a stroll on a beautiful sunny day.
Here is the Downton Abbey stroll, Livermore style...
Looking west from whence we'd come, the sun-dappled bike path stretches out behind us. After our walk, we took Alex back to St. Denis. Then I chilled with my book and Frank chilled with an unintentional nap during his book. Afterward, at night, we watched one of our Netflix. It was a very contented Easter Sunday.
Today as I write this we just had a brief shower. We are expecting heavy rain and thunderstorms tonight and the weather report is even predicting some hail. But for now the weather is gorgeous. Here is the view out my kitchen window. I do not mind doing dishes looking out on this. And being retired means I have many opportunities to enjoy our home at all hours of the day. What a perk!
Happy Easter! And yeah for the rain!!
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