I do find it strange to have Easter in autumn. There is something sort of wrong with that.
But that's an unavoidable environmental factor, and I do believe they make up for the lack of daffodils and ducklings with mass quantities of chocolate and hot cross buns. The grocery stores were spilling over with Cadbury bunnies and sweet yeasty smells from the bakery. (Having a Cadbury factory in town could also have something to do with this.)
On Good Friday, we drafted a huge shopping list and headed to the grocery store, only to find it, and everything else, closed! Thankfully, signs indicated they would be open Saturday (but closed Sunday and Monday)--a lucky break for us uninitiated Americans. It also happened to be a beautiful day, so we had a walk at a favorite spot--Allens Beach.
Saturday morning, I helped the church ladies build flower arrangements for the sanctuary. The absence of daffodils and lilies didn't deter them in the least. They hauled in loads of late summer flowers from their own gardens--all white and gold.
Saturday night, we got to set the clocks back, for an extra hour of sleep. (It was always the other way around at home, and the combination of daylight savings and sunrise services the next morning was never good.)
So, after that bonus sleep, we got up Easter morning for our hot cross buns (fresh from Pak 'n Save), before heading off to church.
St. Michael and All the Angels, Anglican Parish Church
As we walked in, young parishioner Hazel grinned at me excitedly from her seat and pointed to a prominent gap in her upper tooth line. "It happened the other day," she said. "This is Charlotte," she added, pointing to a visiting friend with a similar smile.
Shortly after the service began, the children were hustled away for egg decorating, an egg hunt, and an Easter race--the din of which punctuated the sermon. At the end of the service, the oldest child was allowed to hand out marshmallow eggs from the priest to everyone over age ten!
After the service, I tried to help the ladies prepare tea and coffee for the social time, but instead caused a geyser to erupt from the 1920s-era hot water heater in the kitchen. One of the ladies said it wasn't the end of the world, but the other one didn't look so sure. No one was hurt, and I cleaned it up with a large towel in under a minute.
Once back home, we enjoyed a delicious brunch and then had an Easter candy hunt of our own, with Cadbury caramel eggs and mini Bounty bars.
