It's Saturday! What Are You Up To?

Good Morning My Confidants

It's Saturday morning, what are you up to today?

It's 46° here in Kansas City, MO, and it's going to get up to about 69° and how wonderful is that? It's already a beautiful day! Our flowers are so weird this year though. None of my mini-Iris came up, a tiny blue flower that usually comes up first just bloomed today, only one of my mini daffodils came up, and the rest of my daffodils are finally blooming, and I got almost nothing on my forsythia (so disappointed about that last one), so forsythia will be featured on my table! This freaky weather did really weird things to the garden. I wonder if it did weird things to us? To the animals?

I must admit I am bummed a little though. Noah had to work today. On a Saturday. And it's dumb dumb dumb that he has to do so. They gave everyone Good Friday off, a day most businesses don't provide (the banks were open yesterday!), and made everyone come in on Saturday. Noah for one (me for two, if that counts) would far rather have worked Friday and had his regular two-day weekend, than be told he was going to have a three-day weekend and have that taken away. Supervisors never know what they are doing. I know mine rarely did.

And RBear always works Saturdays,

So here I am alone on a Saturday morning.

And I had my day with Noah yesterday....

So?

So I decided to go have Saturday morning coffee anyway!

More and more and more I am taking care of myself. It is time for Ben to get his groove back, and it's happening. And by taking care of myself, I will be a better partner in life for my spouses. Hey! And the world!

And it isn't like I am going to be alone all day. Not only do I have the dogs, but one of my dearest besties is coming over this morning. She and I usually do something on Friday, focusing on getting something done around our homes, and of course visiting. Turned out with what needed to be done in her world, this worked out better for her as well. How cool is that?

I am not weighing in today. There is a whole ritual to my weigh in because we who are working on our weight want to truly know how much we actually weigh as much as possible. If we weigh in at a location, we always wear the same outfit. At home I can do it naked of course. And I want to be through my morning ablations. And nothing to drink before weigh in! And as close to the same time every time. It might seem silly, but I don't want to get excited or disappointed because of something messing with that as-close-to-accurate weigh in as possible. So, since Noah had to leave two+ hours before that weigh in, I am just going to save it. Plus, I straddled my Point allotment really close. Never went over my weekly allowable, but it was close. And I just hate weighing in and I've only gotten rid of a half-pound or something like that. It is discouraging. And I know I need to stay encouraged.

That's different than hiding my head in the sand. It's a whole lot different.

So.....

Today is known as Holy Saturday, which commemorates the day that Jesus Christ lay in the tomb after His death, according to the Christian Bible. It is the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter Sunday. It is also known as Easter Eve, Easter Even, or Black Saturday.

I didn't know this, but Holy Saturday is known as Judas Day in Mexico, where people burn effigies of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Street vendors sell the effigies, which range in height, and make Judas look as ugly as possible.* The burning of Judas is, apparently, an Easter-time ritual that originated in European Christian communities where an effigy of Judas Iscariot is burned. Other related mistreatment of Judas effigies include hanging, flogging, and exploding with fireworks.**

And apparently, there are all kinds of traditions I didn't know about that occur all over the world at this time of * For instance, "Swedish children dress up as 'Easter witches' using old clothes in the run-up to Easter Sunday. They visit the houses in their neighborhoods trading paintings and drawings for sweets.

"Norwegians [may have] their head in a good crime novel around Easter, as they have named the season 'Easter-crime', with many around the country reading mystery books or watching detective shows on TV.

"Germans will pile up their old Christmas trees and burn them on Easter Sunday and Monday, signifying the end of winter and the start of spring.

"On Easter Monday, Polish boys try to drench people with buckets of water and water pistols. Local legend has it that if a girl gets soaked with water that day, she will marry that year.

"On the morning of Easter Saturday," people who live on the island of Corfu "throw pots, pans and other kitchenware out of their windows, smashing them on the street. Many believe this act symbolises [sic] the start of spring and wakens the crops that will grow in the new pots they'll need.

"The medieval town of Verges performs the less-than-celebratory-sounding 'Death dance’. Spaniards dress in skeleton costumes and parade the streets, with the fiesta beginning at midnight and going on until 3am.

"Bermudians fly home-made kites and eat codfish cakes and hot cross buns on Good Friday. The kites are thought to symbolise [sic] the Ascension..." I am not sure what the codfish cakes and hot cross buns are for.

"Much like their Polish counterparts, Slovakians also splash women with water, and they are then gently tapped with a special willow cane which is hand-woven and decorated with colorful ribbons. It is supposed to evoke youth, strength and beauty for the spring season.

"Colombians like to feast on iguanas, turtles and large rodents over the festive period...."

Or at least that is what the interesting article says (which I have noted down below). Can any of my friends who live in those countries verify any of this?

I truly find all this fascinating. We, in our egos, Americans tend to think the whole rest of the world sees everything and does everything like us. Not that the rest of the world doesn't have egos as well. But it can be a surprise to see that is totally normal somewhere else, is far from normal here. You know we have a huge amount of Mexican settlers here in KC. I wonder if they burn effigies of Judas.

You know, I do find the story of Judas interesting as well. History paints him in such a terrible light. I would love to know the real story. I mean, if Judas hadn't betrayed Jesus, would He have been crucified? And the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is what Christianity stands upon. Things that make you, "Hmmm..."

SO.....

What can we do with our day today?

Well, I plan on decorating my dining room table for this Springtime of year. I have one or two other things I would like to get done; I think it will please the husbears. I plan on leaving my front door open and enjoying this gorgeous weather.

Celebrate life!

For, to paraphrase an old Sunday School ditty, "This is the day that life has given us! Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I think that is what I want to do! Simple celebrate and be grateful for my life.

How about you?

I know if you look, you will find something!

May you find it and rejoice!

Namasté,

BG "Gentle Ben" Thomas

PS: I didn't even ask you if any of you loved Saturday morning cartoons or ask you what your favorites were! Some of mine were The Herculoids and Space Ghost! How about you?

* Holy Saturday:  https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/holy-saturday

** Burning of Judas:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Judas

*** Ten Unusual Easter Traditions from Around the World:  https://www.columbusdirect.com/content/ten-unusual-easter-traditions-from-around-the-world/