L'aura del Campo

Easter Greetings, Do not take offense. Do not offend.

SPRING: 8 Jalál (16 April)

Weather where I am: 74º with cottonball clouds

Weather in Ojai, CA where the duck barbeque preparations were being made, then cancelled! : 57º

Weather in Grand Island, New York: 50º and pleasant

Weather in Boston, MA: 58º and windy

silversara asked me to post the Boston temp. Better than in the homeland of the Buffalo Sabres (who are play-off bound in the NHL; the Bruins are not ... tough year).

In Sabre-land, the weather is pleasant. I spoke with my friend Carol Merckel this morning and at least it is Spring there. My mother told me her hyacinths were in bloom when I spoke with her yesterday. WNY is known for late snows. I remember snow on about 1 of 4 of my birthdays growing up. Hard to think it's Spring when there is no green on the trees and slush is slapping me in the face. Oh well, very Spring-like here.

The tornados barely missed us last night. Around 7:45 when I left the library, the clouds were very ominous. Charcoal clouds, windy, rapid thunder in the distance, clouds rushing in and a big black sickle in the sky. Sickle? Yep. A nice curved wall cloud signifying updrafts and circulation. I scurried as fast as I could. There weren't any tornado warnings here, but I'm not stupid and my eyes know what I saw. In the end we only got a few drops.

However ... the tornado dropped down in Wyandotte County. There was one in Leavenworth County. Three or more (same system) in Brown and Jackson County. Not forgetting the touch-downs in Missouri in Clay and Platte Counties. Yep. I know tornado weather. Have never seen one for sure, but I know the signs ... and I pay attention.

Most folks now-a-days wait for sirens or reports, too busy making money, having fun, or whatever, to stop for a moment and pay homage to the Earth that feeds them, nourishes them and ultimately buries them. Society is very disconnected from Nature. We all pay the price. Literally ... everytime we rebuild on fault zones, flood plains and construct hurricane-bait on barrier islands! And people think I'm stupid? I'm poor, and maybe foolish, but last night I was reading the sky and deciphering the omens.

Easter Greetings

To the Christians of the Western Church who are reading my blog today, I send Easter Greetings. The literal or figurative resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is a great celebration that gives hope to humanity that good cannot be extinguished.

To requote the blog entry of AL :

I don´t think Jesus had Post-crucifixion depression. I think he was feeling "YAY!!!! I DID IT!!!! MAN AM I GOOOOOD!!" And did the Happy dance.

To read the whole account and perhaps answer her question about where the bunnies came from go to: "Invalid Entry" . Or if you have questions yourself from where those bunnies came go to zwisis and read "Invalid Entry" .

HOLIDAY GREETING PROTOCOLS

When you say "How are you?" are you surprised when someone actually tells you how they feel? Are you offended when they say anything other than the expected "fine"?

If so, the phrase may merely be a way of greeting, of ackowledgement of the existence of the other person. It carries no further content. It promises no further comment. It is not a personal question asking about someone else's health.

We use these socially polite forms to aid us as human beings living in societies. However, not all individuals live by the same linguistic rules. Sometimes, these polite phrases also carry other meanings as well (dismissal, threats, real concern).

The same is true of holiday greetings. What would you think of two Jews in yamulkas wishing each other a merry Christmas or two Muslims saying, happy Chanakuh? I ask because we as a society don't stop and ask these questions and as individuals don't think, period.

For instance, I do not celebrate Easter. Everytime someone wishes me "Happy Easter", I hesitate to think what their intentions are. I dismiss it as a greeting in the same way as "How are you". But I'm sure I've puzzled many a person by my lack of response. For some people, they really mean "HAPPY EASTER!!!", because they are happy and celebrating the day. For others it is a seasonal variation of a polite greeting.

Very few ever think long enough to consider that maybe I don't celebrate Easter. Or Christmas, or Chanakuh, or 'Id al Fitr. Or Doll Day (Japan), or St. Lucia's (Sweden) or Cinco de Mayo (Mexico).

Yet, most people presume that I do. Even those who know I'm of a different faith, still presume that I do. Those who know that I don't still use the greeting. At some point I have to remind myself not to take umbrage when no insult was intended, "Do not offend; do not take offense."

So? What about me?

Happy Birthday? - it's okay, but I observe it privately.

Happy Naw-Ruz? - yes, Bahá'í Holy day. First Day of the New Year celebrated on the First of Spring (March 20-21st.)

Happy New Year? - on Naw-Ruz, yes. On January 1st, I might just ignore.

Happy Ridvan? - yes, a 12 day Bahá'í festival from April 20th through May 2nd. It includes 3 Holy Days.

Happy Ayyam-i-Há - okay. A Bahá'í gift giving period from February 25th through March 1st. NOT a holy day, but a joyful preparation time for the Fast. A happy acknowledgement is always appropriate, but not necessary.

Happy ... political holiday? - I couldn't care less.

Merry Christmas? - I don't celebrate this day.

Happy Thanksgiving? - okay. I do like the day, one of my favorites. But inviting me over to share dinner with you means more than the greeting.

Other Bahá'í Holy Days seem odd with the addition of the word 'happy'. Some would seem inappropriate. Does anyone within the Christian community say, "Happy Good Friday? Happy Crucifixion?" I suspect not.

In this increasingly global multi-cultural network of commerce and communications, it may be best to know someone well enough to know what greeting is acceptable. But as I must reiterate: "Do not take offense. Do not offend."

SENSED

White wood-hyacinth; 2 flickers on a broken branch; six-pack carton, three bottles, one can; robin chortling at noon; chartreuse red-bud leaves; cottonball clouds.

Great idea from the blog of Prosperous Snow celebrating "Ten Top Trivia Tips about Prosperous Snow!" 

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Kåre!

1. Kåre can use only about ten percent of his brain.
2. A Kåreometer is used to measure Kåre.
3. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be Kåre.
4. Kåre is the largest of Saturn's moons!
5. Kåre has only one weakness - the colour yellow.
6. Kåre is often used in place of milk in food photography, because milk goes soggy more quickly than Kåre.
7. More people are killed by Kåre each year than die in aeroplane accidents!
8. Kåre is the only one of the original Seven Wonders of the World that still survives!
9. The National Heart Foundation recommends eating Kåre at least three times a week!
10. If every star in the Milky Way was a grain of salt they would fill Kåre.

Found at:

http://thesurrealist.co.uk/trivia.pl?subject=K%E5re&gender=m