I've started leaving my coat behind when I head out walking, even occasionally risking bare ankles and my favourite light holey jumper. We are yet to have consistent sunshine but the warmer air seems to have arrived and is a tonic to my mind and body.
Green shoots are bursting from the hawthorn bushes in the hedgerows through which we spy baby lambs suckling and prancing and flecks of sunshine yellow dandelions and celendines. The buds on the bushes and trees and the new shoots are letting us know how much more there is to come and the sun it will surely bring with it. I've been excitedly spotting the bluebells waiting in the wings with their new shoots, ready to take the lead from the yellow chorus of daffodills and primroses with their carpets of blue.
I know quite a few people, myself included, that love Easter as a celebration and for me it is mostly because it feels right that we have a celebration which marks the joy of spring and all the promise it represents. But its also because of its simplicity as a celebration. There are less expectations, much less commercialisation of it as a celebration (although still way too much of this) and more opportunity for relaxed time with family or friends enjoying the simple things.
At Christmas I might struggle to find time as much as I want to to make and craft bits and pieces but at Easter with less people coming to our house to prepare for l'll have time to decorate eggs with the children (despite how hard I find blowing out the eggs every year). The preparation of an egg hunt is so much fun and this year l'll be trying to make the hunt last a bit longer with less chocolate by making it into a treasure hunt with clues now my youngest is old enough to help solve them. I might paint a card from the Easter bunny which leads them to the first clue but unlike Christmas I don't feel any pressure to do or not do this.
I set out to write the things I'm going to do for Easter and then I realised that actually the most important thing l'm going to do is put zero pressure on me or the family to do anything in particular. Food is always a big focus in my house so l'll definitely cook a nice meal but when I think about what enjoyment of the day looks like it is very simply a bunch of fresh flowers from the garden on the table at breakfast. Watching the kids squeal with delight as they fill their baskets with eggs and just low key time doing very little, slowly cooking a roast and pottering in the garden or up the road with my dog on a walk. Perhaps those of us that love it as a celebration love it so much because it feels like a true holiday, a day we can actually rest rather than try and achieve the perfect celebration.