TALES FROM THE BAYOU: Easter Traditions

easter

 

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, but it didn’t feel like it. No early morning church services. No Easter egg hunts. No large family get together around a food laden table. Strange how COVID-19 shadows just about everything we do these days.

Back when I was growing up, Easter was one of the few times a year when I could look forward to some extra treats and especially store bought candy.

Being so poor usually meant the only sweets we would see is things like Mother’s greasy donuts or sometimes cookies but even then I wasn’t a huge fan of  her orange peel ones. But at the first sign of spring I would start counting down to the Easter Bunny’s arrival.

If my father was home from working on an oil rig as a short order cook, he would threaten to take his old shotgun and shoot the Easter rabbit but every year that sneaky bunny managed to make his delivery and still escape with his tail intact.

There were no magic pills back then to turn water into colorful dyes so Mother would boil at least six dozen eggs…a dozen for each of the four kids and the rest for deviled eggs, pickled eggs, and egg salad sandwiches. Once we got the okay, everyone would gather around a mound of hard boiled eggs on the dining room table where we would create a rainbow of colored eggs using as many crayons as were available. 

Easter morning we would wake up and race to see what was in our baskets. The one prize I waited to receive every year was a hollow Binks Bunny. Things like jelly beans and marshmallow eggs were nice to see, but that chocolate rabbit nestled in the middle of all the candy like a king on his throne was my sign that all was right with my world.

In this COVID-19 crazy world we live in right now, maybe celebrating our holidays are the best way to be reminded not everything in our lives have changed…like finding a chocolate bunny in your Easter basket…

 

bunny

 

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HM Hunting Gris-Gris Epub cover

 

HISTORY’S MYSTERIES: Hunting Gris-Gris

Eleven-year-old Emma misses her father who’s serving in Europe during World War II. He left behind a treasure box with six secret compartments to be opened during her birthday week. He also told her to watch out for the gris-gris while he was gone. Looking out for swamp creatures and dealing with wartime rationing was hard enough, but now there’s a British refugee coming to stay at the house! How will Emma enjoy her birthday and keep her decision to hunt for the gris-gris a secret with a stranger hanging around?

NOW AVAILABLE IN EBOOK, PAPERBACK & HARDBACK ON AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AND OTHER FINE RETAILERS!

 

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donna

 

Best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest chapter book series is called HISTORY’S MYSTERIES. Book three, Hunting Gris-Gris, is now available in ebook, paperbook & hardback everywhere!

 

TALES FROM THE BAYOU: An Easter Tradition

Easter Egg

 

 

My sister will probably laugh when she sees this picture. She will probably THINK she knows the tale I will tell today. Maybe she will be correct. And maybe she will learn a thing or two.

Card-giving is a billion dollar business. Today there are cards for every conceivable situation so finding one that says just what the sender wants it to say is kinda like shooting fish in a barrel…odds are in your favor.

But when I was about 8 years old the card selection wasn’t that great. I didn’t have the money to buy something other than this card to give to my big sister for Easter. I didn’t even take the time to sign it and truth be told, Janet kept the card…only to return the SAME card back to me the following year. She says she did it simply because she really didn’t like the card in the first place and was just trying to get rid of it.

Maybe that’s true. Then again, maybe she was just starting an Easter tradition that has stood the test of time. Year after year, decade after decade, this card has traveled back and forth from my hands to hers. In between it is tucked into safe keeping until it is time to take it out again and send it on it’s special journey back into another sister’s hands.

I can’t even tell you what it says on the inside but I CAN tell you what it whispers to me before I tuck it away for another year.

I am still here.

The sisterly bond has not been broken.

Love has endured despite births, deaths, marriage, divorce, illness, and all the other possibilities of the human condition to tax our minds and spirits. That little card has reminded me of this fact for FIFTY YEARS of passing from my hands to my sister’s. It is a symbol of the most cherished part of my childhood and I pray God allows us to carry on our Easter tradition for many more years to come…

 

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HM Hunting Gris-Gris Epub cover

 

HISTORY’S MYSTERIES: Hunting Gris-Gris

Eleven-year-old Emma misses her father who’s serving in Europe during World War II. He left behind a treasure box with six secret compartments to be opened during her birthday week. He also told her to watch out for the gris-gris while he was gone. Looking out for swamp creatures and dealing with wartime rationing was hard enough, but now there’s a British refugee coming to stay at the house! How will Emma enjoy her birthday and keep her decision to hunt for the gris-gris a secret with a stranger hanging around?

NOW AVAILABLE IN EBOOK, PAPERBACK & HARDBACK ON AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AND OTHER FINE RETAILERS!

Www.amazon.com/author/donnalmartin

 

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donna - Copy

 

Best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest chapter book series is called HISTORY’S MYSTERIES. Book three, Hunting Gris-Gris, is now available in ebook and paperbook everywhere!

FLASH BACK TUESDAY: Who Stole My Eggs?

 
bunny.jpg

Pete pushed the door closed with his foot before setting down the rest of his things on the floor by his bed. 

Man, was he tired.

The next time he ran into Nick, he’d have a thing or two to share with the old guy. Every year after the holidays, they met for dinner to swap tales and try to outdo each other’s horror stories.

Last year Nick had won with his closer encounter of the grandmotherly kind. This year Pete was sure he would come out the clear winner with his battle of the bulldog story. 

Quickly pulling on his pj’s and bunny slippers (a gift from his mother he didn’t have the heart to refuse), Pete could feel his stomach rumbling with hunger. He was so busy making his rounds last night, he’d forgotten to eat. Not matter,  he knew exactly what he would have for breakfast before hitting the hay. Humans weren’t the only ones who waited all year for a tasty Easter egg.

Hopping over to the basket he had filled just last night before hiding the others around the neighborhood, Pete stopped short and stared in shock. Grass was strewn all over the floor where the basket lay broken. 

His eggs were gone.

The first batch each Spring was always a little bit more special than the others, so why shouldn’t the Easter Bunny have first choice? But who would do such a dastardly deed? And to the number one rabbit in the land? He couldn’t wait to share this mystery with Nick. Pete was sure to take home the prize this year…

Okay, it’s your turn! Put your creative cap on and continue my story or start one of your own in the comments below…

 

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[wpvideo Zvs6WtXV]

 

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donna

 

International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in eBook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers.

TALES FROM THE BAYOU: An Easter Tradition

 

EASTER

 

My sister will probably laugh when she sees this picture. She will probably THINK she knows the tale I will tell today. Maybe she will be correct. And maybe she will learn a thing or two.

Card-giving is a billion dollar business. Today there are cards for every conceivable situation so finding one that says just what the sender wants it to say is kinda like shooting fish in a barrel…odds are in your favor.

But when I was about 8 years old the card selection wasn’t that great. I didn’t have the money to buy something other than this card to give to my big sister for Easter. I didn’t even take the time to sign it and truth be told, Janet kept the card…only to return the SAME card back to me the following year. She says she did it simply because she really didn’t like the card in the first place and was just trying to get rid of it.

Maybe that’s true. Then again, maybe she was just starting an Easter tradition that has stood the test of time. Year after year, decade after decade, this card has traveled back and forth from my hands to hers. In between traveling between our homes, it’s tucked somewhere safe until it is time to take it out again and send it on it’s special journey back into another sister’s hands.

I can’t even tell you what it says on the inside but I CAN tell you what it whispers to me before I tuck it away for another year.

I am still here.

The sisterly bond has not been broken.

Love has endured despite births, deaths, marriage, divorce, illness, and all the other possibilities of the human condition to tax our minds and spirits. That little card has reminded me of this fact for FIFTY YEARS of passing from my hands to my sister’s. It is a symbol of the most cherished part of my childhood and I pray we will be allowed to carry on our Easter tradition for many more years to come…

 

**********

 

[wpvideo Zvs6WtXV]

 

***************

 

donna

International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in eBook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers.