Day Three Hundred Thirty Seven

Good Friday - I Hope

Today is Good Friday, the day when Christians recognize the crucifixion of Jesus. I remember when I was a little girl, everything went quiet between Noon and 3 p.m. I mean everything. Stores closed; you weren't allowed to talk (my mother enforced that no talking thing like the fate of Christianity rested on it) and most Catholics spent that time in church. I don't know if Baptists and Methodists did that, too, since I was a little girl with limited knowledge. 

The other thing I remember was getting an "Easter outfit." Mine usually included new stuff from head to toe. That meant a hat, dress, gloves, new shoes and a purse. The hat was essential.

I hated those damn hats with a passion because, for little girls, they came with a nasty old rubber band that went around your jaw so the hat didn't fall off or fly away. I personally think it was there to torture us into submission. I mean, none of the boys' hats had to be strapped down, and they were the ones more likely to need that. Then again, they had to wear those neck-choking bow ties....

Not me, just another girl child who
was tortured to look cute.....

Oh, and the other form of torture was the crinoline petticoat that made your dress poof out. That thing was so scratchy and mean, it felt like barbwire. There is no way a little girl could misbehave - between the noose around her neck, gloves that left picking things up virtually impossible and that damn petticoat which was pure evil.

I surely hope I wasn't the only little girl who went through this. It would have been just like my mother to tell me it was what everyone was doing, as she tightened the hat band and made sure the crinoline was made out of fiberglass.

Oh, for crying out loud! - I Googled Girls' Easter bonnets from the 1950's - and lo and behold - most of them were secured with a soft ribbon!!!! My mother chose the ones with a tight rubber band that cut off the circulation to my brain! I looked like Panic Pete!

 

 

Yes, we sure don't do things the way we did in the old days. Maybe if we brought back some of those implements of torture, kids would behave better. Either that or there will be yet another generation in therapy till they're dead.

 



It's early yet, so not much has happened in the way of creature events. There was a little episode between Dash and a toad. It was a small toad but looked pretty nasty. Fancy was watching Dash bat it around, but he kept his distance. It was as though he was trying to warn him - "Dude - don't bite that thing! They taste awful."

 

Of course, Dash had to taste it and, sure enough, it must have been gnarly because he made a face and shook his head. I rescued Dash and the toad by removing it. Then I had to catch Dash so I could wipe off his mouth. He did not believe me when I kept insisting I was only trying to help him. As the wise and the old, Fancy and I are constantly ignored.....