Easter Sunday

It snowed Easter morning, all through the service. By the time Sinai began to preach, it was almost pouring snow. Collette was surprised to see that the choir was also singing for the early morning service, including the traditional presentation of the “Hallelujah Chorus” at the end. Sunrise played the trumpet with one of the dads from the congregation. Three of the church women rang bells, one of which was Idlewild.
Tammy Blunt, who had been learning the art of paper folding, had given Mom a paper rose before the service. She had made a lily the week before. Collette remembered when Grandma Combs had spent hours learning how to make a paper crane. It wasn’t the least frustrating hobby that she had tried.
Rose sat in the back with Puck on the ride over to the house after the first service. Puck yelled loudly, trying to impress his auntie travel partner with the loudness of his voice. He had also tried the same in church until he was sent packing out to the foyer with OLeif and a plastic spoon on which to chew.
Back at the house, after OLeif returned to church to play for the second service, Puck examined the dish washer, one of his favorite places.
At two o’clock, people began arriving at the Snicketts house. The throng included: all the Combs, Aunt Petunia’s brother, Larry, both grandmas, Wally, Lolli, and eventually Denae, Izzy, and Curly (after their luncheon at church). After a short time, Denae left for church with Theodore.
Linus burst into the house with a giant tray of vegetables.
“Those are mine,” he told Collette, pointing to the pickles. “And those, and those, and, the olives, well, no, yeah, the olives, and those, and those. And you guys can have all of the rest.”
There were cucumbers, whole pickles, green olives, black olives, carrots, celery, leeks, and baby tomatoes.
Then Larry set down the almost equally-sized fruit tray on the counter.
“And I want those and those and… actually, I don’t like fruit much.”
Watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, kiwi, and a white dip. But there was plenty of other food: hot vegetables in cheese (which Mom wasn’t at first going to serve until OLeif pointed out that, while the fresh vegetables were good, they weren’t drenched in cheese), potato casserole, hot rolls, jello salad, deviled eggs, and, of course, a ham which Mom had cooked in apple cider.
“Hoppy Easter!” Aunt Petunia exclaimed when they opened the door.
She was wearing a pair of fuzzy brown rabbit ears, which someone later put on Trooper, and took a picture. Rose, no doubt.
Uncle Mo told OLeif and Collette about how a group of important St. Louis and other Missouri people had flown out to China that morning to discuss important economic decisions on China’s end.
“They are seriously considering using St. Louis as their hub,” he said.
Uncle Mo always had the latest interesting news on anything related to St. Louis.
Denae was able to stay for a cup of coffee and play with the Puck while Collette and Linnea played three rounds of mah-jong at the dining room table next to them. Izzy and Frances were probably outside for most of the time shooting airsoft pellets.
The weather had been so strange. Heavy rushes of snow, then sun, then more snow (snow-globe snow), then sun, then driving rain, then orange sunset in waves of curtain-heavy gray and blue cumulus.
OLeif, Collette, and Puck left early because Puck was sleepy and OLeif had to pick up software from the Hobcoggin’s. As they were leaving, Collette heard Carrie and Linus discussing something about politics and Islam with the dads and grandmas and Larry also in the conversation circle.
They didn’t leave without taking Puck’s Easter basket from Mom which had three large soaps in plastic cases inside: one of an Easter egg, another of a yellow chick, and a third (which he seemed to like the best) of a green frog, and then a washcloth (the kind that was sealed tightly into a disc and then would expand to its full size when put in water). Grandma Combs had brought a box of heart-shaped cereal for Puck, which he ate from his high chair.
He also begged for scraps when the feast was set out. Collette had a feeling that Grandma Snicketts wouldn’t approve of her great-grandson begging like a puppy dog, so she kept the scrap feeding to a minimum.
Grandma Snicketts had brought pictures of not only Liselotte (who was a darling fourteen-month old by that time), but also of the twins’ ultrasound (which Bristol and Nerissa had sent out to all the grandparents). Nerissa was good about doing things like that.
So while the weather had been abnormally Easter-like, Collette liked seeing snow in spring. And the day had been fun. Collette finished it by somewhat listening to a documentary on the Mek tribe in the secluded jungles of West Papua.