Easter Sunday

I didn?t explain what I was doing interviewing Northrop Frye on Good Friday. This took place back in the 1970s and I was freelancing a lot for the CBC in those days. I did several documentaries for CONCERN the show that the Frye interview was on.

I?d interview people, then come back to the CBC late at night and stay up all night editing tape. It went on in the old radio building and you had to line up for an editing suite and we freelancers were at the bottom of the list.

Technology hadn?t been invented yet and we used sticky tape and razor blades to make the edits I loved doing this, right down to picking up a breath off the floor to improve a quote.

In the background all that spring was Joni Mitchell singing Little Yellow Taxi as someone down the hall played the record over and over and over again. Then I?d go home and get the kids ready for school. Only a young person could have lived those hours.

Now those same kids are coming today for Easter dinner with their kids: Nicky, Dash and Maddy. I?m going to spend the day cooking which I love to do. Every gathering I ask if they want something new, and the answer is always: ?Absolutely Not. They bring the nibblies and dessert so it’s not that bad: ?just the turkey, stuffing, gravy, turnips (rutabagas), carrot and parsnip puree; and squash. Plus a huge pile of mashed potatoes. I always joke that it’s the pre-chewed meal. We all vie for the leftovers.

But before that begins, however, my buddy John is coming over to help me with the burst pipes. For the moment we?re going to try a duct tape them because the proper tape is in the garden shed which is completely iced in to a depth about 2 feet.

The garden looks like it?s a snowy wonderland. But it?s actually a lake covered in snow.?Underneath that snow is slush, ice, then water. And right now it?s covering everything. So it?s time to try and get things ready for the annual bail out.

Easter is about renewal and this is the only way I can think of helping it to come to this little garden. All gardeners are optimistic. And this is making very large demands on my hopefulness.