Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in many different ways. It's the last day of Mardi Gras and since the next day begins the season of smaller portions, people fill up on pancakes. "In Ireland, Irish girls were given an afternoon off to make their batter and the eldest, unmarried girl would toss the first pancake. Success meant she would be married within the year." The word shrove comes from the notion that before fasting, we are to confess our sins. Perhaps that's why Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday became a more common name than Shrove. Anybody would rather be eating pancakes than thinking about past sins, especially the "sins of omission." It's bad enough to have committed the active sins but to have to be nailed for what we "accidentally" didn't do or say, is a real festival squasher. The pancake events started in the 15th Century in England. Pancake Tuesday was first observed in the U.S. in Mobile, Alabama in 1703 but most of us associate it with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It's a state holiday in Louisiana. During the Civil War, there were no celebrations but after, it was one of the first to be revived. I was going to include another Irish poem but I love this one by Sara Teasdale and since the first word to come to my mind to describe a place I've never seen is "loveliness," I am posting this instead. Indulge in your pancakes! Load them up with blueberries and a sprig of shamrock on the side and then enjoy, yes, enjoy the introspective, kindly, lean season of Lent.
| Barter | ||
| by Sara Teasdale | ||
Life has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things, Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings, And children's faces looking up Holding wonder in a cup. Life has loveliness to sell, Music like a curve of gold, Scent of pine trees in the rain, Eyes that love you, arms that hold, And for your spirit's still delight, Holy thoughts that star the night. Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost; For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost, And for a breath of ecstasy Give all you have been, or could be. ...may the blessings of feasting be with you tonight and the blessings of peacefulness follow your week... | ||
...from a Famous Cook in Roanoke:"Should our paths ever cross again and I trust that they will....let's do some fluffy buttermilk pancakes with some whipped butter and warm maple syrup to celebrate! Pancakes must become a staple at Camp Mimsey, if they are not already!"
ReplyDeletethanks for the telepathic message, the delicious pancakes, and, most of all, for the loveliness of life - all truly great gifts to us in this lenten season of contemplation, self-sacrifice and saint patrick. will
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