The Easter long weekend is upon us. Of all the holiday weekends, this is the toughest one to plan for because it never arrives at the same time. Some years it coincides with spring break which is great for parents of school kids. Other years it may be early or later.
Easter dates are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the Hebrew calendar and, way back in 325 AD, they started to set the Easter dates based on the first Ecclesiastical full moon after March 20. We all remember that from school, right?
This year, Easter Sunday falls on April Fool’s Day.
There has to be some possibilities here to have some fun and be practical at the same time.
For instance, if you told the kids, the Easter Bunny hid the eggs in the flower beds or the garden then gave them some spades and trowels, they would have your beds and gardens completely turned over just as you shouted, “April Fool!”
The kids get some fresh air and exercise and you are ready to plant.
The weather seldom cooperates for the full four days. Maybe one nice day, maybe another is a mix of sun and wind and cloud, but usually we have two days of rain. Spring camping can be very risky but the reports are that already campers are fighting over reservations in the local campgrounds and it’s still too chilly to ask grandpa and grandma to go sit in lawn chairs in a campsite for two days to reserve a spot for the family.
I have camped on those bitter cold April weekends and I don’t think it can be healthy to have water dribbling off a plastic tarp into your coffee while the acrid smoke is swirling into your face from the damp firewood.
But nothing bonds a family together quicker than scrambling for the trailer, tent or camper to escape a March hail and thunder storm as a raging creek spills through your campsite.
Meanwhile, inside, the debate goes back and forth from ‘What game should we play?” to “How long will it take us to get home if we leave now?”
With the high price of gasoline and people feuding over campsites maybe this is a good weekend to stay home. Checking out the local paper, there is a great exhibition at the Langley Centennial Museum titled, ‘Langley in Transition’ spanning from the ’50s until now.
Then walk across to the Fort Langley National Historic site. If you have the kids or grandkids with you, keep going farther east to Aldor Acres where Albert and Dorothy have all the new spring farm babies on display this weekend.
The best part about staying local is that you don’t have that long, stressful drive home and dinner is at your dining room table and you end up sleeping in your own bed.
That way the long weekend doesn’t seem quite so long.
At least that’s what McGregor says.