Easter 2012

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days I remember experiencing for months now. It was cool in the morning, and I scraped frost off the car windshield as I headed down to see opening day of the Bellingham Farmers' Market, celebrating twenty years in existence. The old favorite stalls were gearing up for the annual Cabbage Toss to open the season, and this year we were also treated to a parade.

A bluegrass band was on a tractor-drawn buggy and, not far behind, you can see a young lady carrying the Ceremonial Cabbage. Each year the town mayor throws a cabbage to a youngster to herald the beginning of our Saturday market. It starts on the first Saturday in April and ends on the last Saturday before Christmas. This gives the vendors a three-month break, which I am pretty sure they all need by the time the chilly winter season rolls around.

I had never before seen the cabbage brought in on a pillow like this, but it added a fair amount of whimsy to the festivities. This past election season, Bellingham voted in its first woman mayor, and I wanted to be sure to get a picture of her throwing the cabbage. I ALMOST got it perfectly; you can't tell it from here, but the cabbage has left her hands and was being tossed into the waiting hands of the young lady. My camera didn't give me another chance, because by the time it was ready to take another picture, the moment was gone.

Mayor Linville successfully underhanded her throw to the girl, and the Market bell began to ring enthusiastically. At that point I could buy some veggies and dash into our car so that Smart Guy and I could make the 75-mile drive south to Snohomish. I made my first skydives of 2012 yesterday, too, and although I packed after the first jump, I asked him if he would pack after the second one.

Here I am getting geared up for my first jump of the day with Kevin, one of my fellow skydivers in the air with me yesterday. Although I was pretty nervous after a five-month-long layoff, everything went perfectly before we headed home around 4:00pm. My friend Linny intended to stay until sunset, but that's her style. In the summertime she has made as many as seven in one day, whereas I only did that when I was much younger.

I wrote about about the skydiving part of the day on my other blog this morning, where there's a picture of me landing after this jump. It was cold, but not brutally so, and the sunshine warmed us and lifted our spirits as the day wore on. Today I'm a bit tired, but the sunshine is calling me to go outside and take pictures of the incredible profusion of flowers blooming everywhere.

This wonderful day of renewal and reflection is already very satisfying, and we will have a salmon dinner compliments of my fisherman friend Gene, as well as a nice walk in the sunshine. One thing I've noticed about having such a rainy March, every little bit of sunshine makes me smile. I am wishing that all of my dear blogging friends will have a day that fills you with hope for the future and joy for the opportunity to be sharing our lives.
:-)