Easter all!
Brace yourselves , it's story time!
At a time in my youth , Easter meant a ham.
Not just any ham. "The" ham.
When half a hog went in the freezer there were two. With one being a shoulder. Not that one. Rather ,the "real" one.
I wouldn't see it go in the oven. It's skin and most of the fats depth crosshatched into a diamond pattern and many of those diamonds hosting a clove stuck in it's center. (Don't eat the cloves , they can be toxic.)
Those diamonds after the ham was cooked were a treat better than any Easter candy. Yummm.
I'd be a child again to taste one today.....
The ham sat there while I was brought to Church and it was unattended. But I knew it was there.
Didn't it need constant tending? An occasional peek , or basting or something? What if the stove quit working? What if the ham got dry? Or perish the thought , burned?
Yet there it was on our return. Perfect.
There may have been a lesson in faith there somewhere.... L.o.l..
One particular Easter while a war raged in S.E. Asia and us being raised mature and conscious kids (expected to end up in a war, so grow up!) , we were brought to Church as usual.
Being Easter it was packed. I had no qualms about sitting in the "crier" (kind of an atrium where folks with crying babies could be out of the main mass) to accommodate the huddled masses in the main area.
I'd seen enough of the Church (a structure , I'd not adopted the idea that a Church is it's people quite yet) and the pastors , to know what I was missing.
And besides , rather than sit in crowded coach with the freshly scrubbed ,upright and attentive lest brimstone await crowd , here I could relax (out of range of a pastors stern glance should I slouch or not pay attention) and stretch my legs out in front of me.
The music was always good. A great organ and player helped. Being there was a war going on, I always thrilled to the intro on the organ to Onward Christian Soldiers. Another connection made in my youthful way , though I was aware of the spirit of being evangelical as well.
Meanwhile I must have been thinking about ham. Or just awaiting the cue to stand for a tune from the organ and must have relaxed a little too much. My eyelids may have drooped slightly and my normally attentive ears were not on guard for the slightest sound.
A bustling usher raced by in his part of passing the offering plates or something....And tripped over my well extended feet...
I may have noted an unexpected whiff of brimstone following the poor guys look. Had I a ticket to heaven in my hand , he might have contested it.
The Easter ham was as ever , perfect.
