Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Easter that Wasn't (Sunday Salon)

Is it Sunday? I'm pretty sure it's Sunday. Yes, I've checked the calendar, and it is definitely--oh, look. It's Easter!

Three out of four of my family has been sick since Wednesday, so all of the days have blended together. Yesterday Ben went to the store to replenish our food supply, and came home with a rotisserie chicken. After I'd plunked the chicken, some raw mini-peppers, and a jar of applesauce onto the table, Evan (the only one of us who didn't catch this bug) saw everything in place and gleefully said, "We're having a real dinner!"

The poor boy has been dining on nothing but cold cereal, peanut butter sandwiches, bean burritos, and fruit for the past 3 days. On the bright side, nobody has been telling him to go to bed. Friday night, according to him, he was up reading until 2:30 a.m.

Luckily, our Easter dinner with Chris's parents was already postponed to Monday because Ben's girlfriend's birthday falls on Easter this year. It will be a very low key holiday. Evan is beyond expecting the Easter Bunny and will be spending the afternoon with a friend.

So, what are we reading to get us through these endless days of germ?

Well, Chris has just about finished The Song of Achilles, by reading it all night when he couldn't sleep for coughing. He was a little worried about starting the book I'd recommended when he was feeling so rotten, but it has proved to be a terrific companion through the long nights.

Meanwhile, I'm reading Ursula Le Guin's Lavinia for book club and for the Once Upon a Time challenge. Chris mentioned that this might be a nice one to compare with The Song of Achilles, since both are inspired by ancient texts. Alas. Lavinia is just making me miss The Song of Achilles all the more.

It's not that it's not good--I think it is good. It just may not be the best book to read with a fever. Lavinia is a minor character from Virgil's the Aeneid, which I knew nothing about. In the novel, she has these mystical experiences where she talks to Virgil's dying spirit (he wasn't born for centuries after her story takes place) and it was all very confusing to me. Also, Le Guin did this thing that irritates me, where the book starts in the middle of the chronology, then spends 85 pages getting from the beginning of the story back to the middle. I'm sure some people love this but it drives me nuts. I'm on page 90 and finally feel like the story has started. So, I have high hopes for things looking up from here.

Evan and I finished Carl Hiassen's Flush--which we enjoyed, but not as much as Scat--and because I was sick and needed something sweet to read aloud, we moved on to The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This is a much younger book than Evan and I would normally read together these days, but it's perfect for where my head is right now. We even had Ben listening in last night. (The biggest secret of motherhood--don't tell!--is that when our big kids get sick we secretly love the occasional five minutes when they'll let us be their Mommy again).  Oh, and I didn't even think about the tie-in with Easter! At one point when Ben was tiny, I planned to give him a new book every Easter with a rabbit theme. I imagined working our way up to Watership Down, but the tradition fizzled somewhere around The Velveteen Rabbit.
::::Ali sits quietly, mired in parental guilt, and is now contemplating running to the store to buy chocolate eggs and a stuffed bunny to hide while Evan is in the shower....:::::

The Sunday Salon is on Facebook at The Sunday Salon.

11 comments:

  1. I hope you're all better soon and have a wonderful dinner with your family tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kathy! It's now looking like we may be postponing until next weekend.

      Delete
  2. Sorry that you're sick. But wait to buy your Easter candy tomorrow 50% off!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I caved and ran to the drugstore for chocolate, and Evan and I made egg hunts for each other with peanut butter eggs. Fun times. <3

      Delete
  3. Changing holidays is hard, isn't it? My kids still expect Easter candy even though they are long past believing. Tucker asked me to hide some in his suitcase for France. We mailed Spencer a box at college. I love that you have a child you can still read to. We love Hiaasen's adult and kids' books. We listened to Hoot once on a road trip to Florida.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a great time to pop in a Hiassen novel, Paulita! (I assumed Hoot is also set in Florida).

      Delete
  4. Oh Ali! I'm so sorry you all have been sick!!! Hope you're feeling better soon...and I hope Evan doesn't end up coming down with it too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! It would really stink that he didn't get to get it over with along with the rest of us. But I doubt he'll get it now, if he hasn't already.

      Delete
  5. Not cool when the whole house is sick. Your non-sick son probably had a fairly fun week at least. Hope you are all on the mend.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ugh, I'm sorry you've all been sick! I hope things start to look up soon (although, on the bright side, it's nice to be not so sick that you can read a little bit).

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't tell you that it's the weather because I'm not sure if you've had the same ups and downs as we've had but the instability in our weather and the related allergies is causing a lot of illness in our neck of the woods as well. I hope that by now everyone is feeling better (and I'm having a tough time convincing myself today is WEDNESDAY!). I've heard great things about Song of Achilles and agree that Le Guin probably isn't the easiest choice for a fever. Feel better!

    ReplyDelete