Sobering, but not really unex
pected.
That was my gut reaction to a
recent news article that many
youngsters have developed exten
sive “gimme” expectations about
Easter. Chocolate bunnies and
jellybeans nested in plastic straw
apparently don’t cut it with kids
anticipating basketfuls of things
like DVD players and in-line
skates.
While disappointing, that’s not
terribly surprising, considering
society’s tendency to commercia
lize every holiday.
Fortunately, in many families,
ours included, Easter still focuses
on church, a family dinner, and
egg hunts. In fact, our family egg
artists are so “into” egg decorat
ing that they begin practicing
their craft shortly after we put
away the red Valentine hearts.
Coloring eggs is just plain
down “eggs-citing,” entertain
ment.
“Grandma, grandma, we’re
coloring eggs!” was the enthusi
astic greeting on a recent after
noon at the house across the
meadow. Three sets of shining
eyes glistened at the prospect,
lugging empty baskets around in
anticipation. A panful of eggs
bubbled on the stove, and news
paper covered the dining area
table. Derra Dog parked herself
beneath it, assured that sooner or
POWERED
BY THE
PEPPER
later some fallout from the egg
painters would reward her wait.
Easter egg art supplies are
much more extensive and fun in
recent years. I still usually boil a
few eggs with onion skins for tra
dition’s sake. To the kids, those
bright brown eggs are boring in
contrast to those sporting orna
mentation ranging from the tra
ditional small bottles of bright
dyes to individual cups of dip
ping colors to glitter and sticker
additions.
And so we begin, balancing the
hot eggs in sections of egg carton
for stability. Soria.
The egg artists clutch cotton
tipped swabs in their small
hands, busily streaking color
across eggs gingerly balanced in
the carton holders. Focus is not
so much about creativity as it is
to see who can do the most, the
fastest. Before long, someone de
cides a swab-painted egg must
also be dipped in one of the cups
of dipping dye, and then all de
cide to follow suit.
Soon, it isn’t enough to dip in
one color. We must try two. So a
yellow egg goes into the blue dye,
and we get green. A blue goes
into the red, for a purple results.
Even a red plunked into the yel
low give a cheery orange egg.
Do you know what you get
when you start mixing them up
from there?
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An “eggs-traordinarily”
muddy-sort of color.
But you can cover that all up
with several bunny and chick
shaped stickers. And when the
egg proceeds to crash to the
as it inevitably does when little
hands get to squabbling about
who uses what color in what ro
tation, Derra Dog doesn’t care if
the color is red or purple or
muddy. It’s hers.
Grandma gets tapped to fash
ion items with a clear wax crayon
drawn onto the white eggs, which
allows the design to show up
when the egg is dipped in dye.
Ever try to draw a design from
clear wax onto a white egg with
no outlines to follow? The egg-art
Keep Eye On Water Levels Online
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) With the worsening
drought causing wells to go dry
across the state, a water resources
extension specialist in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences recommends that well
owners use the Internet to keep
tabs on groundwater levels.
“Droughts such as the one we
are now experiencing can be es
pecially stressful for the three
million rural residents who rely
on private wells,” says Bryan
Swistock.
In addition to the actual water
levels, the site (http://pa.wate
r.usgs.gov/durplots/well_dura-
tion.html) shows shaded areas to
illustrate the normal groundwa
ter levels as well as drought
watch, warning and emergency
levels.
There are other resources on
the Internet, Swistock points out,
that include information on
drought, water supplies, water
conservation and private well
management. Some are;
critics are not impressed with the
final results.
“Grandma, that doesn’t look
like a tractor.” (How many kids
want tractors drawn on their
eggs?)
“Grandma, that's not my
name!” (The straggly, half
formed letters are pretty unintel
ligible.)
“Grandma, that doesn’t look
like a person.” (Maybe an “eggs
traterrestrial?)
I finally fashion an invisible
wax bunny on the side of an egg
that wins half-hearted approval
after the dye dunking. Then we
craft spotted eggs and striped
eggs and one in combination that
gets dubbed the “watermelon”
• U.S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency (http://
www.epa.gov). Publications on
water quality, private wells and
conservation.
• The Penn State Water Qual
ity Extension Web page (http://
wqext.psu.edu). Has fact sheets
and other publications related to
Hort Healing Seminar Focus
GETTYSBURG (Adams Co.)
Gardens offer therapeutic ben
efits for children and adults, ex
perts say, especially those who
are physically challenged, suffer
ing from chronic diseases and
mental or emotional illnesses.
Aside from being places to
enjoy sunshine, fresh air and
physical activity, gardens are
places to escape stress, to medi
tate and to heal.
“How to Create Healing Envi
ronments through Horticulture”
is the topic of an upcoming semi-
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 30, 2002-B5
egg-
We crash another egg or two
onto the floor and a tipped cup of
blue dye oozes across the damp,
color-streaked paper. They
squabble, they share, we laugh to
gether. They are little kids (and
big ones) observing together a
classic Easter celebration.
No one has asked for a DVD
or in-line skates or dolls or trucks
or anything of such major pro
portions. Thank goodness. There
is one additional request.
“This is fun! Can we color
some more?” Which is eggs-actly
what Easter celebrations are sup
posed to be about.
May you and yours have a
happy and blessed one!
private water systems.
• The Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Environmental Protec
tion Drought Information Center
(http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/
subject/hotopics/drought/). Offers
drought statistics, regulations,
news updates and water conser
vation ideas.
nar sponsored by Penn State Co
operative Extension from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. on April 4 at the Adams
County Agricultural and Natural
Resources Center in Gettysburg.
Mona Gold of Friends Hospital
in Philadelphia will be the key
note speaker. The program cost is
$3O, which covers breakfast,
lunch and materials.
For registration forms and ad
ditional information, call exten
sion agents Ginger Pryor at (717)
270-4391 or Annette McCoy at
(717) 240-6500.