dual personalities

Palm Sunday is upon us and Easter just next week.  I try to take a restrained approach to the holiday. I have a few decorations on the table, and son #1 and I did dress up our evening (no sugar added) cocoa last night, because we suddenly developed a burning desire to see whether Peeps float in whipped cream — but I draw the line there.

After a root canal yesterday, I inclined toward hysteria by evening. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

[By the way, Peeps do float. I hadn’t had one in years. They’re grossly sweet and sugary, but not in a nice, jellybean way. I can’t recommend the Peep addition to evening cocoa.]

Let’s get back to what’s important: Palm Sunday, the start of Easter week. Tomorrow our church will hold a special breakfast, after which the congregation will process around the village green, singing hymns and waving palms before attending church. Being by temperament disinclined to participate in reenactments, we will arrive in time for the service. We’re not snobs,  just self-conscious and averse to walking around in the cold.

In case any of you also prefer inside activities, you might try looking at depictions of the entry into Jerusalem. Take this slightly Cubist looking fresco at San Baudelio de Berlanga in Spain that dates to c. 1125. I love everything about it.

Even better is Giotto’s lively fresco, c. 1305. There’s so much to love about this painting; the sweet-faced donkey; the people climbing the trees to see better or gather palms; the lady(?) in the front right of the painting with her head covered; the man right above her with the giant sleeve, and the attempt at perspective. The colors are great, too.

I also really like Hippolyte Flandrin’s 1842 painting, although the figures seem stiff and Jesus isn’t looking at anyone. One wonders whether he will see the baby being held up to him on the right.

As for literature, G.K. Chesterton’s The Donkey makes a very nice verse accompaniment.