Orthodox Christians who use the Julian calendar for some of their religious purposes celebrate Easter today (Sunday, April 19, 2020). Catholics and Protestant Christians who use the Gregorian calendar celebrated Easter last Sunday (April 12, 2020). The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 B.C. under Julius Caesar, and in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed it into the Gregorian calendar which is now used worldwide.

At around 11:50 pm last night, fireworks started going off. Kenric said he remembered reading that people here celebrate Easter with fireworks. There wasn’t too much of it; probably due to the lockdown.

This morning Kenric made a ham-and-cheese omelette for breakfast because ham is something his family would have during most Easters. I watched a neighbor lovingly pat his cat while Kenric was in the kitchen. It’s been 60 days since I touched a cat.

I don’t know if the Scratched Easter Eggs in the photos are an Orthodox tradition. We saw them at a folk art fair in Budapest, Hungary in 2017. The emptied eggshells were dyed and a fine drill was used to scratch away the dye. We bought a few as Christmas presents for Kenric’s family, including one for Grandma. She hung it on the Christmas tree with the rest of her ornaments.

Kenric’s Grandpa passed away in November, 2018. By Christmas, Grandma decided she would move back to her home state of South Dakota. As expected, it was very difficult for her to part with things in the house she and Grandpa shared for 58 years. She resisted donating the ornaments when we took the Christmas tree down; they all went back into a storage box.

So, days later, when she said it was OK to donate the Christmas ornaments to a garage sale, Kenric and his aunt packed them up quickly. So quickly that I didn’t get a chance to save the Easter Egg. Similar to the ladies almost two thousand years ago, I found myself staring into an empty box asking, “Where did it go?”

But, that was OK because it went to charity; and it was for the local chapter of the P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) of which Grandma is a Past President. The money would be used for scholarships for female students. We didn’t pay too much for it in Budapest, but at the garage sale, I certainly hope that the price has risen!

Happy Easter from Athens, Greece.