Today is Mardi Gras which signals Lent begins tomorrow. And if Lent begins tomorrow, then Palm Sunday is a long 40 days away and Easter is another week past Palm Sunday. Usually Mardi Gras is in February.
Easter is usually calculated by astrological full moon and spring equinox. Easter traditionally falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after spring equinox. This year, spring equinox falls on March 20. The next full moon is March 19th. Ooops, not soon enough. The next full moon is on April 18th, which is on a Monday. The next Sunday is April 24, which is Easter. Easter hasn’t been this late in 68 years.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Easter falls on April 24, the latest it has arrived in 68 years, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.
Easter hasn’t come this late since 1943 and won’t be this late again until 2038.
“In both 1943 and 2038 Easter occurs on April 25, which is as late as it can theoretically be,” said Geoff Chester, an astronomer and public relations officer with the observatory.
Easter last occurred on April 24 in 1859, and it will not fall again on the 24th until 2095.
“The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22,” Chester said.
On a slightly different note, Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, March 13, at 2 a.m. We get to spring forward and lose an hour of sleep. 
Any special fat cat plans tonight?
Happy Mardi Gras!!!!
Show me your………….!!!!!!
T’row me sumpdin’ Mistah!!!!
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2011/03/trow-me-sumpdin-mistah.html
I’m sooooo homesick.
@Cargo, you need a road trip! Jump in the car and start driving!
I will contribute to the gasoline fund!!
I just pre-ordered a copy of the restored Blu-Ray edition of “The Ten Commandments” with DTS Surround Sound that is being released March 29. Watching that movie was always an Easter tradition when I was growing up, and I want to see it this Easter on the big plasma screen with the parting of the Red Sea blaring through my sound system, and not have to watch any commercials.
You have just gone too high tech, NTK. It sounds like a fun evening. Pop Corn or will something more ….formal and religious be served?
@Moon-howler
Thanks! I’ll have to postpone till next year, though. By the time I get there, Bourbon Street will be closed and the Krewes in bed.
I’ll bring you back some beads! Don’t forget to get your King Cake. I hope Martins have some. Ukrops used to carry it.
My brother lives in New Orleans. He’s a reveler.
Today is also International Women’s Day.
@Moon-howler
Yes, I think I’m scaring myself given my history as an avowed Luddite. I’m using my iPad more-and-more, actually fixed my own computer, and may be teaching a workshop in Search Engine Optimization for colleagues this spring, among other things. I don’t understand what is happening to me.
“The Ten Commandments” will be a family evening with some treats for the kids. We’ll attend Easter services at church, struggling among the mobs that show up only at Easter and Christmas. I guess that’s better than if they didn’t attend at all.
I told the little ones that Santa shares his naughty and nice list during his off season with the Easter bunny to use to decide who gets baskets full of candy. Was that an awful thing to do?
NTK, not at all bad to do. All lists get bought and sold …why should Santa and the EB be any different? Tell the little guys that is capitalism at its finest.
Naughty and nice lists are a good thing to have year round. Have you seen the peeps that are now in chocolate eggs? Those looked neat but…chocolate and little kids is always a mess.
I still like to dye eggs. My mother used to sit us all down and make us blow eggs. Ever done that? She said we never shut up so we could put all that hot air to good use. Then she would dye the eggs and paint them permanently with oil colors. If you dared break one…you went on the naughty list and it wasn’t the Easter bunny, it was hers.
It’s about time for the WaPo’s Peep contest. Love those dioramas!
Article in the WaPo about peeps yesterday. Thats where I saw the chocolate peeps eggs. @Censored
I want to visit The NTK family for the Easter Blu-Ray screening. Sounds like a great treat for all. I love to watch “The Ten Commandments”. Also, those naughty and nice lists work on teens too. 🙂
My mom still dies eggs too and we’ve had no little kids in the family for quite a few years now.
Censored,
I really hope you make Peep diorama. I would love to see what you could come up with.
Manassas Mardi Gras was even bigger ten years ago when Okra’s sponsored
a costume parade and closed off Battle St. for dancing.
Lafayette, I could probably come up with some wacky diorama (hopefully with a political theme) but I’m not sure of the technicalities of gluing peeps together, when they melt, how long they’ll last, etc. I actually can’t stand them as candy but they obviously do have potential as art projects.
I remember reading an interview with one of the participants where she went into much detail about how to keep the darn things from melting, how to paint them, and how to glue them. I should buy a few bags this year and experiment for next year’s contest. (I think a Chicago paper sponsors a peep contest as well.)
Lafayette, I am hurt. YOu didn’t ask me to blow eggs for you. They last forever if you get the egg out and treat them with care.
Big Dog, young howler worked there in those days. Too many people bitched about having the street closed. They said it hurt their business. Must have been the revelling.
@censored, I think they are sprayed with some sort of fixative that you buy at Michaels. I cannot remember the name of that stuff.
M-h, I did a quick search for suggestions at the WaPo peep site and saw spray shellac, Mod Podge, and hot glue mentioned. Hot glue seems like the type of suggestion you’d give a competitor and hope his or her peeps go down in flames. 😉
LOL unfair!!
I couldnt think of the name of modge podge to save my stars!!
Moon, you had better be careful about volunteering to contribute to the gasoline fund — unless you just found out you won the lottery!
Why doesn’t the county fix their website? That is the worst designed index I have ever laid eyes on. It is a disgrace.
Peeps?
I present PeepDrinks.com
http://www.peepdrinks.com/
booze and peeps. What could go wrong?
At the moment, I’m trying to find the recipe that, I think, involves bourbon, vanilla, peeps, and fire……