Yesterday was the first day of spring, which my sister joyfully reminded me with this picture message. She told me at dinner last night that she'd spent the day 'decorating' the kitchen where she worked with dozens of these babies...
Spring in our house was always celebrated with eggs, standing on their tippy-tops, as many as we could get to stand on end, and in as many various places as we could dream up.
What I don't think I ever realized until yesterday is that this ritual was largely confined to those within my immediate family. As I showed my sister's photo around the office and gleefully exclaimed, "It's Spring! Egg Day!! ", I was surprised at the blank looks and questioning/concerned glances between my coworkers. Granted, I was nearly dancing about their cubes from excitement, but still, it's EGG day! That's worth at least a skip or two! Besides, I know it couldn't have been just us; there were news reports growing up, showing fellow Romans (GA, not Italy) gathering on the steps of the clock tower to balance eggs.
For those of you unfamiliar with the egg tradition, it is said that you can balance eggs on their ends on the Spring Equinox, as the gravitational pulls on the earth are balanced this day, and allow the eggs to stand on end. Truth be told, with enough patience, you could get one to stand on end almost any day of the year, but it is, for some reason, much easier on the Spring Equinox.
I remember my dad, ever the scientist, gathering us to the kitchen with at least a dozen eggs, and we would spend the time before dinner studiously working to balance these eggs on their ends - you were a real pro if you could get one to stand on it's small top - laughing and applauding one another on our efforts. We would take pictures of those that were especially impressive, like the one dad balanced on the top of a cutting board handle, and save those to show off.
I also remember a trick we learned - not sure who's idea it was - to balance one on a white napkin. That was super-easy to do, especially with a small pile of salt in the center of the napkin to 'cup' the egg.
Thanks, Grace, for bringing back such fun memories. Now, off to buy some eggs...
Spring in our house was always celebrated with eggs, standing on their tippy-tops, as many as we could get to stand on end, and in as many various places as we could dream up.
What I don't think I ever realized until yesterday is that this ritual was largely confined to those within my immediate family. As I showed my sister's photo around the office and gleefully exclaimed, "It's Spring! Egg Day!! ", I was surprised at the blank looks and questioning/concerned glances between my coworkers. Granted, I was nearly dancing about their cubes from excitement, but still, it's EGG day! That's worth at least a skip or two! Besides, I know it couldn't have been just us; there were news reports growing up, showing fellow Romans (GA, not Italy) gathering on the steps of the clock tower to balance eggs.
For those of you unfamiliar with the egg tradition, it is said that you can balance eggs on their ends on the Spring Equinox, as the gravitational pulls on the earth are balanced this day, and allow the eggs to stand on end. Truth be told, with enough patience, you could get one to stand on end almost any day of the year, but it is, for some reason, much easier on the Spring Equinox.
I remember my dad, ever the scientist, gathering us to the kitchen with at least a dozen eggs, and we would spend the time before dinner studiously working to balance these eggs on their ends - you were a real pro if you could get one to stand on it's small top - laughing and applauding one another on our efforts. We would take pictures of those that were especially impressive, like the one dad balanced on the top of a cutting board handle, and save those to show off.
I also remember a trick we learned - not sure who's idea it was - to balance one on a white napkin. That was super-easy to do, especially with a small pile of salt in the center of the napkin to 'cup' the egg.
Thanks, Grace, for bringing back such fun memories. Now, off to buy some eggs...
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