Today is Easter Sunday.  For me it has never been a big holiday. Growing up my family would go to church and visit relatives.  But for me personally it never had the special significance that Christmas or Thanksgiving do.  About the only tradition I personally have is eating Cadbury cream eggs every year around this time because … well just because. When I went to college we only got one day off and being that it was near the end of the semester it didn’t seem worth the effort to travel all the way back from Buffalo for just one day.  Thus you can imagine that the concept of flying back from the Delta is not attractive.

Mississippians seem to see things differently.  First of all Good Friday is a holiday around here.  Delta State was closed then instead of Monday as SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo where when I attended.  And people where talking about Easter and making plans.  Several coworkers asked if I was going home and were surprised to find that I was not.  Around town folks were making plans to travel, see family, and go to church (at dawn apparently).    Even the local froyo shop is closed.

For me this weekend has been uneventful.  A planned work day at the community garden on Friday was cancelled when the organizer realized there wasn’t much to do.  So I’ve been catching up on work and relaxing.  With most of that done today is a lazy day of sleeping in and cooking.

Holidays in general are boring with out something to do.  At least on the 4th of July there are fireworks, but some such as Labor Day can be downright dull.  Still it is good to unwind every so often and holidays are the perfect excuse to do just that since businesses (and DSU) tend to be closed.  However that gets old eventually.  But there may be hope for the next holiday!  Stay tuned to find out what that is and where the Rambling New Yorker will travel to next.

This sort of community is one of the things I like about Mississippi. While workplace holiday parties are not unique to the South, yesterday’s was more elaborate than others that I’ve been to. The institutional culture of the places I worked might have something to do with it. Delta State is small enough to be a close knit community where most people know each other. So a holiday party is not as likely to be seen as a mandatory office function, but rather as a chance to gather with friends and have a good time. The fact that so many people were willing to cook food themselves shows this.

However some things are not the same down here. For one, it really is the Christmas season. Now I’m not going to go into the controversy concerning the replacement of the word “Christmas” with the generic word “holidays”. But in Cleveland the only holiday people celebrate this time of year is Christmas. You don’t see many Menorahs around here. It is, after all, the bible belt (and a rural part of it at that). They are also more traditional and don’t seem to be bothered by public displays of Christmas. Fortunately neither am I and do indeed I celebrate it. Yet it must be remembered that the Delta is not a multicultural place the way New York is so people are apt to have very different sensibilities.

There also seems to be less of an emphasis on shopping. Oh people do buy gifts. But it seems to be less commercialized than up North. Possibly that is because of the lack of shopping centers nearby. It also could be part of the local culture.

The same seems to true of decorations. Now I haven’t really driven widely around at night so take the following with a grain of salt. Every year up in Rockland people (some anyway) go all out covering their houses with Christmas lights and ornaments. I actually really like seeing what folks have put up and how creative people can be. It brings joy to other wise bitter winter nights. So you can imagine my disappointment at the paucity of such things around here. Part of that may be regional culture. Alternatively it could be that most people just can’t afford such elaborate displays (which are not doubt expensive and time consuming to put up).

The funny thing about Christmas is that it can mean different things to different people. The religious meaning is obvious. But on another level it is about being thankful for what you have and being generous to those who have less. It can also be a time to put up decorations and give gifts. On that note I leave you with a few pictures taken around Cleveland of the aforementioned Christmas lights.