This is a special time of year
when bunnies around the world begin laying eggs. Since my cholesterol is usually sky-high, I
resort to eating a more healthy choice of egg – the Easter egg.
They look enough like an egg to
qualify for protein, although most dieticians would probably argue that
fact. Dieticians are those people who
actually believe food can be bad for you; things like red meat, potatoes, and
eggs, are among those bad things. But, I
digress.
In any case, chocolate bunny eggs
and peanut butter eggs magically appear on store shelves, along with jelly
beans.
President Ronald Reagan had it
right when he announced his favorite candy was Jelly Belly jelly beans. Jelly Belly makes all sorts of flavors – some
of which are absolutely terrific, while others are absolutely awful. Nonetheless, they’re worth trying.
But still we have
chocolate-filled eggs. Those
chocolate-filled eggs are different than those whose innards resemble a “real”
egg. Yes, some chocolate eggs appear to
have a yolk and albumin – that’s the white stuff – much like a chicken
egg. Of course, the yellow and white
goodness is sugary sweet with the consistency of toothpaste.
Some eggs have peanut butter guts
that I simply adore, and others even have raspberry or maple stuffing that is
often whipped. Those, too, aren’t all
that bad.
Still, it is the confectioner’s
world that brings us this special variety of candies that occur only at Easter
time.
To me this is odd. Catholics observe Lent – the six weeks before
Easter – in pious ways, even giving special things up as a demonstration of
devotion leading up to this most holy time of the calendar. Too often, Catholics give up chocolate for
Lent, and never get to taste those special flavors that create a party in your
mouth.
Nonetheless, somehow this
egg-from-a-bunny-rabbit tradition grew legs and is now difficult to explain to
anyone, especially children.
It seems as though kids get
classes in “sexual education,” shortened to “sex ed,” likely because they can’t
spell for receiving too much sex ed.
They know that eggs are part of the reproductive system and that
somehow, those chocolate eggs, whether filled with peanut butter, whipped
raspberry, or merely hollow, don’t fit with the rabbit story.
Kids need the truth when it comes
to real life. Telling them bunnies lay
chocolate eggs goes against everything they learned in school. They see the Easter bunny as a giant lie that
creates distrust later when you tell them about getting pregnant. But, I digress, again.
Everyone of adult age knows that
if left alone, all Easter eggs eventually will hatch marshmallow peeps. If you don’t believe me, try it.
Happy Easter!
