Oh what an absolutely wonderful Easter Sunday! It was fun seeing so many people filing into the different churches Downtown wearing their Easter Sunday best. It’s good to find many have not yet lost the tradition of wearing something extra special to their Easter services. Yes, I know there are those who seem to not want to darken the doors of their respective churches any more than twice a year; once on Christmas and once on Easter Sunday. It’s very sad seeing people who do that because I believe they’re missing yet another way of becoming more connected to Community. As people grow older and our children move away, often times it’s friends from church that help to fill voids. It also gives a sort of safety net for those who may possibly have health issues and need someone to call in case of an emergency. The ladies guilds and circles are also a way for many women who are retired to get out of their homes and help with cooking and cleaning for special meals, bake sales, and bazaars. Any time there is some sort of fund drive that is being held at churches around Mason City, I do try to attend simply to have a nice meal and an opportunity to purchase lovingly homemade baked goods. One of my favorites is when a given church is having a salad luncheon. It’s a good way to have a really good salad for lunch with all the little extras included. I think it would be a great idea if more churches would have them on a regular basis and advertised well enough in advance on their church boards.
This was a rare Easter Sunday where I didn’t go out and eat somewhere with family. I thought it best to set aside today to do a little paying forward by doing some yard work for a very dear client. He’s pretty much homebound and has a relatively large yard that I agreed to spend some time in getting cleaned up before his normal lawn service guy would begin with yet another year’s grass clipping season. Isn’t it funny how we sometimes think something will take maybe an hour or two and it turns into a very long afternoon? Nearly five hours later I had to call it quits because of a late appointment I dared not miss. He was so very thankful for the work done and was indeed surprised to see how much I’d accomplished while there. One of the neighbors said, “Looks like you’re about finished so your next job today will be your own yard.” I’m sure she was making a little joke. Luckily there were only two previous customers that drove by and noticed that the worker was Mr. Chodur. By the time I was finished, I looked like I just hopped off a railcar thinking it was Britt Hobo Day today. It’s good to get a real yard workout once in a while as it makes us remember what hard physical labor feels. I snapped a photo of my client beaming about my having spent so much time in his yard. I’ll have to share it with you all in another article some day. Before I left, he asked me to look at some of the things he had in a box ready to go to one of the charities. To my surprise there was a mid-century stovetop stainless steel coffee pot that looked just like new with all the parts contained. Knowing I was interested in it he said, “Take it if you want it. Now at least there’ll be some sort of payback for what you did for me.” I told him it’s been far too many years since I’ve had stovetop coffee. It’s quite good but one must watch the heat and cooking time. I simply said, “It’s been a truly great Easter”
