By Melissa Martin

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 12, 2020. So, make your menu and decorate your dwelling while there’s still time. 

Would you like to be bombarded with bunnies? Rabbits can be found in a variety of breeds but usually in white on the island of Barbados, according to www.barbadospocketguide.com.

The Cottontail rabbit adorned with a black patch on their neck is found in Aruba, according to 

www.visitaruba.com.

Flying kites is a popular pastime year-round on many Caribbean islands, but seems to peak around Easter in islands like Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Grenada, according to www.tripsavvy.com.

Easter season in Jamaica is time for the island’s premier local food event; The Trelawny Yam Festival. Yummy! 

Enjoy the Cayman Islands Sailing Club’s annual Easter Regatta Round the Island Race. Sounds like rabbit-racing fun. The Easter Bunny hops in to greet children at many of Cayman’s larger hotels.

How interesting that a dog is in the running to be the next Cadbury bunny—that will be one funny bunny. And I voted for the two-legged dog from New Richmond, Ohio, in the USA, to be the 2020 candy canine. Bark for the bunny! Lt. Dan is named after the Forrest Gump character who lost his legs overseas in combat. What animal lover can resist a disabled dog wearing long ears and a fluffy tail. Cadbury issued a casting call for all pets to enter the contest to become the next Cadbury Bunny. Lt. Dan the dog is competing against a mini-horse, llama, pig, hamster, duck and two cats. The winner of the contest will star in Cadbury’s new TV commercial and receive $5,000. The Cadbury Bunny Tryouts Contest is sponsored by The Hershey Company in Hershey, PA.Vote at www.bunnytryouts.cadburyusa.com.

How interesting that a giant bunny carries a huge basket and hops down the bunny trail to deliver colored eggs to children. Aren’t the hens steamed? It’s hard work laying eggs, only to give the credit to a happy hare. Plastic lookalike eggs have replaced boiled eggs in the annual Easter egg hunts. The chickens don’t have to work as long during the season, but please give the poor cluckers a raise and retirement benefits. 

What’s for Easter Dinner?

Easter dinner on the islands is likely to include fish. And in many English-speaking nations Easter buns, a tropical version of the English hot cross bun that can be spiced with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, filled with raisins, currents and dried fruit, and topped with cheddar cheese or icing in the shape of a cross. 

“In early Jewish history, lambs were sacrificed as offerings to God and served regularly as part of the Passover feast. Then, when Jesus died during Passover, he represented the ultimate sacrifice for sin, the “lamb of God,” and the animal evolved into a potent symbol for Christians, especially at Easter. Many Orthodox Christians still follow the Jewish Orthodox customs of not eating any pork, so lamb takes center stage at their Easter meal. Others, however, wouldn’t imagine Easter without ham. Symbolizing “good luck” for many cultures around the world, it made a fitting meal at all sorts of feasts and celebrations, according to the Encyclopedia of Religion. Some historians believe Easter’s spring timing also factored into the choice: Farmers typically slaughtered pigs in the fall and then took several months to smoke the pork, making a ham ready just in time for Easter dinner.” www.goodhousekeeping.com.

The Real Deal of Easter

“The Bible makes no mention of a long-eared, short-tailed creature who delivers decorated eggs to well-behaved children on Easter Sunday; nevertheless, the Easter bunny has become a prominent symbol of Christianity’s most important holiday,” according to an article at www.history.com.

Easter is a deeply religious holiday for many, packed with significance in the resurrection story of Christ. Good Friday marks Jesus’s crucifixion and Easter Sunday celebrates his resurrection. The crucifixion of Jesus is recorded in the New Testament books, known as the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Blessings to all my peeps at Easter!

Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in U.S.