Existential Easter

It occurs to me that if Christ is risen today, he will likely behave like the groundhog when it sees its own shadow and quickly trot back underground for at least another six weeks. There are times, many and ever increasing times, gentle readers of blahdeblahblah, that I find that despair seems like the only rational reaction to the world. The American presidential campaign is an ongoing source of horror with so many of my fellow Americans behaving despicably. Today, of course, there is the horrific slaughter of so many Pakistanis who just wanted to have a nice day in the park and instead they're blown up. It's so wrong. Just. So. Wrong. Were there a bright side, and there's not, there can't be, it would be at least on this particular day my government wasn't directly responsible. That's less than cold comfort. The sense that there is nothing I can do--that, it seems, anyone can do to stop the horror--is, as I hint, pretty close to overwhelming. And Scott tells me that the sort of scheme I propose, in which all the people who want to kill someone are sent to live with each other well separated from those who just want to live in peace, that sort of scheme so rarely turns out well. In fact, he asked if I hadn't read The Gulag Archipelago.

But, by gosh, I watched a lot of Shirley Temple movies in my youth and, by gum, I've got pluck. Rather than filling my pockets with stones and head to the Duwamish, I send money. And, between rain showers, I sit in the yard and look at the flowers and birds.

I spread out a load of warm sheets and towels fresh from the dryer for Gradka to snuggle into.

And, most of all, I make gingerbread. I pay absolutely no attention to those negative Nellies who warn against raw eggs, and I lick the spatula, and I ask myself why I don't make gingerbread more often. It's quick; it's easy; it's made with ingredients most of us in our comfortable middle-class American homes have on hand. Here's the recipe:

 In a large bowl, sift:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. cloves

Put into blender and blend until smooth:
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. sour milk*
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. white sugar

*You can sour milk by adding a spoon or so of vinegar or lemon juice to fresh milk

Pour the contents of the blender into the bowl with the sifted dry ingredients. Stir until smooth (a wire whisk works well). Shift contents of bowl into a greased 8-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the center is solid and it looks like gingerbread.