Easter Without The Bunny and Spring Without The Daffodils

Easter in Cartagena is celebrated without the  supermarket onslaught of peeps, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. I actually never heard anyone say Easter in Spanish, everyone refers to the holiday by saying "Semana Santa," which is "Holy Week" in English. I asked people what the word for Easter is and more than one had to take a minute to think about it saying, "We don't really say, Easter, we always refer to the holiday in terms of the entire week." There are parades around the old city of people following statues of Jesus and/or Saints. Religious people will spend the week in contemplative prayer both at home and at church.
Leading up to the Easter holiday season, I expected the supermarkets to have candy displays and aisles of baskets and fake neon colored grass. None of this occurred. The reason I thought it would is that Christmas here has all the commercial trappings of the United States, including fake trees and Santas everywhere. Not so with Easter. The holiday is revered as one that is religious and not one of frivolity. I found it refreshing. Although, I have to admit that my children are not very young, so not searching for eggs or getting loads of candy was not something they particularly missed. Maybe if they were younger, I would feel a bit more nostalgic for these things.
What I did appreciate was the solemn focus of the holiday. After all, the Easter holiday celebrates what is considered the foundation of the Christian faith. If we are honest, we can acknowledge that Peter Cottontail was not in the empty tomb hiding plastic eggs filled with jelly beans. But I digress.
A non-candy filled Easter is not the only thing that struck me this spring. What I miss is seeing the daffodils coming out of the grass after a winter of cold weather and snow. It is the first time in my life that I don't have the feeling of being part of mother nature while she slowly transitions from the long  cold dark nights of winter into  long sunny days and warm nights. I didn't even realized  I was missing this until reading posts from friends on Facebook. They would comment on the signs of spring they saw in their yards, or the gardens they started planting.
While I am here, I will continue to appreciate the wonderful tropical weather that is here, while vicariously enjoying spring through Facebook.