In Finland, kids celebrate Easter by dressing up as witches and going door to door Sunday morning "trick or treating". But there's no 'tricking' - they prepare the day before by decorating willow branches with colorful tissue paper, candy wrappers, ribbons and feathers and recite a rhyme at each door while waving a branch. The rhyme basically states that "I'm waving this for your health and for a good year, branch for you, salary for me". The salary meaning: CANDY! CHOCOLATE EGGS! COINS! CANDY! - traded for a pretty branch.This whole activity is called 'virpominen'.
I did that every year with my sisters and friends as a kid. Here's my sisters Minna and Kaisu and me. Yes it's snows in April.
Yes, Kaisu did her own make up for her witchy look. We visited our grandparents that day and Kaisu told them immediately that "Don't be afraid - it's just me, Kaisu!" She's so cute. OMG.
Nostalgic as I am, I'm wearing witchy clothes today. Here's my friend James ghosting it up in the pic, taken at work :) See, I have my willow branch too! Kinda sorta!
Here's some unrelated quotes I came across recently that I think are great:
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." John Maynard Keynes
“Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.” Oscar Wilde
"America makes prodigious mistakes, America has colossal faults, but one thing cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn't standing still." e. e. cummings
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." Edgar Allan Poe
"Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul." Mark Twain
Have a fabulous week!
