We haven’t left on our mini-gray-cation yet. . . . Goodnight had a fair amount of homework that she had to accomplish. That’s ok. The church I planned to take her to for Easter is only five and a half hours away. There are several services on Easter Sunday, so we have some luxury to the schedule.
Just for the curious, the official name of the church is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill. We just call it Holy Hill because it has been a part of our family stories for so long. It is located near Hubertus, Wisconsin. The official name changes and designations happened long after my family started going there.
It’s peaceful, beautiful and surrounded by woods. One of the features of Holy Hill is the set of outdoor Stations of the Cross. They begin at the base of the hill and wind their way through the woods up to the top, where the church is. I love the woods. I made the trek to the Stations on snowshoes one in winter. It was stunningly beautiful. I was alone in the woods except for a cardinal in a tree and a deer that stood silently until I passed. GN and I will take a walk in the woods tomorrow before we head back home.
For right now, she is still working on a PowerPoint presentation that she needs to have finished by Tuesday. That’s ok. I have to hem her dress yet, anyway.
So . . . I found the time to work on an Easter project with that teenager. I spotted the project on the Internet yesterday, so the idea is not mine at all. But I like it a lot. Actually, so did Goodnight. Here’s where I spotted it and the photo on that page is better than mine, so have a look. I’d like to express my thanks to Melissa Holt for posting the idea so that it could make its way to me. As GN grows up, the projects have to grow up too. This garden is nice for someone her age and we had a good time in my garage yesterday afternoon as we puttered in dirt and moss.
The original garden called for grass seed. That requires planning ahead, but since I only spotted the project yesterday, Goodnight and I used floral moss. We had everything else we needed at home already.
Here’s Goodnight’s version of the Easter Garden. It was her idea to add the tiny Crown of Thorns around the center cross.
Hope she finishes her PowerPoint project. I didn’t buy an Easter ham.~
That takes me back – we used to do those at school!
DOABG: Lucky you. I had never seen anything like this before. Glad to learn that yours were with moss as well.
With moss
I love that Easter garden!!! something to do next year, perhaps.
Carol E: Oh good! Let me know if you do it,
P.S. I like yours with moss better……
The church is so lovely. One day I would like to walk those stations of the cross. Sounds so peaceful. What a clever idea making an Easter garden. May you all have a blessed Easter!
Happy Easter G.G. & Goodnight!
Carol: Thanks!
I have heard about this Basilica on either EWTN or on our local catholic radio station. It sounds wonderful! I love the Easter Garden idea–I think we will do one next year. We took a 2 hr drive to visit our old Ukrainian Catholic church, and have dinner with G Grandma. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely day. I hope yours was too! Happy Easter!
Kathy: I’m sure that Holy Hill has been on EWTN. I have to brush up on the recent history, but it’s had its designation changed in recent years, so I’m sure that’s been newsworthy. Also, with the installation of Milwaukee’s former archbiship, Timothy Dolan, to the College of Cardinals, Holy Hill will make more news because he will be returning to the area for Masses in several locations – one of which is scheduled at Holy Hill.
Sounds like you had a lovely drive as well. We drove through a good deal of rain, but then it finally passed over us. Happy Easter to you too.
I had quite forgotten that Cardinal Dolan was from Milwaukee–he is well-admired and I’m sure he will draw a crowd!
On the west coast we have a saying–that “rain is God’s liquid sunshine!” We get quite a bit of that here, but also have the benefit of nature being wonderfully green year-round.
Dear Kathy: I don’t know where on the west coast you are (and you don’t have to share that), but I know what you mean about the rain and the green. I’ll never forget the first time I drove around the Pacific Northwest. I was in awe every moment. And my wipers got a workout. They went from off, to full, to intermittent repeatedly. I loved it! I took my driver’s ed on Saturdays when I was in high school and most of the time it rained, so I’ve always loved driving in the rain.
I admire your extra efforts to seek out meaning in Easter for you and your granddaughter. The church looks and sounds lovely.