Pancakes

Easter is a complicated business, or at least the date of it is, all based on lunar cycles. It always falls between 22 March and 25 April, so this year it is very nearly as late as it can possibly be.

This means that we've had to wait longer than usual for pancakes.

Today is Shrove Tuesday (Shrove meaning to absolve sins through confession and doing penance) and is the last day before the start of Lent.

Lent is a time of going without, and so today we are supposed to be finishing up all of the extravagant foodstuffs that we have in the house by making pancakes (this is why it is also known as Fat Tuesday, or, in French, Mardi Gras). Well, like so many other traditions and festivals, we enjoy the trappings (Christmas = presents, Easter = chocolate eggs) but forget the significance.

So, I will be enjoying some pancakes later on this evening, but perhaps I should also take a moment to decide on what I should be doing to mark Lent this year.

For many years, my flippant answer to anyone who asks me what I am giving up for Lent has been smoking - easy because I never started.

This year, maybe I won't give up anything, maybe I will try to do more of something. Something important.