Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to finish up in our last 15 minutes today by opening the phones for anyone who has already or plans to celebrate any of the spring holidays with friends or family, or for some of you at a religious service. We are now inviting you to shout out whatever your spring holiday is at 646-435-7280. Tell everybody how much you're reopening or figuring out how much to reopen compared to last year in your own life.
Do you celebrate Easter Passover, Ramadan, which moves around the year is in the spring against this year? Newroz, holy, what spring holiday do you celebrate and how are you observing it this year? 646-435-7286, 646-435-7280. Like with what degree of avoiding crowds in the second spring of the pandemic. Who was at your outdoor seder table last weekend or your indoor one?
What are you planning to do this weekend for Easter? An Easter egg hunt for adults and kids alike, maybe a parade or maybe not yet, a big family gathering. Are you going to indoor church or not yet, or not so much? Call in now and talk about what's great about your spring holiday, whatever it is, from whatever tradition you come from, and what state of reopening you and your family are in for it? 646-435-7286, 646-435-7280.
From what we see in the news and on our social media feeds this year's celebrations do feel different for a lot of people, grandparents and parents are getting vaccinated and so are some lucky young adults. Let us hear from you. What sort of safety precautions are you taking especially if you're hosting intergenerational gatherings. Anyone getting really creative out there? Give us your best socially distanced, mask-wearing, pandemic party advice for your religious or other spring celebration at 646-435-7280.
Or like we heard in our COVID segment today with Dr. Gaunder, they still don't think people who are vaccinated should get together in crowds. What does that mean for you and your friends and your family? 646-435-7280. Shout out your spring holiday. We'll take your calls right after this.
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Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. All right, listeners, shout out your spring holiday, and how much are we opening around it this year? Spenter in Tappan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Spenter.
Spenter: Hi, Brian. How are you?
Brian: Good. First, you got to tell me, did I say to Tappan right because my understanding is-
Spenter: Yes, you did.
Brian: -the name of the town in Rockland County is Tappan, even though it's spelled the same as Tappan Zee Bridge.
Spenter: Yes. That's which is what I still call it too.
Brian: Go ahead.
Spenter: I wanted to just say I had the most special and wonderful-- I celebrate Newroz, and I had the most special and wonderful Newroz celebration this year. Last year, obviously we were all in lockdown, and I have my Haft-sin table with the seven Persian items that begin with the letter S, and I have that displayed. I send out that greeting. This year, because my parents have been-- they live in New Jersey about an hour away and are fully vaccinated, we got to see my parents, and my son who's a freshman and attending college was home for spring break. We all got to go. My uncle was there, they were all fully vaccinated. The best present was being able to hug my parents after a whole year. That was something.
Brian: I hear it in your voice. You want to give people what a couple of the S's are for?
Spenter: Sure. You have things, you have garlic, all these are the Persian words. Oh, one of the things that you grow grass for fertility and health and that's Sabzi, and you have siib, and you have garlic, which is for health. These are the Persian words, saffron, and like these other things and what they symbolize. It's just something-- and sonbol, which is the fragrance from the hyacinth plant, and I've had my hyacinth. All this stuff is still on my table. Though the hyacinth is now dying. I'll replant it once it's gone, but it was just something in my religious community and cultural organization also started the day. Even though we couldn't be together as a community, we were there together on Zoom. They did something really, really neat. Thanks so much.
Brian: S is for you Spenter. Thank you very much for your call. We really appreciate it.
Spenter: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I love your show.
Brian: Thank you. Let's go next to Ellie and Harlem. Ellie, you're on w NYC. Hi, there?
Ellie: Hi. I love the show. It's such a pleasure to be here.
Brian: Thank you. It's the Passover in your case, right?
Ellie: Yes. Happy Passover. Yes, so my fiance, now fiance, and I actually got engaged through-- The way I proposed to her was through the ritual of Passover.
Brian: Explain it. It sounds wonderful.
Ellie: Sure. Right before Passover, there's a ritual scavenger hunt of searching for the bread that you get rid of. What I did was because it's a holiday of spring the Jewish people left in the holiday spring, I filled the apartment with flowers and hid in little notes, the ḥametz, the bread that you get rid of, and she searched for it, and the last thing she found was the ring. Then we celebrate with my parents and her in-laws for the first time we got to spend time with them and it was just wonderful.
Brian: That is so romantic. Searching for the flower in the flowers, the bread, and the roses. Ellie, thank you very much, and congratulations. Selena in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Selena?
Selena: Hi. First time, long time.
Brian: Glad you're on. What's your spring holiday?
Selena: We'll be celebrating Ching Ming this year. It's a Chinese holiday where we visit our ancestors and bring flowers and food, and there's a ceremony of burning paper, money, and garments, and it's a way to send our love to people who have passed.
Brian: Nice. How much reopening in your case?
Selena: It'll be outdoors. There are a few people in different households who have been vaccinated. It'll just be my parents and my siblings, but we're thinking about that right now, but I think it will also would just be a nice reason to get together in light of just really sad events and think about-
Brian: For Chinese-Americans, I understand.
Selena: Yes. Think about our family and our community and how we got here.
Brian: Thank you very much. Please call us again. Sheila in Queens. Happy Easter, Sheila.
Sheila: Hi. How are you?
Brian: Good. What're you doing this year?
Sheila: This year, this Saturday is the first time my extended family is getting together since pre-COVID. I have a mother who's over 70. I have seen her myself just because I live alone, and I worked from home, but my sister with children and my brother lives in DC with children, they haven't been able to see her. Everybody's getting together at my sister's house, and because my mother's fully vaccinated, and most of us are kind of like either half vaccinated or something like that. I have a nephew and niece who aren't vaccinated at all, but they'll stay outside and they've been tested and everything, so it should all be really good. We're super excited.
Brian: Super exciting, Sheila. Thank you very much. Here's another Easter call with-- It sounds like something innovative in Jersey city. Siobhan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Siobhan?
Siobhan: Hi Brian. Thank you so much. First time, long time, and I've wanted to say that for a really long time.
Brian: I'm glad you got to say it. What're you doing?
Siobhan: Back at Christmas because of COVID, we found a lot of families in our neighborhood were wanting to see Santa, and so we came up with a plan and we partnered with our local councilwoman to bring Santa in a convertible around the West side of Jersey City. It was so much fun that we decided we're going to continue and do the same thing in a welcome spring event. We got some police cars, we've got fire trucks, and at least four open-top vehicles, convertibles, Jeeps to drive around the Easter Bunny and his spring villagers, which are just going to be performers in
looks and we're going to fun bomb all of the parks in our neighborhood and surprise the kids that are there-
Brian: Fun bomb.
Siobhan: -with candy. Fun bomb. Yes. That's going to be our goal from now on. We're going to fun bomb our events in our neighborhood just with bringing the bunny to hand out candy. We are partnering with some scout troops at each park to help spread kids out and keep candy in one area, bunny in another area, activities over here, and just give them something to smile about if they can't go away for the holiday.
Brian: That is so great. That is so awesome. You drop the word of the day on the show, fun bomb. Siobhan, thank you very much for all that you're doing there and for your call. The last word with yet another spring holiday is going to go to Andre in Manhattan. Hi, Andre, you're on WNYC.
Andre: Hello.
Brian: Hello.
Andre: Well, I'm going to be celebrating May Day on May 1st, which is the original holiday of the working class. We are going to have hammer and sickle emblems on our face masks, and the slogan is going to be, "Proletarians of the world unite up to six feet."
Brian: That's, great. May Day 2021, proletarians of the world unite up to six feet. Andre, thank you very much. Oh, I have time to throw in this one from Twitter. Mama Dee writes, "As a devout atheist, I don't celebrate the spring religious holidays. Instead, I feel awash of the divine upon reading each email alerting me to the alternate side parking suspension." I guess that's one thing that unites everybody on any religious holiday that the city officially recognizes everybody, no matter what your religion gets everybody else's religious holidays off from moving your car if you have a car. Happy everything. Thank you for your calls. These are wonderful. Brian Lehrer on WNYC.
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