Good Friday

Because of the way the Catholic Church figures out Easter, some years Good Friday corresponds to the Jewish holiday of Passover, and sometimes it does not. Jesus was of course celebrating Passover dinner when he and his apostles had the Last Supper, so of course the two holidays should always overlap. But they don't, because of some dispute over how to reckon the lunar calendar. 

I have always thought the English name for the Friday before Easter was strange--Good Friday--for the day Jesus was crucified. In Icelandic, it is called föstudagur langir, Long Friday, which I guess refers to how the apostles must have felt enduring a painful day like that. 

Icelanders take Easter much more seriously than Americans do in other regards also. I do not even have Good Friday off of work, although at least Palmer does. Palmer is spending the day out in the desert with my parents and his dad, riding on dune buggies and watching motorcycle races out in the Mohave, the same thing I did many times as a kid. That is hardly a religious way to spend today, and indeed, I am even worse. I plan to go out drinking with my friend Amanda tonight, since it is afterall one of the only Fridays all semester I do not have to go pick up Palmer. So Long Friday is definitely not a deeply religious holiday for me, even though as a teenager it was. The day after Easter is also a holiday in Iceland, but not here. I will be working and Palmer will be back in school. 

So Easter Sunday is all we've got, and I plan to make the most out of it. 

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