Springtime wishes from 1800.  Time for new life, clean slates, and, over at St. P’s, lots of alleluia singing with brass and lilies.

Here at 1880, I got out all the bunnies and eggs I gave the girls in many Easter baskets over the years.

This cross collection is not up just for Easter.  Whenever I go on a trip, I buy one to add.  It lives permanently around the top of the snug, but this seems like the right time of year to feature it. Fourth and second from the right came from a Mexican import shop south of Pecos.  We always called that place “The Hetch-oh”  because the sign read “hecho en Mexico.”

This one has milagros nailed all over it.  Elizabeth and I got it when she lived in Solana Beach and we were on a field trip to see missions in the area.  I can’t remember at which we found this one.  I’m sure she will remember.

This one is the newest.  I got it at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland earlier this month.

But some were gifts.  Kate and Mary sent this one to me from a Greek festival they attended some years ago, also in Oakland, I think.

Meg sent this one below from a shop in her neighborhood when she lived in NYC.  Lots of Marys on it from the girl I have always given madonnas to as sort of a family joke.  My personal favorite was a print of Mary we found in Rome that was framed in blinking colored lights.  We called it, most irreverently, the BBVM — the blessed blinking Virgin Mary.

And MANY years ago, Katie brought this one to me, I think from Guatemala.

This is not a cross, but it is a souvenir from Assisi.  And it is not an Easter decoration either.  It lives permanently on the door post at 1880.  The motto of St. Francis:  Peace and Goodness.  Good things to practice no matter what the season and my wish to all who visit 1880 and this site.