Spring came. The snow melted and the grass started to turn green. Robins sang in the lilac bushes.

Ma said, “It’s time to rake the front lawn and back yard.”

Everyone helped. There were pine needles to rake from under the two big pine trees on the lawn and wood chips from the pile of wood on the back yard. There was only a small amount of wood left now, just two long rows. When the chips were all raked, Teddy started the fire, which burned brightly and filled the air with a pleasant smell. Soon the pine needles were raked into a big pile on the driveway. Ma came out of the house with her apron full of potatoes, which Teddy buried under the pile of needles, then he lit the needles. As the fire burned, more needles were added as the lawn was raked. A different smell came from the pine needles. By evening, everyone was tired, but everything looked so neat and clean. The grass even looked greener.

Ma said, “We need a nice warm rain now to really green up the lawn.”

Teddy said, “The potatoes are baked, they are nice and soft.”

Ma went into the house and brought a big pan and a ladle so Teddy could gather up the potatoes. The rest of supper was ready so everyone went in to eat. Berdina thought those were the best potatoes she ever ate, but of course she was really hungry after all that raking and fresh air.

Pa said, “If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we will plant potatoes so we get some new ones to eat by the middle of summer. New potatoes are so good.”

While Pa and the boys planted the potatoes, Berdina and her sister started getting their Easter boxes ready. They had saved the shoe boxes when they got their new shoes last fall. Now they covered them with the white tissue paper that was in the box. Ma let them make paste out of flour and water. Next they pasted on colored eggs and flowers they had cut from the seed catalog. Now they had to have something soft for the Easter Rabbit to lay his eggs on. They folded tissue paper, first one way, then the other, ‘til it was all folded up, then they cut narrow pieces off. As each piece fell into the box it jumped a little. It took a lot of cutting and snipping to make a soft nest, but Berdina had plenty of time.

Berdina and her sisters had to go to bed early the night before Easter.

Ma said, “The Easter Rabbit comes early and you don’t want him to catch you up or he won’t leave you anything.”

After the younger members of the family were in bed, Ma put a big kettle of eggs on the stove to boil. The older girls helped dye them. The Easter boxes would be mostly filled with colored eggs. There would be some jelly beans and a few marshmallow eggs.

Easter morning, Berdina and her sisters were up at the crack of dawn to hunt for their Easter box, which the Easter Rabbit always hid. What excitement!

There were shouts of joy when each one found the box they had decorated. They liked to have egg fights. They would bump their eggs against one another’s to see whose would crack first. They ate eggs with the good cinnamon roll Ma had made for breakfast.

Soon it was time to get dressed for church. Today they would take the car to church, as they would go to Aunt Annie’s house right after the service was over. The roads were dry and Pa had been using the car, which was a Whippet, for some time now. The car was dark green with four doors and a racing dog on the radiator cap. This was the first ride in the car for Berdina this year and it was so exciting she couldn’t wait for church to be over so she could ride again. This was the best thing since Christmas and everyone came home tired as they had been up so early.

Tomorrow there would be school again, but not for much longer, as there were only eight months of school, so it would be out by the end of April. At the yearly meeting, parents voted whether they wanted eight or nine months of school. If they had only eight months, the children would be home in May to help with the work of spring planting and more chores.

The cows that stood dry in winter were calving now. Almost every day there was one or two calves born. Berdina liked the little calves and also the little pigs. There were only a few piglets, and only one sow. He raised only enough pigs for his own use. If he had good luck there might be one or two to sell to a neighbor or relative. If there was a little pig that was too small and wasn’t getting enough because the rest pushed him away, Pa would bring it into the house for Berdina and her sisters to feed with a bottle until it was stronger. There was more milking to do now, so everyone who was old enough had to help. As soon as Berdina grew strong enough to milk, she would get her cow or two to milk. The girls were given the easy milkers.

The days were longer now and much warmer. Berdina still wore her long, tan stockings, but sometimes if it got warm during the day she would roll them down.

At school, Berdina, her sisters and brothers played ball every day it wasn’t raining. Berdina loved to play ball. She ran home as fast as she could to eat her dinner and return again, so she would be back by the time the other pupils were done with their lunch. They played with a rubber ball. The bases were marked with chunks of wood from the wood box in the entry way hall. Each day teams were chosen, and the older boys picked who they wanted on their team. Of course the best players were chosen first, but everyone who wanted to play was on one of the teams. They hated to see Mrs. Carlton come out ringing that school bell, which meant noon hour was over.

Soon it was time for the last day of school and the picnic. The parents and all the family came. It was a big feast with potato salad, pots of baked beans, sandwiches and pickles. There was lemonade and cakes and pies. Mrs. Carlton brought ice cream, several gallons of it. It was a good day.

The boys and girls played games. There were contests and a ball game between the older boys and girls which everyone watched and enjoyed.

When the day was over, Mrs. Carlton handed out the report cards and said goodbye to the children until next fall. Each child was anxious to see if they had passed to the next grade. Even though Berdina knew there would be plenty of work at home, she was happy for vacation.