The adage April showers bring May flowers have a whole new meaning in Poland. Every "Easter Monday" is known as Smigus-dyngus (shmee-goose-din-goose) a silly celebration where all the men and boys draw out their water guns and proceed to blast all the ladies. If boys were looking to really cause some "dyngus" they would break into girls homes and wake them up by pouring water over them while still in bed. Growing up I always remembered my mom telling me how she was always scared to walk to school on this day- for she had to avoid all the apartment windows so boys would not pour buckets of water on her. For all the gentlemen out there, they would instead shower their ladies in perfume ;) Funny enough, girls also received a spanking on this day by pussy willow branches. Girls have the ability to save themselves by offering painted eggs as a form of ransom. All this originated back to pre-Christian times of watering the "Corn Mother" symbolizing fertility of the land. The pussy willows however were treated as sacred charms that could prevent lighting from striking the land, protect the animals, and increase overall production. Today in America you can see this happening in highly Polish populated communities such as Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Best beware!