a bit of remember-y...

I'd pretty much forgotten about hunting eggs as a kid. We definitely did it. But this was many years prior to the invention of plastic eggs. So the ones we used were 'real', had been boiled, and hand-dyed, often cracking in the cooking so the dye would seep into crazed lines if the shell was peeled off. But I doubt that happened often, as we generally wore them out with the hiding/finding process.

I don't recall ever participating in the large scale eggs hunts that civic organizations, churches and neighborhoods plan these days. So it was mostly just my brother and I hiding eggs in the front yard. One would go out and do the hiding, while the other would have to stay in the back of the house and wait for the signal.  Then dash around to the front, with basket swinging wildly, in search of the twelve eggs. I'd generally find nine or ten, and be searching for the few.

My brother ,as an adult is a smart, considerate, thoughtful, responsible individual. But as a youngster (plus the Older Sibling aspect) could be a devious soul.  He was notorious for digging a hole just large enough to secret one egg (usually the one wrapped in the foil, which was of course, the highly desired  Prize), and carefully, diligently, maliciously tuck the little uprooted tuft of grass back in place to cover it up. Of course, smiling and gloating, and grinning all over himself the whole time, saying things like 'you're not even close, or 'you're getting very warm', or 'you'll never find it', just to Egg Me On.

Those little people who were running all over the yard this afternoon, searching for eggs that were mostly hidden in plain sight were quite amusing. Even found some eggs that had been sitting there, waiting since last Easter. The adults realized they had discovered eggs from last spring, when  they opened them to find 'stuffing' that was old: surprising those who had stuffed and hidden the plastic eggs earlier in the day.

I remember when my kids were small and we would go to the neighbors to 'hunt'. The plastic eggs were filled with sweets, then hidden for them to discover. After they were found, and the candies emptied out, they were filled a second time with loose change - even  more  exciting to find than sugary treats! After that, just empty eggs - but still an amusing enterprise for keeping them occupied the rest of the afternoon. I think maybe all that frantic running around while eating unadulterated refined white sugar acted to even things out, as I am pretty sure they fell into bed when the day was over. One of them would save treats for weeks, and the other would be voracious, eating monumental amounts of sweets at an amazing rate - then searching out her sister's stash for more.