Field of Dreams

Today was easter egg hunt day. Growing up, I never went on any easter egg hunts. I live this tradition I never had through my sister. I think I enjoy easter egg hunts more than she does.

A couple years ago, I remember taking her to her first easter egg hunt. Her favorite color was blue, so she would only pick up the blue eggs. I remember talking to her for a long time, convincing her the other eggs were just as good. I even set up a practice hunt at our house where there were multiple colors and the goal was to pick them up as fast as she could, no matter the color. I think the training paid off.

The first egg hunt we went to today was at the local middle school. I couldn't believe how many people were there. I had been discussing strategy with my sister the past few days before the hunt. If you run fast enough to the back, you can get in front of the pack and get more eggs. What I hadn't factored in, was at this race, they started from two sides. We also tested several bags, to see which would work the best. It was the funniest easter egg hunt I have ever seen. Once the man said go, there was a wave of literally a hundred kids racing across the field. This wave five kids deep spread across the entire field, and it snatched up every egg in its path. The whole field was picked clean in under two minutes. My brother and I were joking it is too bad they can't find a way to harness this kid energy. My sister had tried to run to the front, but it didn't work as well as planned. Several other kids did this. The wave also was going from both sides, and it was hard to stay in front. The candy in the eggs was good stuff. Unfortunately, my sister didn't get any of the special tickets that would win you a prize.

We went home a little bit disappointed. I saw in the paper there was a hunt at the local park, so we raced down there. I think we got to the starting line with 3 minutes to spare. In this hunt, my sister was the youngest age in her bracket, a bit unfortunate. The whole hunt was rather disappointing. My sister got 9 eggs. As in 9 hard boiled eggs. I mean come on, kids want candy. I wanted candy. I don't quite understand the logic behind having mainly hard boiled eggs. Are the kids supposed to eat them? I sure wouldn't, who knows how long they have been sitting our, or if the were even any good in the first place.

After this disappointing start to the easter eggs hunting season, I wanted to go to one more. This one was further away. We were trying to get correct directions and by the time we left the house, we were pushing it a little. This hunt, my sister was the oldest age in her bracket. The roped off field was also L shaped. I knew our strategy would work this time. And work it did. She sprinted to the back of the field, and was basically the only person there. She had a huge area to pick all the eggs up in. She got by far the most eggs at this hunt, the candy wasn't as good as the first hunt though. I guess it was better than the real eggs.

In the end, I think we both had fun. I got to live a part of me I never was able to as a child. My sister got some candy and made some memories. After testing out my strategy of optimal egg retrieval, I found when it does and doesn't work.