Easter is a big part of our family tradition, especially the Easter egg hunt. We can trace it back to my Dad's childhood, which would put it in the depression era. Back then, Poppa (my paternal grandfather) would count the eggs before-hand and make the kids keep hunting until they were all accounted for.
By my childhood, it had evolved to the point of being our primary family reunion. It still is today. It marks the debut of all the new babies. It is also the first time tha family gets a look at the new wives and husbands to join the family. And that's not for the faint of heart! My aunts still have a wicked sense of humor.
The family has grown so that Easter might see over a hundred grownups. It's not unusual to have a thousand eggs hidden for the big hunt. Of course, only a small percentage are real eggs. Most "eggs" are the plastic kind that will hold jelly beans and money. One innovation that someone came up with is marking the boiled eggs prior to dying so that it will say something like, "Collect 25 cents from Uncle Don." So after the hunt, a mom will point out one of us, then the child will approach offering the egg as proof that we owe them some money. We, of course, will make a big deal out of being extorted out of our hard earned change. It's a fun way of teaching the young ones who us older guys are.
About twenty five years ago, the venue was changed from the old homestead to Mom and Dad's farm. Dad had a brand new barn, an all metal, insulated, plumbed building. It had a finished concrete floor that, after being triple sealed, turned out perfect for dancing and family gatherings. We had about six acres next to the house that would make a perfect field for the hunt.
There was a problem, though. That field served as a kind of nursery/hospital. Since it was so close to the house, cattle that needed special care were put in it for observation. Mom and Dad needed to partition off a couple of acres so it would be "clean" for the hunt. There was not enough time to build a proper fence, so they purchased the materials for an electric fence. The set up was quick, it took about half a day. Mother, ever the humane care-taker, decided that the cows needed a visual cue so they had a fair chance at not getting shocked. She got some red ribbon and tied flags to the wire at several intervals along the two hundred yard length. When everything was ready, they flipped the switch and watched. The flag thing didn't work. Cows are smarter than we imagine and are naturally curious. One heifer thought the flags might be something edible. My parents tried shooing them away, but they came right back. Mother related the story to me over the phone. She said, "She tried to eat the ribbon, and when she got to the knot where it was tied to the wire, a pulse hit her. A fine mist sprayed out of both ends of that heifer."
Happy Easter everyone.
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