DON’T BE LATE. There was a life lesson at no charge, Saturday morning at the annual Easter Egg hunt in the Nashville City Park.
I got there about 20 minutes early, and there were already lots of moms, dads and kiddies happily waiting for the action. Some were in costume. Last-day-of-March weather was mighty nice. It was a splendid day for an egg hunt.
At the advertised time, 10 a.m. straight up, Parks and Recreation Director Mark Dale got on the sound system and told the kids to go find the eggs. And they did. Squealing and having a big time. From behind the fence (mostly), Moms and dads and grandparents beamed at the pleasure of the little ones.
It wasn’t hard for the kids to find eggs. On the four adjoining fields of the youth baseball complex several thousand pastel-colored plastical eggs had been slung about. There was no place to hide them except under blades of well-trimmed outfield grass.
The kids rushed out and the hidden eggs didn’t remain unclaimed for long. I’m guessing the last egg was found by about 10:15.
There were still some kids racing around on some of the fields when I took my leave of the gaiety. I walked to my buggy and drove carefully out of the park. Carefully, because there were some tardy moms and dads and kids walking up to the fields.
Even at the entrance to the park I had to wait for numerous vehicles to turn in and speed off toward the fields. By now it was about 10:20.
“Wow,” I said rhetorically to the late arrivals, “By the time you get parked and walk to the headquarters area of the complex all of the eggs will be gone.”
Some parents just can’t get anyplace place on time, and it is a message which is unfortunately translated to their kids. There’s no need to get to school on time. Or to the job. It’s not important, is it?
The park director said that as he was cleaning up at about 11, a mom drove up with a passel of kids. The eggs were all gone and the kids were disappointed. Mom could not believe she’d missed the whole thing.
When an event says it will begin at 10, don’t arrive at 10:15 and expect to participate fully.
End of sermon.
Now, I remember some previous egg hunts in Nashville. In the 1970s the Nashville Jaycees and Jaycettes put on a couple of egg hunts. We hardboiled and dyed 1,000 donated eggs. The county judge let grass grow up on the courthouse lawn for more than a week so there would be places to hide the eggs.
You can’t imagine what 1,000 eggs looks like! I can’t remember where we did all the boiling, but I do remember that the 999th egg wasn’t dyed nearly as carefully or artistically as the 3rd one was.
The kids lined the sidewalk and on a signal they swarmed the courthouse grounds looking for those eggs.
I believe there were prizes and some refreshments, and afterward the clubs patted themselves on the back for doing a nice community project.
On Monday morning, the judge had his groundskeeper out early on the riding mower.
A rainbow of colored eggshells flew out from underneath the mower. It spewed them continuously as the mower made its way around the courthouse. You could smell hardboiled eggs for blocks.
I never said that the kids were REAL GOOD Easter Egg hunters!
And thanks to Kids Dental Center and Dr. Brown for sponsoring the city park event.
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. One of the things I love about warmer months is the appearance of fireflies. A decade or so ago they were in my backyard in uncountable numbers. Now, I get excited when I see just one or two.
I didn’t know that fireflies flash differently in the east and west of America.
According to “Smithsonian” magazine only the male firefly flashes in the east. He does it while in flight, and the reason he flashes is to notify females of his availability. “Here I am, ladies.” So, obviously ours are the eastern variety.
Out west, only the female flashes. She does it weakly and while she’s on the ground. I’m guessing that this is some sort of plan she has for only a low level notification of her availability. “I think I’ve got a headache tonight, boys.” Don’t mean to get things stirred up, it’s just my disgusting imagination.
Some perfesser at a hoitsy-toitsy natural museum says that there is a sort of Continental Divide between the varieties of fireflies.
ANOTHER Animal Crackers item: (and I realize you’re probably tired of this subject, but ….) I’ve got bluebirds again. The male is smaller than the female, and he is very, very, very blue.
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THINGS I LEARNED from opening email: If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive, try missing a couple of payments.
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WORD GAMES. The twins: This and That. They’re not specific about anything.
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HE SAID: “It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.” Confucius, Chinese teacher
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SHE SAID: “Studying whether there’s life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there’s something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. That’s something that is almost part of being human, and I’m certain that will continue.” Sally Ride, astronaut and first American woman in space
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
