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It’s time. The Easter Bunny is nearing Natchez and bringing dozens and dozens of candy-filled eggs for the many egg hunts scheduled over the next two weeks. Each Garden Club has one schedule. I’m sure every church in the Miss Lou area has a couple scheduled. Plus, don’t forget the many that your kids will be attending at school. It’s like Halloweek on steroids. (Yes, I said Halloweek. It’s not just one night a year anymore.)

Now, I don’t personally remember attending more than one egg hunt a year. It was held annually after church in the little backyard at my house. If it was raining, it was held in the living room. That was it! No multiple outfit changes. We didn’t even wear our easter dresses I don’t think. We changed out of those as soon as Mass was over. But, I always had a blast at those hunts and can remember trying my damnedest to get more eggs than Aimee. 

Yes, we did get dressed up and head to the Natchez Mall to have our picture taken with the Easter Bunny. No, I don’t remember being too terrified of him. I mean, he was bringing candy to the house in the next week or so. Why should I be?

I did attend several of the egg hunts over the past few years for the Natchez Garden Club and handled the pictures with the bunny portion of the day. I have to say. Those screaming kids that we had to bribe to stand within six feet of the bunny were my favorite. I loved those happy, colorful scenes we’d create with a pastel clad child red in the face with terror and tears. Such good memories for them to grow up with.

Nowadays, our family egg hunts still occur every year in the little backyard at my parent’s house; however, we host them for Aimee and mine’s children – the grandpups. We fill cheap plastic eggs with the mini Milk Bone treats and hide them in the border grass, in the clover patches, and in clay pots. Jackie always got into the treat finding pretty quickly, and Honey (Aimee’s only child) was more obsessed with the actual plastic egg than what was inside.

Once my Jo came along, the hunts took on a different form. She is the most competitive yet lazy hound dog I’ve ever seen. That nose can find every egg from here to Tupelo, crack the plastic in one bite, and remove the bone in a swoop of the tongue. Then, she’s on to the next one. We had to start hiding them a little better for her and give her a private section of the yard to hunt. Otherwise, Jackie and Honey would just be onto the second find of the morning, and Jo would have finished the rest of them. 

So, dress up those kiddos and pick out an egg hunt or two to attend. We’ll be preparing for our one hunt of the year for the Beagles and Boykin on Hummingbird Lane.