The Hunt

I suppose the family Easter egg hunt started from the time Josh and I were old enough to understand the concept of hunting eggs, so it has been going on a long time. And somehow, instead of the tradition phasing out as the Murphy children grew older, the competition only became more intense.

For an untold number of years (I used to remember the exact number) I won every hunt. I used to think this was due to my skill as a superior egg hunter, but the following years have taught me that it might have been due to the fact that the boys had just not yet reached their full potential, because I am on a losing streak.

Saturday night we would dye eggs with mom (about 2 dozen). Sunday after lunch we would empty our baskets of candy and wait expectantly while Dad hid all the eggs in the backyard. When all the eggs were hidden, we took our places at various exits to the house, waiting for the word, "GO!" At that moment, any passerby would see 4 grown children tearing around the yard in a desperate attempt to find as many eggs as possible. Toward the end, Dad would start tallying up the number of eggs that had been found, and when we were really having trouble finding the last ones, he would make up clues (very often clues that rhymed) to help us along.

Some particular memories I have are of one Easter when it was raining. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to have the hunt, but moved it indoors, and it was a lot of fun because there were no expected hiding places. I don't remember if this was the same year or not, but once when it rained, Dad hid the same number of eggs in each of our bedrooms, and the contest was to see who could find their eggs the fastest. At that point in time, our cat Pepper was still living and had her litter box in a corner of my room. As I was searching, I eyed the litter box, and thought, "Surely not," but I checked with the pooper scooper just to make sure, and sure enough, I found an egg buried there. So gross.

Another memory involving eggs shows how tortured I was by my younger brothers (namely Jesse and Judson). I used to rollerblade for hours in our neighbor's driveway and was doing so one Easter afternoon when I found myself being pelted with egg yolks. I guess the boys ate the whites of the hardboiled eggs and couldn't think of any other way to dispose of the yolks.

Now that I am married to a full-time minister, we are not able to go home for Easter, but I trust that tomorrow afternoon the fun will continue, and I look forward to hearing the results.



2005-My first Easter married (Dana and I still walked to church, though.)



2005-The thrill of the chase






2005-To the winner belongs the spoils



2006-Ella's on the way! KJ was being ordained in Sylacauga that night, so there was no time for the hunt. I was secretly glad because I wouldn't have been able to run, and that would have lowered my chances for winning.





2007-Rebel Rhett Butler (who is no longer with us) always took part in the hunt. He was pretty good at sniffing out the eggs and often ended up with pastel colors on his tongue.