Easter evolution

So, here it is Easter! I remember being so excited for Easter as a kid because there would be a basket of sweets and a gift or two perhaps. Plus the fun of looking for eggs we had carefully dyed to unrecognizable shades trying to get those vivid Crayola colors on the box. Ah, youth.

The holiday sort of dropped from my importance radar when the baskets stopped and I was more interested in eating eggs than searching for them. That is until college. Easter was one of those holidays that presented a connundrum for those of us away from home. It wasn't so big that you had better make it home to be with your family, but big enough you felt odd doing your laundry alone. My friends developed an idea one year. Pot luck easter brunch and a video scavenger hunt. Now the food was good (Cory introduced us to Idaho Egg Pie) and the hunt was good (Cody and Tanya laid a challenging course), but we felt there was more. Each year thereafter we came back together and added to our tradition a bit more. Brunch evolved from pot-luck to just Cory makes Idaho Egg Pie. The hunt evolved as a couple of us rotated (briefly) through the roles of planners and our locations shifted from the secure, easy streets of Ft. Collins to the less predictable Chicago terraine. We even ditched the hunt for a while as we were certain plastic, clue eggs would never stay where they were hidden and opted for a White-Elephant style basket exchange. That was an interesting year or two. Imagine giving an Easter basket that is supposed to be a suprise. It essentially results in a row of trash bags in the livingroom while we eat Idaho Egg Pie. Very festive.

Our hunts were resurrected and Tanya and Cody continued to impress us. We had a tradition. These things always change, end, evolve, etc. Before so many of us had left the Windy City we had already agreed that it was time to let some of it go. It was tough. The thrill of developing a tradition with friends is great, but we have seem also how they can become difficult too. We have enjoyed many years together, and continue to stay close. Who is to say what traditions will emerge now that we are in all 4 time zones? I started calling my family every Sun when I moved away in 2000, just to stay close and have consistency. Maybe I'll add some more numbers to that list. Maybe we will return to Vegas in a year. Maybe we will continue to converge on Estes to wear kilts every Sept. Who knows? We grow, we change, we continue to care about each other.

This year I am in Hollywood. I went out to eat this morning with some birds of my feather, if you will. Tonight I will be joining my former cast from Marriage of Heave and Hell for a post run cast party. Mexican food in Burbank. It's not the same as skipping races across the oval at CSU, but it will have to do this year. I am about to make some of those calls too.

Have some Idaho Egg Pie for me friends!