Kids grow up... and they outgrow things. They're better at the Art of Discard than I happen to be when that happens. Especially during the Holidays, I was much more indulgent than usual. Which means that I went way overboard spoiling The G-Kid Force Seasonally, Easter was no exception. Imagine that! *Bwahahahahaha!*
Perhaps most Parents would buy or create an Easter Basket and call it a day, mebbe buy that special outfit for Church. And when it comes to the Easter Egg Hunt, perhaps they would hide a couple dozen or less of those Plastic Eggs you put treats inside of. Their Kiddos would probably be done hunting Eggs in a flash because there were so few hidden.
It would take The Force longer just counting our enormous Plastic Egg cache beforehand, to ensure we knew how many we had and would be hidden, than most other Kiddos probably spent on the entire Hunt! They could be well groomed as Accountants or Auditors by the time they outgrew our Mathematical Process preceding the actual Hunt! *LOL* The Inventory was just that convoluted, so that we wouldn't be finding Plastic Eggs not found from previous Easters, for years to come!
Okay, so that actually happened some years anyway, especially if we got the Uncles, Great-Uncles and Grandpa involved in hiding them. The Menfolk would often forget these were Children hunting, not Marine Corp. Trackers! There are probably still missing Plastic Eggs with petrified Candies and Chocolate in them at the Historic Old Homestead somewhere! This is why we never hid our Hard Boiled Eggs, that would have gotten funky odiferous fast! *Smiles*
Suffice to say that as The G-Kid Force grew up and began to outgrow the Egg Hunt part of Easter, my stash of Plastic Eggs didn't dwindle. We'd hide less of them at their request, since they weren't as into it with each passing Season, but I never did the Seasonal Purging of them. Nostalgically perhaps, I just had held onto most of them, until this year. With the Young Prince now gone, I doubted Princess T would want to indulge me in Egg Hunting at all?
Like me, she doesn't even eat Chocolate, so mostly we bought that for the Guys to consume. She was more into The Thrill Of The Hunt like Gramma is. Once all the Eggs were Found and contents dumped, she pretty much was done with it all. Now that The Man has Diabetes, we try not to tempt him with forbidden sweets too much. And the Brother who could be inclined to raid a Treat Stash is now gone, so it would never get eaten.
I still get Nostalgic about the Epic Plastic Egg Hunts of yesteryear. The ones our now Adult Children participated in... and the ones The G-Kid Force participated in. Those were Fun times and Memorable Easters, usually done when we got Home from Easter Sunrise Services at Church. Easter would take pretty much the whole day to Celebrate back then, now, not so much.
Of coarse here at New Villa Boheme' the whole Appeal of an Epic Egg Hunt was lost due to no longer having Acreage. I mean, there's only so many hiding places one can find in a small back yard here. But since this house is stupid large, we brought The Hunt inside here. But, that's just not quite the same as Hunting in a gloriously large overgrown Garden, with numerous Outbuildings, on a Sunny Spring day.
And this year I decided to do the Seasonal Purging of the Plastic Eggs and bag the majority of them up for the Showroom's Easter Displays. We've done it with their Toy Collections and somehow that wasn't as bittersweet as doing it with Seasonal representations of distinctive Memories of Childhood Holidays. I kept just a few, in case this is the last Easter she feels the Need to do it for Old Time's Sake, but I doubt it.
I am thinking that perhaps, if she agrees to do it at all, it will be more for me than for herself. And it would be... because I'm the more Nostalgic of us all. I don't think in your Youth you have reason to be very Nostalgic yet. *Smiles* The Man isn't prone to Nostalgia, he's a very In The Moment kind of Being and transitions well in the Present and towards the Future being different than the Past.
I don't... in fact, I've been known to hold on far too long to those Nostalgic things that have Memories attached to them and thus I get attached to the Objects of those Memories. Letting Go of the Objects and just keeping the Memories is more of a Process for me. Mostly because without the Object triggering the Memory, I don't usually Remember at all anymore. So in a way the Memory sometimes gets Lost along with the Letting Go of said Objects for me.
Sometimes when I look thru the Photo Archives I'm Reminded of Beautiful Memories that just got Archived along with the Imagery. That's why I take a lot of pictures of everything actually, preservation of Memories frozen in Time is handy for me! *Winks* Sometimes I would otherwise completely Forget what was and how it was, I wouldn't be able to dredge it up sufficiently from the Data Bank that is my Mind. I'm amazed when people can without prompts, Remember things I'd completely Forgotten about.
When Family and Old Friends Share a distinct Memory that is Fresh for them, often I cannot Recall it at all, I have to take their Word for it. I don't think it's Old Timers setting in so much, as I've never been one to have those Fresh Recollections without a prompt Visually reminding me and taking me back. It's actually very Odd what I Remember from the Past or who I Remember. Makes me Wonder how Memory actually works to make some things, some situations, some people, Unforgettable?
For me, if something remains tangible in the way of an Image or an Item then I can easily Recall, otherwise, it's likely to just be Lost over Time. Perhaps that is Why I've always been a Human Magpie, I dunno? And some Seasonal items will be kept of coarse for Decoration, even after all Child Raising is done. I've held onto my Decorative Wooden Eggs and some Vintage Easter Decor that will likely always be put out at Easter time.
Decorating for each Holiday and Holy Day is still something I always do, perhaps not to the degree I used to do it though. We always have our Altar set up for each Holiday and Holy Day, even if not much else gets Decorated like it used to. I do recall when I Decorated extensively every room of the Historic Old Homestead for every Seasonal Celebration. I don't do that here and I'm not even sure why I lack the Motivation to actually?
It could simply be due to The Aging Process, or it could be due to having a completely different Head Space here? I know I don't Feel the same here and getting back to Feeling like myself here has been unsuccessful so far. This still seems to be like an Exile of sorts from our Old Life, a Life that I thoroughly enjoyed and got interrupted and disrupted involuntarily in so many ways. So it's still transitional for me, and like I said, transitioning takes more Time for me to embrace fully.
I felt very Settled before and not at all Restless, here I would say Restless is an understatement, I Feel like I should be Moving On FROM here... all of the time. This seems very Temporary and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is, I just don't know when or where we'd Move On to? I just know IF we Stayed Put I'd be extremely Surprised though. Sometimes that is daunting... another Move... as you continue to Age and be less up to it! I don't relish having to Move again at all... and yet I LONG to more than I expected to.
And that's a Crazy Space to Hold... because I'm always contemplating, how much to Purge, how much to hold onto? What would be The Process if it comes Time and we know it and we must just pick up and Go again? Being closer to our 70's now and knowing how much Life has been accumulated in our Beloved Possessions makes it not so easy anymore at all. I got a LOT of stuff... and a LOT of it I don't really Want to part with but I might Need to some day.
Any of you Aging and reaching that Season of Life of Downsizing and doing The Purge know exactly what I'm talking about. In our Youths we all probably Traveled Light, at least we did. I'd have to confess that until I got much Older I didn't own a lot of stuff. I didn't stick around in any given place very long either. The Nomad Life was for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Wanderlust struck often and it's almost coming full circle in that it's happening again now. Only now I have a lot of shit to drag along to someplace New and that's an Ordeal my Friends!
Sometimes it Feels like a burden too... no matter how much Cool Stuff, Beloved Stuff, one has accumulated, to whom much is given, much is required. And I LIKE it all, the Environment of it, so there's THAT. Cramming it all into a smaller Space isn't possible without an Epic Purge tho', and IF we Moved On that would have to be considered. I consider it a LOT actually and why the Great Edit and Purge continues almost unabated.
And here's the Problem, I've become a very adept Hunter-Gatherer and I just can't STOP! It's True, I've tried to cease and desist, but the Urge is too strong and The Thrill of Hunting and Rescuing the Good Stuff is pleasurable. The Love of Old Stuff, is stronger than my Desire to chuck it all and go Simple, Minimalist enough to buy some tiny Historic Cottage and have Just Enough for that Space! I have many alternative thoughts about what would Work, could Work favorably... a Small Place but with a Big Barn! *LOL*
But that is in direct conflict with my stronger Desire to live in the City again in a location with a great Walk Score to everything that suits the Lifestyle I want to lead. *Le Sigh* Lifestyle... Location... that's too Important to ignore this time around! Having the Idyllic Home means nothing if it's in the wrong Location and doesn't support the Lifestyle you want to have... we found that out... HERE! The Historic Homestead had it ALL and that spoiled me I suppose, having everything I'd ever Need or Want... and then having to give it up... for all the Right Reasons... but... still...
I still drive by it, all of the time, way too much... because it Pleases me to see that it still Exists and we Sold it to the Right Person, who didn't tear it down and is lovingly Restoring it. Right thing to do... hard thing to do... we've had a lot of that in recent years and sometimes it weighs heavily upon me. Knowing you did the Right thing doesn't ease the sentiment that it was still Hard... and in so many ways... regretful. I'd do it all again of coarse to have the Right Outcome, but just sayin', still makes it bittersweet. Is still an ongoing Process that sometimes seems without End. Because Losing what is Loved, even if you managed to successfully Let Go, is something you never quite ever Get Over.
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Blessings, Love and Light from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
