A young girl picks up a trail of Easter Eggs leading to the doors of The Vermont Country Store. Painted by our inhouse artist, Donnel Barnum.
A Trail of Easter Eggs, painted by our inhouse artist, Donnel Barnum.

Ahhh…spring! The early pops of color are a welcome respite from the wintry grays and browns in view across our meadow. You might suppose the brightest springtime shades belong to red-breasted robins or sunny daffodils making their debut, but our children know better. Come Easter morning, the vibrant plastic eggs dotting the yard—lending cheerful color to crusty patches of snow—signal spring’s arrival for them.

Because we live in Vermont and depending on when Easter falls each year, those crusty patches of snow could be towering piles or melting puddles—both pose unique challenges when it comes to hiding eggs.

Bright white snow makes it easier for the littlest ones to spy an egg and collect it on their own. A sodden lawn, free of snow, offers many more hiding possibilities: wedged in the crevices of a stone wall, tucked behind a bush, nestled in the corner of a windowsill. Older kids help, scouring the obvious hiding places and nudging the youngest ones in the right direction. Their squeals of delight let us know we did our job well.

Sometimes, we hid the eggs too well, and an egg or two would get overlooked. This led to midsummer surprises: happy laughter when an egg is found amongst sprouting vegetables in the garden or discovered by the lawn mower with a sharp crack and spray of jolly confetti across the lawn.

One egg had remained hidden for years; its bright color bleached away completely. This inspired us to stash a few non-perishable treasures in a couple of eggs each year, hiding them especially well to create a magical time capsule for a lucky child to discover in years to come.

After all, the best and sweetest things in life are worth waiting for.

Cabot, Eliot, Gardner, and Lyman

Proprietors of The Vermont Country Store