The Town Easter Egg Hunt

Began my day with Yogi the Easter Bear while eating breakfast and getting my laundry together. Yogi's in big trouble after he eats all the candy intended for Jellystone's Easter Jamboree. Hoping to avoid being sent to the Siberian Zoo, he and Boo-Boo search for the real Easter Bunny to replace the candy. Two extremely strange men who are obsessed with plastic are also after the Easter Bunny and the magical Easter Chicken. They want their plastic eggs to be the only ones kids find in their baskets! Yogi and Boo-Boo have to out-run them and get to Jellystone, before the Park Commissioner fires Ranger Smith.

Finally got the laundry done after Yogi ended. At least it wasn't busy when I got in this morning. By the time people started to show up, my load was almost done. Maybe it's just as well I waited. I didn't have a huge load anyway. I was in and out in less than an hour. Mostly spent the time working on story notes and half-listening to fishing shows.

As soon as I finished organizing the clothes, I went right back out again. I wanted to return those movies to the Oaklyn Library and do a little more volunteering. I wasn't going to take anything else out...but they'd just gotten in Justice League and The Shape of Water. Also found Midnight Lace, a thriller from the 60's with Doris Day and Rex Harrison.

I saw a sign for Oaklyn's town Easter egg hunt on my way to and from the laundromat. The local egg hunt takes place at Veteran's Memorial Park next-door. Since I was already there, I joined the crowds. The kids were so funny! Jumping up and down, chasing each other, wrestling with each other. Two little girls stomped in the remaining snow next to Charlie's driveway. Others showed off egg-holders that ranged from plastic buckets to soft character-shaped containers to bright-colored tote bags to wicker baskets trimmed with tulle and ribbons.

In all honesty, the actual hunt didn't take that long. Four areas of hay were roped off in the front end of the park for four groups - toddlers, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12. The kids were so hyped, it took them less than ten minutes - for the older kids, maybe less than five - to find all the eggs. They were so cute, especially the really little guys. I went between hay patches, checking out all the action.

I was feeling a bit hyped up myself after all that. Besides, it was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and a little chilly, once again probably in the upper 40's-lower 50's. It was too nice to spend the whole day inside, as I originally planned. I followed the crowds who weren't jumping into their cars back down to West Clinton Avenue. Had a quick lunch of cheese and mushroom pizza and a can of Pepsi with the retro 80's label outside at the picnic tables. (I had to get that Pepsi. That was the label I remember seeing for most of my childhood.)

Waved "hi" to the kid who is the grandson of my late Uncle Ken's girlfriend. He's getting so big! He has to be a teenager now. He was talking to a couple other young teens at the bench behind me.

Went for a short stroll around the neighborhood to walk off the pizza and soda. More than three-quarters of the snow is gone, especially from areas that get a lot of sun. It doesn't seem to have effected the local plant life. Flowers are still on the verge of blooming; new green grass is popping up even faster now. Trees show tiny brown buds, waiting for the warm weather next week to sprout. Most houses have either decorated for Easter, with pastel wooden or plastic eggs and bunnies and wreaths awash in fabric flowers, or at least put up banners representing spring.

Decided to try something a little different when I got home. There's recipes on the back of the bag of corn meal I bought yesterday for variations on corn bread and muffins. I decided to try the honey corn muffins. Basically, sweeter corn muffins, with more sugar and honey. I can't remember the last time I had corn muffins. Yum. Actually, the next time I do these, I might even cut down on the sugar slightly. The honey may have been sweet enough.

Ran the Max & Ruby Easter episodes as I worked. "Max's Chocolate Chicken" is the prize for gathering the most eggs. Ruby may have found the eggs, but that doesn't mean she gets the chicken. "Ruby's Beauty Shop" has Ruby and Louise using Max as a client in their new "salon." Max prefers their hair dye in wild colors to wigs and makeup. "Max Drives Away" when he wants ice cream for breakfast. Ruby follows him to Grandma's and back.

"Ruby's Easter Bonnet" may be the most creative at the Bunny Scouts Bonnet Competition, but Max's jumping frog gives it that something extra. Ruby and Louise just want Max to put their Easter eggs into a basket, but he'd rather use them for "Max's Easter Parade." "Max and the Easter Bunny" takes him to the Bunny Scouts' own Easter egg hunt. They think they're finding a lot of the same eggs...but it's really just Max hiding them after they find them.

Worked on my story for a few hours after the muffins came out of the oven. The soldiers of Palpatine's army, dressed in white and black armor, find Leia, Saw, and Obi-Wan together and arrest them for conspiracy against the crown and for breaking Han out of the tower. Jyn brings down one of those circular chandeliers on them and helps Leia escape while Obi-Wan gets the cart together and Saw holds them off. Jyn has friends near the wharf who might be able to help them...

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Had baked chicken legs with herbs (which I started earlier) with spinach salad and cucumber slices and home-made honey dressing. This came out pretty well, too. You can never go wrong with simple chicken.

Did one more Easter special while I ate. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown has the gang getting ready for one of the major holidays of the spring. Sally wants new shoes, while Snoopy looks for a bird house for Woodstock. Peppermint Patty attempts to teach Marcie to color eggs, but she does everything you can do to an egg but hard-boil them. Lucy's more interested in finding her own eggs. Don't bother with all that fuss, says Linus. The Easter Beagle will do that. Sally is skeptical after the Great Pumpkin incident at Halloween, but Snoopy knows how to help prove Linus right, and get a dig in on his sister, too.

Finished the night after a shower with Justice League. Diana "Wonder Woman" Prince (Gail Godot) and Bruce "Batman" Wayne (Ben Affleck) are still fighting crime in and around Gotham and Metropolis. They both get a big shake-up when Diana's mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielson) reveals that the wave of mourning over Superman's (Henry Cavill) death has released Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), an alien soldier, and his bug army once the "Mother Box" is reactivated. There's three such boxes at the Amazon's island, the underwater home of the Atlanteans, and a secret location. While Arthur "Aquaman" Curry (Jason Momoa) joins the fight after Atlantis is attacked, others prove harder sells. Bruce does manage to convince lightning-fast college student Barry "The Flash" Allen (Ezra Miller) to join pretty quickly. Diana has a harder time with former athlete Victor "Cyborg" Stone (Ray Fisher), who is still getting used to his cybernetic body. He finally comes around when his father (Joe Morton) is kidnapped. After rescuing the trapped scientists, Bruce is convinced they need even more power and uses the Mother Box to resurrect Superman. After reuniting with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) restores his memories, he's ready to help the others stop Steppenwolf from destroying all the Earth and rebuilding it in his image.

I'm still wondering what all the fuss was about. I thought this was a lot of fun. Ok, so we don't really get to see that much of Cyborg, and the Flash is mostly used for comic relief. (But he always was in the cartoons.) Steppenwolf could have been a little better developed, too. (He wants to reshape the Earth in his image?) And yeah, the tons and tons of CGI in the action sequences is still a bit much. On the other hand, Godot and Cavill may have been even better here than in their individual films, and Affleck's Batman is an improvement over Batman vs Superman. And I absolutely loved Momoa as the hard-drinking Aquaman, one of my favorite superheroes when I was a kid.

It's too bad this is currently bombing at the box office and DC has already called off a sequel. While not perfect, it's leaps and bounds over DC's previous group movies Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad. If nothing else, I'm now really looking forward to that Aquaman movie that's supposed to come out around Christmas. If you're a fan of the DC Universe or the characters, you might want to give this one a look.