Trails & treasure

 I love the way the autumn light stretches its long arms into my apartment. In the morning the sun reaches and touches forgotten places, bringing warmth.

Trails of light. Maybe that's what gave me the idea. Then there was the brightly flowering buttercup tree that I found after pine-coning.
I was wondering how to introduce the little one to her first treasure hunt. Every year at Easter I used to do one for my other granddaughter, until she grew too old. Now, at 3 1/2, I thought Mira might be ready to begin. She was away at Easter, but now that she was back, it was time to start.

'Find something yellow under a cushion': that was the first clue. Cushions flew like sea spray as she tried every one, and then under the very last cushion: a yellow flower.
'Now find more of them, and follow the trail.' Trail is a new word, but it was quickly learned. She ran from one flower to the other, picking them up, dropping them, and picking them up again.

 The trail actually lead out on to the balcony, through the living room, down the hall and into my bedroom wardrobe - but I brought the yellow parcel out again to photograph it for you. Clue: 'the treasure is the same colour as the flowers.' Squeals of delight, and eager unwrapping.

And here it is - the Easter gift. We don't do sugary stuff for our little ones, so I found a book.
It was a hit. We sat down to read. Little Miss Sunshine visits the King of Misery, where she is arrested for breaking the rules: no smiling, no laughter, no chuckles and no giggles. But she takes a marker pen and rewrites the rules. With a little practice, the King of Misery learns new habits and his Kingdom becomes the Kingdom of Laughter.
We certainly had plenty of chuckles, giggles, smiles and laughs as we sat down and read together. And we didn't get arrested! The Easter treasure hunt tradition is now launched. Each year the clues will get harder, until they end up as rhyming couplets. Years of fun lie ahead.