As a kid, one of the joys of Easter was discovering the many and varied items hiding in our Easter Baskets. Sure, the Easter eggs were fun to make and to find, but as I didn’t much care for hard-boiled eggs, after all the eggs were found, the thrill of the hunt dissipated quickly.

The thrill of the basket, on the other hand, meant that there would be goodies and treats and small little items that could be enjoyed slowly, one by one. I usually elected my absolute favorites to be savored last. There was a random quality to the treasured trinkets and candies that enhanced the exciting sense of “discovery”. I would experience the same thrill each Christmas. After the larger gifts, which often reflected things that we had specifically asked Santa for, the biggest thrill was the in the stockings. Stockings had things you liked, that you enjoyed, that you didn’t ask for but got anyway.

Perhaps it’s the idea that both of these things, the basket and the stocking, being oddly-shaped containers, could and would hold anything. Anything could be in them! Anything! For no matter how silly or small the item, its inclusion in the Easter basket automatically deemed it as special. Among all the things an Easter basket can hold, what they hold first and foremost is the mysterious allure of surprise.

Years later, not much has changed. Even though the family is older, and we no longer get together to color and hide eggs, our family holds firmly to the tradition of creating an Easter basket for each other. It is of course the wisdom of growing older that helps us to understand that it is the little things in life that mean so much.

So when I found out that I could create my own Easter Basket at The English Tea Store and fill it with a random assortment of teas, accessories and chocolates, my mind raced with the possibilities with the unfettered glee of a nine-year old child! I also realized that a selection of tea and English candies probably excites me more than the rest of my family. In the two times I traveled through England, I had made a habit of trying out all the candy bars and candies that we couldn’t get here in the States every day that I was there. Even now, visions of Revels, Lion Bars, Wine gums, Maltesers are dancing in my head. I may have to simply create my own Easter basket and if they are lucky, I will share the spoils with my friends and family. Either way the thrill of discovery and the joy that comes from appreciating the little things in Life is most certainly alive this Easter season.

Madam Potts’ blog, Mad Pots of Tea!

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