The Golden Egg

Growing up in Louisville, I went to an Easter Egg hunt here for several years. Every year, they hid the Golden Egg somewhere in the front yard. The prize was always something great- a bike with a radio on the handlebars one year.  Like I’d ever seen that before. So one year- 1966- I found the Golden Egg.  I remember walking up to the very bush marked in red below. Initially, I thought it was a bird.  My mom said, “That’s the Golden Egg!” Score.

There it was, golden nirvana. I took it to the manager, a dude named Mr. Davidson. As 1966 was also the year of the new TV show Batman, I had already made the astute observation that Mr. Davidson closely resembled Cesar Romero. Anyway, I took the Golden Egg to Mr. Davidson, sizzling with excitement.  This is my Christmas Story moment, I suppose. I stood there waiting for the big prize.  And do you know what it was? A huge coconut cake in the shape of a lamb.  Huge.  I hated coconut then, and I hate it now. That cake sat in the freezer for months.

Mr. Davidson, wherever you are…I still want that radio.