The arrival of Easter Sunday can mean but one thing, the arrival of the Easter egg. For me Easter has always been a most important time of the year, not just because of the holiday but it is a time of the year when I have always felt alive. Coming out of winter and feeling the strengthening sunlight on my skin, the vivid greens, yellows and blue skies of the landscape have always made me feel uplifted after the winter months. Also not enjoying summer temperatures, I find this time of the year a perfect time of the year for me weather-wise. Many Easters of my childhood were spent on Holy Island where my parents, sometimes with friends, would either stay at the Northumberland Arms (Now the Ship Hotel) or take a cottage for a week or so. Consequently my earliest memories of Easter are islands, sea, sand, sun and then on Easter Sunday opening eggs and that made it all special. Later in life my mother bought a static caravan in Rothbury and Easter was usually the first long stay in the Coquet Valley, which down the decades had the most profound effect on my thinking and of whom I am. The Coquet Valley is home, and to a small part this can be as a result of my enjoying Easter in the spring sunshine up there. As I open my Lindt Easter Egg today it will take me back to the rippling river Coquet on a warm April of my childhood. Both are a pleasure to be enjoyed.
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