a happy atheist easter
Drizzle came down steadily as we made our way into the fog on a familiar route. We were hiking Echo Mountain, the trail behind our old house in Altadena that we used to do twice a week. I know that trail better than any trail… every turn and hill and switchback and even where certain plants bloomed. We were supposed to go with Ro, but the poor thing has been exhausting herself working like a madwoman on research, wedding, moving, in addition to the daily stresses of being an OCD. She slept through her alarm and decided she needed to sleep. So after our hike, we met Ro at a local coffeehouse to chat and juice ourselves up. It’s important to get QT with your pals.
When we arrived at Melinda’s house, the door swung open with Kevin and Thomas shouting out of unison, “Jennifer! Germany!” Kevin gave me a big hug and Thomas played coy. Aaron was getting BBQ from the doctor (Dr. Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas BBQ). We enjoyed an energetic lunch and then moved to the backyard for Easter projects.
kevin shows me the trambambompoline
the easter eggs that survived
I had never dyed easter eggs before. Some folks were raised with religion, some without. I was raised in a Chinese fire drill, so no time for any religion to screw up my ability to think critically. But Melinda really embraces the pagan side of holidays and exclaimed, “JenJen! I can’t believe you never dyed easter eggs! Come on then!” I love my atheist friends. It was entertaining to watch the boys dye their eggs and at the same time amazing to see how Melinda and Aaron dealt with the kids’ issues. Some are just typical of any little boys, some are specific to autism, some are probably because we were dealing with pretty colors. My own OCD self had to cringe in silence while the boys randomly mixed dye colors and paints. That’s just me, though. Like to keep colors pure and separate and pretty.
We got to see Melinda and Aaron’s work on the pirate theme party for Kevin’s birthday next week. They built a pirate ship for the kids! They created a cool puzzle/adventure for the party which is really like a Caltech Ditch Day stack for elementary schoolers. Talk about the best parents ever! No one has the energy and creativity that Aaron and Melinda do. They are incredible. Afterward, we had an easter egg hunt, cake and cupcakes, and then we had to say goodbye.
part of the treasure map for the party – a homemade jigsaw puzzle map!
Next stop – Daisy’s house. Daisy lives with Sam and Dan. She’s the second small dog in the world that I really adore. She acts like Kaweah, except she’s way smarter and about one fifth the size. For dinner, we all had sushi on the brain and drove to Ai.
softshell crab handrolls, spicy scallop and tuna cut roll, eel and avocado cut roll
sashimi deluxe deliciousness
dan and sam are unaware of just how much food we have to finish
We had so much to talk about that the conversation far outlasted our ability to stuff ourselves with sushi. The natural chaser for sushi is of course:
ice cream – from cold stone creamery
Back at Sam and Dan’s place, we were thinking of playing a game, but instead wound up sitting about talking and playing with Daisy. She liked the rubby tummy, but bored of our conversation and got sleepy.
just so sleepy
I’m feeling sleepy myself, now… So many good people. A comforting feeling to have friends I love and admire. Just wish they weren’t so far away.
