Woke up this morning before the Little Ditchman, for a change. Evidently yesterday's lack of a nap caught up with her, dear thing. The Easter Bunny came and hid the eggs after he mowed the lawn (we were having guests). We set the little girl in front of the television to keep her distracted and I came in after "mowing the lawn" to tell her, "I think I saw the Easter Bunny hiding some eggs outside!" She palmed my face, pushed it away and chided, "Little Einsteins countdown."

Well.

It was a fine spring Sunday of God's whole glory in our little backyard. Had ham with some family and friends and a pleasant white sangria, which Matt drank out of a mason jar. These are the jars I use for barbecue sauce, but are on the glassware shelf for decoration, really. "Makes it taste like summer!" he proclaimed. Wish I'd thought of it.

Topped off the day with a relaxing game of Bocci. Bocci! The old man's game! The game of life! After the first few tosses of the stone spheres down the court, the Little Ditchman came out to join in. She happily picked them up and brought them back, and the balls were ruled 'still in play' according to local Ditchman game regulations (shooting Volo is disallowed, for example.) There was no talking her out of it, of course. You'd have a perfect throw, inches from the pallino, and then the two-year-old would go over and move the balls, thus changing your game standing and score in one random hazard. The metaphor was recognized immediately. Bocce is life. And then you have kids. No wonder it's an old man's game.

The game ended in a tie, or something. The rest of the weekend was spent trying to get some rest, and I was able to catch the first few episodes of John Adams on HBO, which was seriously great. I got the sense that, like United 93, this is a film of historically accurate proportions and one which every American should see. It's also pretty moving emotionally, well-photographed, well-acted, and with some stunning sets and skillfully subtle effects mattes that make you feel like you're really there. It's worth purchasing when it comes out, and will be shown in high school classrooms for years to come. Think Band of Brothers with the American Revolution. It's that good.

Also woke up this morning to find I was going to be late to work. Had a hundred things to take care of that I'd completely forgotten about. (Typical contractor.) Headed out the door and down my street to find this:


Well, God bless the City of Oceanside Dept. of Public Works! I ran around to see the fist of Godzilla breaking through the soil, but alas, I must've missed it. Look how good these guys can stand around!


Just kidding. I'm glad they're there.

Spring sunshine brings the best out of everyone.


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