Spring in Conejo

It's been a cool, relatively wet spring with pockets of beautiful weather, as on Mother's Day. Carolyn weaves arts & crafts through holidays and curriculum; the boys happily return the effort:
One tremendous gift of family life are the occasions - a calendar of events mostly unique to each family, adjoining the feast days of the church to give shape to days which, otherwise, run full-steam ahead on an economic logic at odds with human or divinely ordered time.

One thing I really anticipate in Switzerland is living in a setting where all these calendars (solar, harvest, theological, family, school) more or less powerfully align, at least formally.

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Beacon Hill honored Grandparents last Friday morning; we all descended.

Our boys only have one surviving grandpa and he is out-of-state, so our children joined other groups for interactive sessions. This great-grandma only spoke Spanish, so lots of cultural exchange going on here.

Michael at an unguarded moment during the assembly:

The Santa Monica Aquarium was a great find, as was Bay Cities Deli, where I found the most comprehensive selection of Italian imports,

such as freshly made Dove Cake (4 kinds!) for Easter. The prepackaged boxes, btw, seem to drop in quality much more so than, say, their Christmas counterpart, panetone.

Apparently only the English speaking world, for some historical glitch, uses the term, Easter, to mark the Resurrection of the Savior, apparently naming an ancient, pagan goddess (given the eggs and bunnies, is this surprising?). Some believers (eg at GRC) have switched to "Resurrection Day," but that just doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Prepared a crown roast of lamb this year, only catching the symbolism of the paschal lamb crowned as a mockery - seems tighter as a Good Friday ritual:

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We made a quick stop to the Conejo Valley Days fair, near the TO Library, for some rides, such as the ferris wheel:

and this stomach-churning (highest portable version of this ride), which our thrillseeker son loved. Nascar instincts. Fun linked to, on some level, feeling out-of-control, helpless and, ultimately, baiting death:

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Took the boys to a nearby breakfast joint run by Greeks - good quality food at decent prices. Can't think what our home life would be if M & J didn't enjoy food!

Then a rare hike up the TO hills, retracing steps taken 2 years ago. Michael wanted to play the storymaking game we played on the return journey, each person adding a line to a tale. Recycling memories & the value of repetition - even at 8.

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After a Sunday lunch in Santa Paula with a family from church, I led the children to the local river bed where they threw rocks and just got dirty.
The children of GRC seem less parentally managed, ie more willing to let them just go, explore, accepting the consequences. Given my exact opposite orientation, I think it's usually a healthy antidote. Then again, I quit college & left LA for L'Abri and didn't look back, not grasping the life-pattern I was disturbing.

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Ojai is a western CA town and valley, where Carolyn arranged a beautiful tenure celebration party at the Ranch House:The Japanese bridge leading to a bamboo shelter. Ojai is a tiny artist colony of sorts; local notable, John Nava, designed the large scale tapestries hung in Our Lady of Angels Cathedral downtown.

Bart's Books, an outdoor used bookstore, has become a favorite spot.

Overtaking an actual residence and grounds, the different sections surround the former kitchen where I found, appropriately, cookbooks:

such as, Rosa Beranbaum's Cake Bible.

So, our lives are full of events these days, including last night's final AWANA program. The dedication of the staff - over many years - is humbling and I see some of that volunteerism pouring into Beacon Hill, which has become, kinda, our AWANA? M & J were recognized, as every child is, but didn't receive ribbons or Baskin & Robbins certificates because this year, they basically just showed-up.

My childhood was not as specialized, my gifts - whatever they are - not as developed. There is a generation of us, now adults, holding jobs and also trying to figure out what we're good at, I suppose.