Volley

Ball.

The Husband and I began recreational coed volleyball tonight. When we first arrived, the coach lady told us about a tourney we could play in as a team in late June. I thought, "You may take that back when you see me try to play."

To my great surprise, I was not the worst player there. Of course, the coach lady gave me key pointers at the very beginning, while we all hit the ball around a bit to warm up. Then we played many games. I got it over the net sometimes. Wild.

It was an interesting demographic swatch. All ages--teens (all girls) to me & G, 30 each, up to people in late 40s/50s/early 60s. I would say that 70% of the players were Asian-American, specifically Chinese. I wondered why. Smatters of Chinese language broke out here and there, which was cool. Is volleyball popular among Asians or Asian-Americans?

This just in: It seems that volleyball has long been popular both in China, where it was introduced by missionaries, and in Chinatowns across the US.

Dreamscape

I am at a Tim Horton's with friends at night. I think we are in Texas, or western PA. Jackie and the others get a table while I place my order. I choose both oatmeal and an almond croissant because almonds lower the glycemic index of the pastry. It comes to $17.95, which I think is steep, but I hand the cashier a twenty. She hands me my change. There is a check for $500 shuffled in it. The check is made out to the "Jesus Love Association" or something like that. I realize that this Tim Horton's is also an evangelical Christian recruiting center of sorts. For a nanosecond I am tempted to pocket the check and try to cash it, but instead I return it to the cashier, as it rightly belongs to the Tim Horton's/evangelical church.

The chubby, nice teenage cashier becomes flustered and embarrassed. She thanks me for my honesty and promises to make it up to me by getting me $500 in cash from her friend who's the son of an oil baron.

Then I return to the giant, Victorian house I'm staying in with my husband on a visit to family. Everyone else is already asleep. I am elated because I will receive $500 soon, thanks to the law of karma operating even in a Christian doughnut shop in Texas/western PA. But it is cold and pouring rain outside, and the rain is leaking through the roof of the old house and pouring in everywhere. A Dad Person, an amalgam of my dad and my father-in-law with no distinctive features, tells me I've made too much noise coming in the house.

I wake up to find I've cracked the window above our bed for air and it is, in fact, raining outside.

An Easter Poem with Rough Meter but Lots of Heart

Today the Lord's High Holy Day
uncorrupted, Christians say
by commercialism, greed, and lights--
unlike the most holy of nights.

The Lord Is Risen, Alleluia,
and crocuses are quickly growing*
hopefully there's no more snowing--
Oh Easter dear, your roots are showing.

Bunnies hop upon the ground
with eggs--fertility abounds;
we're not too far from Pagan root
(our ancestors with baskets of loot--
chocolate, eggs, fresh spring greens--
delightful, I say, what it means)
that Human, after all, are we,
the same sun warms our family tree.

We greet Him now with joy and cheer
The Sun/Son once again is near!
Easter's theme: renewing Life
cut loose from coldest winter's strife,
and whether Christ or Goddess bless
or simply birds upon the nest
(that is to say, the joys of nature unadorned by gods)
No matter what your faith and creed,
Sunday after Spring full moon, indeed's
a fine time to rejoice of things to come,
to pause, and hear the beat of life's great drum.

*This year, Easter is early because the first full moon fell on the equinox, so the crocuses aren't literally growing yet.