Yesterday was Easter so after church we had our traditional free for all lunch for anyone who wanted to show up. Pretty much. In attendance were Jean, Me, Diane, Jeff, Daniel, Jennifer, Cedric, Lydia, Brianna, Alyssa, Jeran, Gilligan, and Baylee. Those are family members. You may question, Brianna, and Alyssa, but we count the kid’s friends as family. Also there was our friend Ron, from church, and our friend Gretchen who stopped by on her way home from Rainier. Gretchen and I worked together at PGE for many, many, many years. She’s still there, working hard.

The bigger kids, including Jeff, scattered candy filled plastic eggs all over the yard, front and back, for Gilligan and Baylee to find. There was no method to the distribution process, and no one had any idea how many of those eggs were scattered around so I have just cause for believing eggs will be showing up the next time I mow. After everyone left yesterday I found two. Today I found a couple more. I’ll get a better count with the mower because they’ll make a lot of noise as they go flying up the grass catcher tube.

Yesterday was also Adolph Hitler’s birthday, in case anyone was wondering.

The absolutely best part of yesterday, however, was that it marked the 46th year of wedded bliss for Me. Yes, just me, because I’m sure all those years weren’t blissful for Diane. Most of them, maybe, but not all. I know that’s true because I’ve been told. Thankfully, for Diane, the blissful part has been mostly on this end of the calendar. It just keeps getting better. Really, it does. Ask her.

After all the activity yesterday, it took us a while to wind down, then we watched the Blazers beat the Rockets in overtime. That caused an emotional outburst of adrenalin that didn’t go away until after midnight. So, there we were, laying in bed with our iPads at 0004 this morning. Diane’s checking her Facebook and I’m reading my book. I hear a little ding from my iPad and a little note pops up from Diane wishing me a Happy 46th. We’re like 15 inches apart, and she sends me a text. It was great, and I answered her back. Getting old and knowing how to use technology is quite fun.

Today I pulled weeds from the flower bed out front. We’ve both been working on it during the sunny days, a little at a time. This morning, when Diane told me today was the last sunny for the next week, I donned my pulling weed clothes and got to work. Diane stayed inside because that kind of outside activity isn’t kind to her immune system. Additionally, our neighbor was mowing his yard which is worse than simply touching weeds. So, I was on my own, and that’s OK.

I got everything pulled across the front, but not all the way around the corner. That was my goal, actually, so started gathering all the tools scattered in my wake so I could put them away. The net results of my efforts filled the little trailer I pull around with the mower when the grass catcher isn’t attached. I do that for fun sometimes. Just hook it up and pull it around the yard. Sometimes I put something in it and move it to another location. Just for fun. Really. Makes me feel like a real farmer.

Just as I began gathering my tools, it started sprinkling. That’s the rain that wasn’t supposed to arrive until after dark. So, thanks to Karma, I chose the exact right time to end my task.

Another good reason for ending it was because we had a Lions club meeting to attend. Diane was scheduled for the program and had Mary from SHEDCO lined up to speak. So, we got there early in order to be there when she arrived.

Shortly after we arrived a strange gentleman arrived so I introduced myself. I do that. His name was David. Expecting Mary as the only stranger for the evening, I asked about her and he said Mary had to cancel. This led me to believe that he was filling in for her as the SHEDCO speaker.

Then Mary showed up and threw both Diane and I into a momentary fit of mental frenzy as we tried to figure out what was going on. The reason turned out to be that Diane and Andy swapped program dates because we weren’t going to be in town on Diane’s assigned date. So, Diane wound up with today, but Andy forgot and arranged for David to come speak. David, or Dr. David Krier, founder of Volunteer Voyages, LLC, came prepared to give us a pictorial presentation about his organization. All he needed was some A/V equipment. But, we don’t have anything like that. All we had available was a screen that’s always there in the back room of the Village Inn Restaurant where we have meetings.

So, we had two presentations available: David, who had a flash drive but no A/V equipment, and Mary who, gee, had a laptop and a projector. David and Mary had a little discussion and cleared things up as to who would present by determining who came the farthest. That would be David who lives in St. Paul. The one in Oregon, not Minnesota. Mary lives in St. Helens.

So, the double booking worked out great for everyone, even me. David gave his presentation using Mary’s equipment, and Mary sat and watched. The real upside for me is that I was able to secure Mary as the speaker for our May 5th meeting. That’s the day I’m responsible for the program. She was a really good sport about the circumstances.

We call things like that a God Moment.