There were at least half a dozen species of violets alone.  Here is a flower assortment:

On Saturday (yes, it took me this long) we finally got out for a long-belated hike, at the Narrows, and accordingly, I obsessively took over 140 photos.  In fact so many, that I’m dividing them up into categories among several posts.  This first installment is of the Motherlode of red trilliums, masses of them on the hillsides.  Call me a botanical geek, but I had to do a happy dance upon witnessing all those beautiful trilliums.  Here are just a few:

Today E’s son would have turned 35, a year younger than my own son.  Her son died when he was four, after an unendurable, brutal disease.  No one was there for her.  I can’t imagine going through that, on top of all the other extreme losses.  The grieving never eases.  We paid another visit to his grave in Xenia, the city that was practically wiped off the map in the famous tornado disaster.  It never really recovered.  A sad place, in every way.  Complete with the liquor store directly across from the cemetery entrance, which says it all.

Second non-seder consisted of lots of leftovers from the first night, plus: homemade chicken matzoh ball soup; sweet potato tzimmes with lots of fruits and spices and sweet stuff; and roasted dijon asparagus.  We actually ate hours ago, but then we went hiking, finally!  I mean wandering in the wilderness.  That’s a whole other story, complete with billions of wildflower photos to make up for lost time, which will take me a day to process.  So I’m just posting this for now.  It’s on to night 2 of our Hobbit marathon.

Here are those elusive other foods I mentioned–roasted summer squashes and a chicken sighting:

Here is the notorious Cup of Elijah [will he beat me to it this year?] and the ubiquitous cardboard building slabs.

The beauty of a poor peasant seder is the absence of hours of cleanup later, when you’re too done in to get up off the floor.  None of that nonsense here.  We’re even considering a LotR marathon, which in itself could last for years, much like the Exodus from Egypt.  Seems vaguely appropriate.

Reporting live from an Egyptian pyramid, a.k.a. the kitchen, where escape plans are in full swing.  They think I’m submissively cooking, but really I’m hacking away at my cuffs.  Here’s evidence:

The completed Seder plate, in all it’s superior charoset glory  [E confirms that my charoset is the best charoset], with guards:

A potato/carrot/matzoh meal kugel, N. African-spiced:

There’s also an herb and wine chicken, hiding somewhere in the oven.  And a fresh roasted vegetable (asparagus or zucchini/yellow squash), to be decided.

And last but not least, no serious “seder” would be complete without the now-infamous comedic work, The Mahabaggadah, or, Waiting for Elijah  (he meant that, anyway), or, Indiana Jones and the Bread of Affliction, by Avdi Grimm, a.k.a. my brilliant son (whom I miss).  You had to have been there.  Rolling under the table.  It was a good time.

More later, after I make my escape.  Meanwhile, enjoy this most historic of Pesach quotes, “Oh it’s so gorgeous out, what am I doing in the kitchen, I haven’t been out of here in days, I’m not doing this next year!!”  ;-D

Pesach preps are moving right along, with a post-punk/new wave soundtrack.  It’s pretty simple here, but getting in the fest spirit, i.e., drinking up the chametz, and burning the rest!  Burn, baby, burn!  Even Skully and mini-Skully are getting in the mood.  As is my superior drunken charoset.  Outside it’s raining, a sad purple rain, with insane medical bills from stupid persons raining on our pride parade, but we’re trying to keep our spirits up in here.  Tomorrow, I’ll be slaving in Egypt [the kitchen], but tomorrow erev, we’ll be drinking to freedom.  See y’all under the table!

My Charoset is the Best©™.  Or at least very very drunken.  That’s why Sacred Syrup was invented.  ’nuff said on that subject.  Don’t even try.  Take my word for it.  Here is an illustration:

In other pre-Pesach news, things are happening, such as L42’s famous radish flowers, pictured here:

Here are festive flowers and stuff:

More later.

Today we went to our second meeting of  Ohio AIDS Coalition, newly renamed Equitas Health.  This is a group of people starting up a one-stop clinic from the ground up, to meet the desperate medical needs of the LGBTQ/AIDS community in the Dayton area.  They are especially making an effort to reach out to the under-represented, misunderstood (even by gays) Trans community, for whom very few medical professionals are even available or trained.  They are in the process of hiring primary care physicians, dentists, and other specialists to be accessible under one roof to anyone in (or out) of this under-served population.

This is a very needed and worthy cause, so we have been attending as laypeople with deeply personal experience with the lack of medical care and insurance coverage for the T community.  The people we’ve met are very genuine, pleasant, and dedicated people, educating themselves and other professionals in order to offer appropriate, affordable healthcare.  It’s a way for E to put the struggles she has experienced to good use giving back in some way to others going through this difficult journey.

(Also, bonus, they had pizza!  And a guy made awesome peanut butter cookies!  How could we resist?)

Here are a few photos of the Dayton area.  It’s a tiny, rundown city, as cities go, but here and there some decent folks are trying to make a difference.

First, I’ll get my rant out of the way.  E is still getting the runaround from her so-called insurance and the doctors, who can’t seem to understand a simple female gender marker.  Her expensive retirement insurance (based on income she no longer makes) apparently no longer covers anything, and she keeps getting the same outrageous bills for routine exams that used to be affordable.  She has to keep going from one idiot to another, trying once again to patiently explain at a fifth grade level the simple basic facts, which they should already get by now.  Meanwhile, her new birth certificate and her tax returns, which she desperately needs, are still stalled in bureaucratic legal confusion.  It’s Ohio, but it could be anywhere, USA, wherever ignorance and prejudice prevail.

This has been going on for months.  Just when you think one issue is finally resolved, another slams you in the face.  It’s very frustrating and discouraging for her, on top of all the other losses.  We know one day this will be in the past, and we’ll be able to just live like normal people, but for now it’s a daily battle.  Anyone who thinks this process is a choice, or a walk in the park, is living in some kind of delusion.  You feel completely ostracized, demoralized, humiliated, and helpless most of the time.  Meanwhile, idiot phobic politicians think it’s about guarding bathrooms from pervs, or denying necessary counseling, or some such crap.  Sometimes only the threat of losing their federal funding keeps them under control.  Or it doesn’t, and everyone suffers for their willful ignorance and disregard of human rights.

OK, end of rant.  Otherwise, it’s a beautiful spring day, E is almost recuperated from her latest surgery, and all my plants are coming up!  We’re preparing for Pesach in our own very simple way, and holding down the fort.  We’re thankful for the small mercies we do have, like an affordable place to live in a fairly quiet neighborhood where people leave us alone, and enough food and necessities to live on.  We both left a lot behind, but we have the basics, and we still have hope of a better life away from here, with the painful associations behind us.  All things considered, we have it pretty good.