Spring Is Here

          I went to West Village rather early to "help" Sabrina get ready for graduation, which is to say, I went to drink champagne before 8 a.m. and taste some of the best, most fluffy scrambled eggs I've ever had in my face. (Sabs' secret: cottage cheese.) When all the big kids left for the ceremony -- Sabs, Sarah, Meredith, Katharine, Chris B, and Peter to keep company -- I went home and watched Gotham with Sean.
          Before long, I left to meet Julia at Ruggles, and we rode the Orange Line all the way to Oak Grove for a hike in Oakdale Park. The woods were only a few minutes' walk from the station, and I quickly realized how sorely I'd missed being in nature. Julia and I wandered paths sketched out in white and blue markers and the occasional arrow on a rock, often seeming to cross at places unmarked on our map. We spotted a cardinal, a woodpecker, two bumblebees, a pathetic waterfall, countless gross silkworm nests, three snakes, a couple of streams. From the top, we could see Boston hazy in the distance.  An alcove of sorts beneath a tree provided a smoke spot. Julia claimed that she embodied several different people, the most accurate (in my opinion) being Marion Cotillard -- picturesque, mildly sullen, French, and "a little reserved at first." We each connected with the surroundings in our own way -- like a deer watching cars from the forest for one, and a dog hunting squirrels for another. (Guess who was which?) I miss mountain running and I'm mulling a weekend trip out here once in a while to explore the trails.
          When Julia and I left the trail, it was at another juncture somewhere in the hilly suburbs of Melrose, and we took our time touring the neighborhood and pointing out places we'd like to live. (I want to live almost everywhere. Sometimes I wish I could live everyone's life.) Later, at home, all the boys and I threw a small party with Julia, Jennifer, and David. We played Soccer Physics on the TV with 4 people on at a time, and the competition got hot. When we'd exhausted the entertainment there, we put on Edge of Tomorrow, a startlingly serviceable sci-fi flick. That is, the parts I saw, because David was in "first party sophomore year mode" and needed two of us to look after him. I was genuinely afraid that we'd have to call the amnesty line, but Jennifer stayed with me and kept me calm.
          Quote of the day:
"Ewwww, it looks like a buffalo!" - Julia, re: a fallen tree
"It looks like a pug!" - Julia, re: a tree knot

Playoff section:
East
TBL v. MTL: 3 - 1
WSH v. NYR: 3 - 2      I knew we would win. Down by 1, Kreider put NY on the board at 18:00 in
                                     the 3rd and McDonagh finishes it in OT. New York forces Game 6.
West
MIN v. CHI: 0 - 4
CGY v. ANA: 1 - 3       4-2 Ducks on the power play, in a win absolutely everyone saw coming.