Week 10.

The heat of the last week of July receded as suddenly as if somebody turned the switch off. It's a nice change after record-setting hot days, but jackets in August?--too early! I don't think Vancouverites will give up so easily. Probably, groups of sun worshipers are already spending hours in meditation to bring the luminous one back to town and very soon they will be joined by a powerful chorus "We want summer!" so warm sunny days must be on their way.

Last week was really packed with activity and meetings. Our good friend Jason offered me a lesson in Indian cooking and last Thursday evening we made chicken Chaat, chicken Kohlapuri and cardamom rice. Between these exquisite delicacies I managed to cook a prosaic mushed potato and prepared zucchini with beans on vegetable oil and a little bit of soy sauce. When Irina and Dmitri who was back home from the island--he works there until September--arrived to the church for a simple family dinner, first thing that they noticed was the aroma coming from the kitchen. "You are cooking something really special," said Irina, but along with the aroma came Jason and she was no longer surprised. Yet, she certainly didn't expect to see him and Elina, his wife, for the dinner. Surprise! In my defense without being excessively humble I can say that my mushed potato was critically acclaimed and my zucchinis won a reward for best makeup. In any case, it was the first time when Jason tried zucchinis and didn't turned out to be the last time. I know this for the fact, because Elina took leftovers for him being impressed that he actually ate them. After dinner we tried to play Settlers of Catan. Jason and Elina are very well trained amatures moving in a direction of becoming semi-professionals in this game. Irina, Dmitri and I, as much as we enjoyed the company and the process, by the most part had no clue what we were doing, so Jason's win was anticipated. We should have played The Clue with them!

And on Saturday we had another dinner with our friends from First Lutheran, Russell and Linda, and Farli and Kristi whom we've known for many many years. This time it was asparagus, new nugget potatoes and baked salmon. But the height of the dinner was Linda's home made coffee cake--speaking in Oscarish, it could be called a timeless masterpiece and an instant classic, or an instant masterpiece and a timeless classic, I just don't remember which one is correct. We didn't play any games, but still had a wonderful time. Farli is always full of humorous stories and given that Kristi and he were just back from Alaskan cruise, laughter never stopped at our table.

After nine in the evening, everyone went home. I saw them to the exit, watched them getting into the cars and driving away. Then I closed the door, turned off the lights in the church and returned to my basement...