hope floats

"When you look back on your life, it looks as though it were a plot, but when you are into it, it's a mess: just one surprise after another. Then, later, you see it was perfect."
— Schopenhauer

We haven't had a bunch of people over and a colossal mess to clean up in a while, so we had a pool party and barbecue. Erin and I invited our friends and family over to enjoy some hand-made burgers, factory-made hot dogs, and our wonderfully-refreshing pool. We started planning this event about a month ago, and we originally envisioned it as a small gathering, which was a nice idea. The confirmed guest count quickly climbed to the 20s, about double what we had originally planned. Then Isaac's entire basketball team showed up, and there were more people than our house has ever held. Mind you, Isaac, at around 6 foot tall, is one of the smallest members of his team.

And it was a blast. You couldn't have had a more diverse crowd in one place, ever. Asians, whites, blacks, hispanics, self-tanned, breasts-augmented, gay, straight, kids, teens, and adults alike were all together and enjoying the day. Kai, also known as Mr. I-don't-want-to-take-a-nap-today, loved having all the people around, and he was hamming it up for everyone.

And today, as we clean up yesterday's mess, it's great to remember that at least for one day, people from all different walks of life came together and had a good time. If there is any hope for humanity, it was playing and splashing in my pool yesterday.