Mah Jongg in the Springtime

This is how my girls and I do some mah jongg. Thanks to T for the inspiration and J for the snacks.

Initially quite confusing, once we started playing I quickly got the hang of it. T happens to be a very good teacher. She's patient and she understands scaffolding. The above set of tiles are called "characters", or "crack".

Not pricey, but this is a perfect Saturday afternoon cotes-du-rhone for sipping and chatting, Les Moirets.

I called these tiles "rings", we also called them "scrolls" or "circles".

There is no learning curve necessary for slightly stinky soft cheese and organic fruit from the WeHo Whole Foods.

At the time I considered taking notes, something I always do when I want to actually retain important information. Now, after only one session, it all makes perfect sense. I will still need a cheat sheet to keep track of the different groupings that can complete a mah jongg, but the tiles no longer confuse me. The above suit is called "bamboo", or "bam".

Above are the three "dragons".  White, red and green dragons.

Still life with cheese, grapes and sunshine. I love T's cheese knives. They have me scouring eBay for some interesting ones.

And above is the beginnings of my first mah jongg of the day, of life.

Happy new late afternoon tradition, friends. I hope we share it for many seasons to come.