“Does the phrase ‘throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks’ translate meaningfully to you? We newcomers don’t know what has been tried and what hasn’t, so we’re attacking the problems we perceive through the lens of our own experiences. The vast majority of it is well-intentioned. I think that the one who brought us here is thoughtful in who she chooses to bring.”

He lifts his bowl in a loose gesture of toast.

“Patia—a friend back home—once floated the idea of a champagne birdbath. I turned her down at the time.”