250 years of celebrating Independence

Technically, the birthday should be on July 2nd (something John Adams argued for until he died - on July 4, 1826) because that was the day the delegates voted, but the document was signed on July 4th so here we are.  And many people of all political viewpoints have been reflecting on "where are we" and "will we be here in another 50 years?" and "what will the United States of America resemble then?"  [Some wonder what it will look like after the midterm elections in November, or the next Presidential election, or if anything happens to change the country's leadership before then.]  Like many of my friends and my parents' contemporaries, I remember the Bicentennial and how it was recognized and celebrated.  It was so different from today's celebrations, and not just because so many are being cancelled, rescheduled, or limited because of the dangerous heat wave and drought across the country.

Ten years ago, as part of the "We Are America" series, wrestler and actor John Cena made a video that I think resonates just as much today.  We're still wrestling with the aftermath of slavery and the treatment of the indigenous peoples and immigrants, and the late granting of the vote to women (which some people think they should cede to their husbands), but we are still here, and many of us are trying to fight to continue the country we believe in, built on "truths [that are] self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Memorial Day

 

Despite receiving a commission after high school, my father was unable to serve due to a heart condition.  He'd had it since he was a small boy (it was probably congenital) and despite it lived past his ninetieth birthday.

Today we remember many people who did not have that opportunity.

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(It's also Towel Day, for the nerdy amongst us.)

Twelve Days of Music

I do listen to Christmas music, so decided that since most of my friends who post Christmas music do it in the run-up to the holiday, I would post for the Twelve Days of Christmas.

To start, on the First Day of Christmas I posted the video that started things for Straight, No Chaser.

On the Second Day of Christmas I posted two versions of the now-controversial "Baby it's Cold Outside".

On the Third Day of Christmas, I posted two light show videos, one of "Dueling Jingle Bells" and the other based upon "Star Wars".  I thought of posting a third, but worried that people would expect more and more music videos for each day, and I wasn't prepared to post a total of 36 videos!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, a classic performed as a Gregorian chant, in Latin of course.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, I went alliterative and did a Firehouse Video, plus linked an article about a number of other videos by fire departments around the country.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, I decided that since Ukraine is in the news (AGAIN/still), I would focus on a song from there, with a couple of variations and one from the frontline of conflict.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, it being New Year's Eve, a song I think encapsulates the feeling.  And of course the traditional one most people (pretend/attempt) to sing, and then a list of classical music for the occasion.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, a favorite video of an unexpected holiday song, "Riu Chiu".

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, the commas nerd in me enjoyed this speculation about "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, Tom Lehrer's "A Christmas Carol".

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, two high schools' versions of The Silent Monks performing parts of Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus.

And on the Twelfth (and final) Day of Christmas, "Gaudete" a song I learned to sing (but mostly listened to others sing) while engaged in medieval recreation activities.  Plus a bonus about the National Parks from the U.S. Forest Service.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

And I don't have a recording of this (just the first lines from the Monkees' Christmas show), but it's one my family sings every year:

Thankfuls 21-30

Day 21 - Thankful to be able to enjoy an organ and clarinet concert via Congregation Beth Israel as a bit of a break in a long and hectic day.

Day 22 - Thankful that my mother felt like sitting up at table for supper, first time in a week!

Day 23 - Same as always, thankful for this guy! (He's bigger now and has less hair.  )

Day 24 - Thankful for kind and helpful and thoughtful neighbors.

Day 25 - Thankful to finally finish a major deal at work, so now I can get back to normal(-ish) work, at least for the rest of this week.

Day 26 - Thankful for people who are kind and friendly during everybody's frantic pre-holiday last-minute shopping. Also for a station playing classical music, not Christmas stuff.

Day 27 - Thankful for family, and that we are able to gather together and enjoy each other's company. Thankful for the food on the table, and that we can share it with others. And thankful that Mom made sure to get my great-grandmother's special pumpkin pie recipe!  [I forgot to take a photo before we ate it, but it was YUMMY.]

Day 28 - Thankful that we do not need to try to get anything from a Black Friday sale, and that I can stay in the office and home, watching football and eating leftovers for dessert. Also that I was finally able to catch up on some very tedious administrivia because of the quiet at work.

Day 29 - Thankful that my parents are still as compos as they are, with spirits and brains willing even as their bodies decide that a nap is the better way to spend an afternoon. Well, semi-napped and directed my willing hands and feet to help clean out closets and reorganize the master bathroom - thankful I can help them!

Day 30 - Thankful to reach the end of another month, and another year, and have things to look back upon and forward to and more adventure ahead that I haven't anticipated yet. As Stan Lee always ended his messages: EXCELSIOR! 🚀

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, I heard this short video about how gratitude and thankfulness can change your attitude and even how you think overall. I'm not sure it has this year, but I do try to focus on one good thing a day, whether it's the glow of autumn leaves against a deep blue sky, or family, or other things. It might be worth continuing beyond the Thirty Days of Thankful in November. Am I up for continuing in December and meeting the speaker's challenge?

Thankfuls 11-20

 

Day 11 - Thankful to all the veterans.

Day 12 - Thankful for the U.S. Postal Service, and a tolerant delivery person who still gets my mail to me despite all the times a neighbor blocks my box.

Day 13 - Thankful for the opportunity to study Torah with Rabbi Salem of Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life - ISJL.

Day 14 - Thankful to be able to finally shut off the work computer and unwind with a movie and crocheting.

Day 15 - Thankful for kind and understanding paramedics, doctors and nurses and ER staff, and supportive home health aides. Also that the damage is mostly bruises and a lumpy head. (As it turned out once all the X-rays and scans were done, Mom has two cracked ribs. Thankful it was not more serious.)

Day 16 - Thankful for a calm Sunday, with nice weather and talking to family, and knitting, and THREE online fiber gatherings. (Plus the Bears beat the Vikings!)

Day 17 - Thankful for the doctor (routine checkup) telling me to "come back in two years".

Day 18 - Thankful for neighbors who can take great photographs of our beautiful sunset:

Day 19 - Thankful I could get out for a midday walk. It was warm and sunny today.

Day 20 - Thankful for food trucks when my day (which started with a 7:00am meeting) goes long and is jampacked and I don't have time to cook. Thankful for the small businesses and other people cooking.

Ten Questions

There is a website that sends out a link to a question each day (except I don't get them - not even in my junk/SPAM folder, so have to remember to look) during the High Holy Days.  Ten questions, for you to think about how the past year affected you, and what is to come next year.  Reflections.

If you want to try it:  https://www.doyou10q.com/question/2025/1

You can opt to share your answers or keep them private.

I had a busy week and next one will be also.  The first three days I am in a CISSP exam writing workshop for ISC2, and then it is Yom Kippur.  Luckily my junior attorney returns on Monday and hopefully it will not take her too long to catch up so I can start giving projects to her.  At some point, my mother and I are going to the early voting; my father votes absentee and we'll deliver his ballot.

I'm back to making hats for the various collections:

It looks like I will get a fourth, if small (child, not teen/adult, sized), hat out of the ball of Bernat Forever Fleece.  Each one is a different pattern, including the Flight Formation Beanie that still has sticks in the top.  The ones unfinished will be worked on during tonight's fiber group meeting.  Four of these were knitted in the last week, the three with sticks in the top (and there is probably enough of the pink/grey boucle for another hat) and the striped one at the bottom.

I want to make other things, especially from yarn I purchased last weekend, but I am dutifully working on hats.

Welcoming 5786

Double conferences last week, a fun one long-planned and a professional one quickly added when they needed somebody on a panel, Los Angeles first and DFW next and I got home in time for the start of Rosh Hashonnah.

May everybody be written for a sweet year, with enough food and shelter and good health.

Twenty-Four Years Later

People are saying "we should be the people we were on 9/12".  It's only been 24 years, but it seems that despite all the memorials and discussion, people have forgotten.

At least they are not (yet?) claiming it's all a hoax, as too many do with the Shoah.

"Leap together"

The title of this post comes from the most-cited part of Kermit the Frog's commencement speech, but I like this rhyming part better:

Life's like a movie.

Write your own ending.

Keep believing.

Keep pretending.

 

This is Memorial Day weekend, and I plan to go to the annual commemoration at the community center.

I have a red, white, and blue scarf to knit (because I fidget), one in the car and one in the house, depending upon whether I walk or (if it's rainy) drive over.  These are scarves I usually donate to veterans hospitals and other programs through the WWII Museum's Knit Your Bit program.

I've also been making progress on my Giverny Shawl:

Almost ready for the third and final skein.

Yesterday I went to Open Studio time for fused glass at the gallery.  The instructor forgot to slump my last piece into a dish shape, so I have to collect it later, but it came out very nicely and he was excited to show it to the group:

I made two new pieces, one inspired by the flames-shaped piece I found, and another just playing with some glass-dust-infused "paint" solution:

I think I will make four pieces featuring translucent glass, all using the same clear glass base (although they are unlikely to remain perfectly square or the same size - glass does that) and set them into a wooden frame, with a light inside.  That will look fantastic.  I have a piece set aside as the focus of the second one, and I'll see what the inspires me for the other two.

I picked up my other two previous pieces, one of which was shaped into what I hoped would be a candleholder but it's a bit shallow, so it might remain a dish:

The large picture, suggested by a piece of glass I found and used as the background, really pleases me:

You can see how two of the lilypads
glitter a bit.  The eyes really add life
to the fish, and the wisteria is dimensional.

Cloudy day light filtering through.

Eight Days the Week.

In Israel, Passover is celebrated for seven days, but in the diaspora we celebrate for eight because the rabbis want to be sure we get the correct days, and the stars look a little different everywhere else.

So I am sharing eight articles and videos about Passover.

1>  World War II Passover Haggadot - the Haggadah is the book(let) we read during the Seder, which is the meal that commemorates the escape from slavery in Egypt.  Unlike the Torah, this is not a set book, although the outline is generally the same.  Many groups have made their own, reflecting the personality of the community.  In modern times, these include ones based upon Star Wars, baseball, and so many others.

2> A reading from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z'l (of blessed memory), because a newsletter I receive asked why "empathy" has become such a negative term and what it really means. Part of Passover is to open our homes and invite people to join the meal, not to proselytize (not a part of our faith) but to obey the repeated requirement of our Torah to care for the strangers in our midst and to honour guests at our table.

3> Another bit of history, telling how Americans celebrated Passover while fighting in Europe during World War I, "The War to End All Wars". Which, unfortunately, it wasn't. The story notes that when the USA entered the war on April 6, 1917, "it was erev Pesach", the night before the holiday began.

4>  The oldest existing haggadah, recovered from the Cairo Geniza, without the illustrations and decorations so common today. Also a printed one from two centuries later, the first one known. These are the annual reminder of our pact with G-d, how the Hebrews traveled out of Egypt to the land promised, that we read from every Passover.

5> More haggadot, from the Leo Baeck Insitute collection. As the Day 4 materials teach, the haggadah moved quickly from being just the prayers and stories to something beautifully illustrated.

6> A quick video about how matzah is made for the holiday - unlike the rest of the year, the matzoh for Passover must be made, start to finish, in eighteen minutes or less. I always heard "shmurah matzah" as being handmade, instead of the regular boxed squares, as all matzah must be watched to be sure it is made in the correct amount of time.

7> Because the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Saturdays, I wanted to post the story of tenor Richard Tucker serving as cantor to a Seder in 1967 for the armed forces in Saigon, but I forgot before jetting out of town. So I posted about a chaplain who didn't allow the International Date Line to cancel the celebration, and added the other when I returned.

8> Just because I didn't do the annual "Eight Songs of Passover" doesn't mean I will entirely skip music. "Dayenu" is my mother's favourite song from the holiday, and we always sing it. Repeatedly.

I missed it.

I found out after supper that the first Saturday in February is supposed to be Ice Cream for Breakfast Day.  I wonder if I can catch up tomorrow?  Sandra Boynton recommends using other Saturdays to practice.

As many people know, IT HAS BEEN A WEEK! and medicinal ice cream (or something) is probably what many people need right now.

Work was very busy, going to end of month stuff.  Today I did the usual Saturday of helping my father organize things, and my mother reorganizing things, and made a cheese soufflé which wasn't as tall as the last couple but tasted very good.  As my mother says, that's the important part.

I've done some knitting, but not much, and have too many partly-done things around so I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I need to focus and finish a couple, at least.

It is also Imbolc today.

Happy Celebrating.

I should have posted this for the First Night of Channukah yesterday, but I was busy with family.

Axial tilt is the reason.

I've seen a reminder that "axial tilt is the reason for the season" - or the seasonal change, if you want to be specific.  Happy Solstice, y'all.

Artist uncredited at the source where I found this.

We're in the yearend crunch at work, so life has been very busy the last week.  I did get to my parents' house today to help them set up holiday decorations, including a small train, and forgot to take photographs.

I did remember to get a progress photo on the three current projects (the one for my friend is in time-out temporarily), and as you can see I remain well behind the date on my shawl:

Same orientation, roughly, as last week.
The purple hat in the bottom right is almost ready for decreases.
Hard to see the progress on the other hat, which has 120 stitches
around, but I'm almost done with the first leftover of yarn.
Shawl is now on December 7th, and yes, the stripes are wider.

I was please with how today's weekly soufflé came out - nice and high:

Three Red Scarves

 I finished the last of the red scarves very late last night:

This used up an entire ball of A Pound Of Love in "Cherry", plus a small ball of brighter red that I bought when it was clear that I couldn't get a full third scarf.  In the end, I had less than 3" of the Cherry as scraps!  I do have a bit more of the brighter red (it's "COLOR/COULEUR # 15705", no name) but not enough for a single additional row.  I'll use some to tie on the washing instructions and put the rest into the box of scrap yarns.

These are closeups of the stitch patterns:

Bavarian Stitch - crochet

"Hot Frosty" or broken rib (K3P1+K1) - knit

Simple 1dc1sc repeat, worked from center - crochet

I have made not enough progress on the Advent/Channukah item, because I was focused on getting these three scarves done.  But I made some progress:

I planned to use three stitch patterns but did not like the transition from #2 to #3.  So I frogged the third stripe and now I am using just two, seed stitch and single moss stitch.  I also realized that some of the minis are longer than other minis, and decided that rather than have wildly uneven stripes, I will end each one somewhere around the 2½" width.  So I will have bits of leftover yarn, which may get added later, or put into another project.

Tonight is the holiday party for one of the local fiber groups I have joined.  They are collecting the red scarves, hence my deadline of today.  We are having a potluck and I made Grinch Cookies:

Simply dye a basic cooky dough green, roll into balls, flatten
slightly, and add a red candy heart before baking.  These were
made with a gluten-free cookie recipe, but you can use any.

For the white elephant gift exchange, I made a few stitch markers and packaged them with a hank of yarn from a mystery yarn purchase.  I love the dyer but notice this has a lot of mohair, which can be an issue for me.  I have kept all the other mystery skeins!

Later:  Party was small but fun enough.  We played a game of pull a question from a bag and answer it, which generated some interesting discussions.  The person who received my gift was very happy to have it, and I scored a Bonne Maman 2024 Advent Calendar, which I am very happy to receive!  I'm not opening it yet, in part because I scored sugarplums from Andy's Orchard and am very happily eating those.

{Also:  This is my 350th post.  A piker compared to many who have posted daily for years, or decades, or even those who posted weekly from The Beginning.  But more than I expected I'd have.}

L'Shana Tovah 5785

As this New Year begins, many in Israel have been hiding in shelters because of bombs from Iran and Lebanon.  There are those who say it is just retribution for what is happening in Gaza.  They see only the reports of Palestinian civilian deaths, and ignore the events of October 7, 2023 that began the conflict, and the killings and other atrocities that have continued.  They see only the Palestinians, not the Israelis.

And if I ask people to consider the Jewish side of the conflict, I am called a Zionist and a colonialist and worse.  Threats.  It's becoming less easy to be visibly Jewish, yet I cannot hide because that is what these people want: to wipe us from the planet.  To force us into hiding as in the Inquisition and the Shoah.

As 5785 begins, I recommit to not hiding.  To speaking out.  To asking people to hear and see the other side.  To not allow the Jewish people to be wiped out of this planet.

May those who celebrate be written for a safe and healthy, a sweet and happy, year ahead.  L'Shana Tovah.

Flag Day and Father's Day

Two big events this weekend.

On Friday, it was Flag Day, commemorating the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress adopted the first version of the USA national flag.  I posted these photos, two of my favourites:

The famous photo taken by Thomas E. Franklin: "Raising the Flag at Ground Zero"

Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

Today is Father's Day in the USA.  My family got together at my parents' house to celebrate with burgers and cupcakes.  Gifts were donations to favourite charities because neither my father or brother need things.  I gave this hat to my father a few years ago:

Mom didn't think he needed any more ballcaps, but forgave me for this one.

Speaking of Mom, she was happy that the farmer came to their community center with a farmstand again.  It wasn't clear that he would be back after last summer.  So we went over, had a reunion, and bought lots of peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes, squashes, and a couple watermelons, several of which turned up in our celebratory lunch.  And I picked some wild blackberries this morning, so it was a wonderful, fruit-filled feast.

Memorial Day 2024

 

Tomorrow the local Veterans' Club is having their annual memorial service and I will attend.  They always have a special guest who talks about a special program that helps veterans.

One of their leaders posted this message:

The National Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a duration of one minute to remember those who have died in military service to the United States. The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying time off of work for the national holiday. The Moment was first proclaimed in May 2000 for Memorial Day that year, and was put in law by the United States Congress in December 2000.

The idea for the Moment was born in May 1996 when children touring Lafayette Park in Washington, DC, the nation’s capital, were asked by the Commission’s Director what Memorial Day means. They responded, "That’s the day the pools open."  A May 2000 Gallup poll revealed that only 28% of Americans knew the true meaning of Memorial Day. The White House Commission on Remembrance was established by Congress (via PL 106-579) to promote the values of Memorial Day by acts of remembrance throughout the year.

The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events, but is a specific time designated to remember the legacy of the holiday. As detailed by the official act, "Congress called on the people of the United States, in a symbolic act of unity, to observe a National Moment of Remembrance to honor the men and women of the United States who died in the pursuit of freedom and peace."

I will try to remember to pause whatever I am doing at 3:00pm local time.  The event I mention above is happening early in the day.

I am working on a red, white, and blue scarf that I will donate to a veterans' group.  Not sure which one; I used to send them to the WWII Museum but they aren't collecting currently.

Mother's Day 2024

We're postponing the big celebration until next week, because my niece's boyfriend graduated with his master's degree yesterday so my brother's family has been there to celebrate and bring back furniture.  Also, my mother and father aren't quite up to celebrations following surgeries.

So, my parents and I have been cleaning out closets (I know, so exciting) and I'll make a cheese soufflé for supper with a side of asparagus.

Photo is from a Mother's Day brunch of seven years ago, showing me and my grandmother and my mother, and my mother's aide of the time who'd been providing services to my grandfather and grandmother for many years:

Motherhood is complicated as is daughterhood, and we're doing okay.

World Book Day 2024

It's a work day, so although I read a bit this morning because I woke up before my alarm, I haven't done any more since.  Time to remedy that deficiency.  Book Goblin would be appalled with me!

Passover in time of war.

It's difficult to have a happy holiday, celebrating freedom, when it seems that your religion is under attack more than ever.  Hostages still  have not been returned from the unprovoked attacks of October 7th.  Some people say that it was a fabricated situation so that the government could commit genocide against the inhabitants of Gaza, which is why it continues and the humanitarian crisis is so bad.  Others say that the situation is being magnified so that the Israelis appear the bad guys and to turn sentiment against them, to force them to separate out a second state or give up the land altogether.  And even within Israel, people are fighting the government, divided Jews who cannot agree on an outcome that may not be about winning but about survival.

Riots and protests on college campuses are shutting down the schools, and have broadened to include the police, the American government, and pretty much any institution that the students are against.  You can wonder whether there are manipulators taking advantage of the situation to promote their own agendas.

And of course, the House of Representatives is a tedious sideshow that cannot accomplish much of anything because some of the members, on both ends of the political spectrum, are too busy posturing to perform effective governance.  Will things get worse before the election?  The way some of the candidates are already claiming that the election will have been stolen if they don't win, it looks to be very bad afterwards.