Passover preparations

Last Thursday was a busy day. While Barry was in a meeting early that morning, I drank hot chocolate and worked the New York Times Crossword puzzle (unusually easy for a Thursday puzzle) at the lobby café in the newest building on the Mount Sinai campus. At 11 I met with my neuropsychologist, which is always enjoyable even if challenging. Then Barry dropped me off at the JCC for my two classes. It was the final session of the film course, and we watched “The Out of Towners.” I had seen this movie some years ago but only faintly remembered any details beyond the broad brushstrokes of the story line: a couple (played by Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) comes to New York City from their Midwestern home town for a promising job interview. Pretty much everything that can go wrong does go wrong, from lost luggage, a delayed flight, a transit strike, a dropped hotel reservations, two muggings….need I go in? I knew as I was watching it that this movie was supposed to be a comedy, but I found it excruciatingly painful to watch. First of all, it represents a very bleak time in the history of New York City, a period which is best forgotten. But more important is something I have considered often during this last year: with all the natural disasters and frightful things that are beyond our control, why do we humans persist in causing ourselves and each other so much misery?  It was all I could do not to walk out of the screening, I truly found it that disturbing. But I am glad I stayed, not because it got any better, but because there was at least one of the other women in the class had precisely the same reaction that I did, and that was quite reassuring. The two of us ended up dominating the conversation! I do not want to believe that I am permanently seeing the world through gray tinted glasses. But this film really was upsetting, and I am just very happy that New York City is a far kinder and gentler place than it was back in the late 1960s.

I am so glad that I had my writing class after this movie, because it helped quickly snap me out of the blue funk. We started the class with an assignment, to write “six word memoirs.” Here are a few I wrote:

Math comes easily, writing less so
Love to sing, consider yourself warned
Losing weight healthy, except with cancer
Friday Times crossword far too difficult

Try it – it’s fun! We also wrote about our names, and it was fascinating to hear what the others had to say. I am hoping to work more on that and will share it here when it is in better shape. All in all, the class was an excellent antidote to a very dark film.

Barry and I have been listening to a book that Heidi recommended called “My Stroke of Insight,” by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. When Dr. Taylor was in her mid thirties, an accomplished brain scientist, she suffered a massive stroke. You can watch an abbreviated version in a talk she presented a few years ago at a Ted conference:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Quite a bit of what she says resonates for me, although I cannot claim to have shared even a small twinkling of the insights she experienced. Of course the book was written some years after the stroke, and I suspect that there is some embellishment of the story over time.

We are in the final countdown to Passover. We drove up to Sharon first thing Sunday morning. We had every good intention to sleep a little later in order to “time adjust” for the two late nights ahead, but of course we woke up before the crack of dawn, finished our packing, loaded the cars, and were on our way by about 6 am. Sunday was a busy day here. First, there was unloading the cars, putting away all the clothes and groceries, and after that I spent most of the day baking for Passover. I started with a lemon sponge cake, which is Barry’s favorite. Then I moved on to an old favorite, Passover Toll House cookies, a concoction of matza farvel (tiny pieces of matza), matza meal (essentially ground up matza, sort of the equivalent of bread crumbs), eggs, oil, and chocolate chips. Meanwhile, Barry worked on sautéing vegetables for the Passover pizza we are making on the second day (Simmie’s birthday; we have that lunch on the second day every year). The pizza “crust” is a concoction of matza farfel, eggs, and milk, baked until set and then topped with whatever you like. I suspect that if I ate these foods at any other time of year they would seem quite awful. But the amazing thing about Passover is that even things that sound like they would be quite distasteful are fabulous. And having missed all of them last year, I suspect they will taste especially sweet during the coming days.

The rest of the cooking awaits, so this is a good time to close. Whatever holiday you are celebrating during the next week, I hope you enjoy it in good health, surrounded by the warmth of family and friends.

Love,

Rebecca