A week of smiles

This may be the longest break I have taken from writing since I started blogging. We’ve had an incredibly busy 12 days.

We spent the first weekend of August in Sharon. On Sunday we took Joshua to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. It was the first time any of us had been there. The park is 103 years old, and although there is a good deal of history we really appreciate the two modern New York City ballparks. It was a good game, with the Red Sox initially out ahead, but by the end they lost.

First thing Monday morning we packed up the car, picked up Ella, and headed to New York. We stopped at Mystic Aquarium and had a fun time there. 

Then we continued our drive to New York, arriving in time to take Ella to have her nails done before dinner at Corner Café. It is so much fun to take Ella to restaurants because what her taste lacks in variety is more than made up by her enthusiasm for the foods she likes. She must have gotten the cheesy Italian food gene from me!

On Tuesday we visited the American Girl store, where Isabelle had her hair done and we had lunch and shopped for new clothes. 

Then we went to see the movie “Inside Out,” which Ella had seen but was anxious to see again with us. This animated movie is about an 11 year old girl named Riley whose father takes a new job that moves the family from the Midwest to San Francisco. Riley’s various emotions are a bunch of characters, and we watch as they determine her mood and interact with each other. Voices include Amy Poehler as “Joy,” Lewis Black as “Anger,” and Mindy Kaling as “Disgust,” each one pitch-perfect. This film received a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and we can see shy – it is terrific for adults and children. A.O. Scott’s review ended with “Inside Out” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Young children may be mildly alarmed in places, especially at the sight of their parents weeping through the last 20 minutes.”

Wednesday was the highlight of the week in our minds – we went to see the Broadway Show Matilda. This musical is about a girl whose parents did not plan or want a second child, and whose father cannot seem to accept that this child is a girl. But despite adversity and neglect, she grows to be an incredibly bright, caring, and insightful child. And in the end everyone lands where they should be. The cast was largely children. There are four girls who rotate the lead role, and the one we saw was fantastic. Ella wants to go back and see the other three!

We had dinner in that night – we learned last year that the excitement of going to Broadway and seeing a show is a full day memory in itself.

On Thursday we went to the Museum of Modern Art. Ella really enjoyed seeing the beautiful Monet and other impressionist paintings. 

For dinner we returned to Noi Due, our favorite Italian dairy restaurant. We had taken Ella there with her parents a couple of years ago, and she loved it. Unfortunately when we ate there last year after seeing the Broadway Show, she was exhausted and could not really appreciate it. So we were determined this year to pick a quieter day, and MOMA was perfect. She thoroughly enjoyed her dinner, including the breaded and fried macaroni and cheese balls and the cheese ravioli. Barry and I enjoy their sweet potato ravioli with a tomato-based sauce of diced vegetables. A lovely dinner was had by all.

On Friday we went to the Bronx highlights, the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Ella has been to both but every year it is a different experience as she grows and her interests change. She picked out a large stuffed leopard to bring home.

We had a wonderful Shabbat. We went to synagogue in the morning, had lunch, and then continued to work on a 756-piece Lego set we had bought for her that she and I had been building during the week when Barry was at work. Barry and I have continued to play two games of Rummikub on Sabbath afternoons, a tradition which started while I was undergoing chemotherapy. It was fun having a third player.

On Sunday, Barry and Ella took the train up to Boston, and he got on the next train back to return to New York. It was a lot more relaxing than doing the drive and he was able to get work done, so it turned out to be a great idea. I, meanwhile, went through over a week’s worth of unopened mail and spent a few hours trying to weed through all the pictures we took, which is how I am able to include some today.

It is so quiet here now! When I woke up this morning I missed seeing that beautiful face. But we are already planning for next year.

Love,

Rebecca

An interesting documentary

In anticipation of spending three of the next five weeks with grandchildren, we went to see a movie yesterday. There is an old movie theater about 15 minutes from here that shows foreign and independent films, and we went up there to see “Amy,” a documentary film about the short and troubled life of the British jazz singer/songwriter, Amy Winehouse.

There was an impressive amount of film footage beginning in her teens, which is probably not so unusual for someone born in 1983. She had a magnificent voice and a rather soulful presence on stage. But at the bottom of it, she was a deeply troubled human being. To an outsider, it appeared she had everything going for her: a unique voice and real musical talent. But the perfectionism and the relentless publicity took their tolls, and over just a few years she deteriorated so completely that she was unable to complete scheduled performances. Was the alcohol overdose intentional? I suppose we will never really know.

There have been many tales of talented performers who suffered from severe psychiatric problems and/or addiction to drugs. Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, John Belushi, and more recently Robin Williams come to mind. It is sad to think that some or all of these may have been accidental, that they were using the drugs to dull the pain, not necessarily to end it entirely. The pressures of talent and fame are surely immense. So what separates those who survive from those who do not? James Taylor had some very rocky times in his earlier life but somehow pulled it together and now seems like one of the kindest, gentlest, and mellowest people you could ever want to know (or, it’s all an act, but I like thinking about it this way). Was that simply a matter of luck?

On a much lighter note, I came across this on Facebook this morning, and as a somewhat conflicted smartphone user, I just had to share it:

http://www.newslinq.com/smartphones-control-our-lives/#.VbjZ5oSe6Fk.email

We’re having a heat wave here in New York. Stay cool!

Love,

Rebecca

Keeping warm

In the early 1980s, Blu Greenberg, an American writer specializing in modern Judaism and women’s issues, published a book titled On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition. This book became the basis of much of thinking around enhancing the role of women in the communal spheres that had been, and still are, largely dominated by men. Ms. Greenberg came to Dallas on a book tour, and I was thrilled to have the chance to go and listen to her speak.

Shortly before the talk began, I went to use the restroom. As I was washing my hands, I heard a small voice from one of the stalls saying “can you help me? The door seems to be stuck.” With both of us pushing, we managed to open the door, and much to my surprise I was standing face to face with Blu Greenberg. Never have I been nor ever am I likely to be given the opportunity to help someone I so admire! I have continued to hold that image with me over the years as I have had the honor of meeting and hearing her speak many times. Unfortunately, I also had the opportunity to visit her after the untimely and tragic death of her 36-year-old son in a bicycle accident in 2002.

On the Jewish calendar, today is Tisha b’Av, the 9^th day of the month of Av. Many calamitous events in Jewish history have occurred on this date, which is observed as a day of fasting and prayer. The book of Lamentations is read, along with Kinot (elegies). When we left the house to go to synagogue last evening, it was still quite warm out, and, not thinking about the possibility of too much air conditioning, I had not brought a sweater. After about a half hour I was simply frozen, and I left the sanctuary just to walk outside a bit. On my way, I saw Blu Greenberg, alone in the lobby. She asked if I was alright (a question that people often ask either because of the oxygen or because I am still a bit unsteady on my feet), and I said I was fine but frozen. Her problem was that she was wearing sandals and her feet were cold. She then said to me that there were a bunch of jackets and sweaters that had been left behind in the coat room, and despite my insistence that she needn’t worry about me, she she took it upon herself to look through the items hanging on the rack and found a sweater I could wear. I took the sweater and went back to the sanctuary for the remainder of the service.

No amount of reading lamentations can teach a lesson more eloquently than I learned from Blu last night. We have the power to make our lives better if we just stop and notice the people around us and reach out to help when help is needed. It seems such a simple lesson, something we certainly all have learned. But like so many good habits, we tend to become lax and stop noticing. Here is a person who is well known, creative, and surely has more important things to think about than my being cold. But there she was, continuing in every way to add not only a figurative but a very real touch of warmth to my life.

Love,

Rebecca

Week 1 of the 2015 Session of Camp NanaSabba

It has been another rather long break as life goes whizzing past. We had a very busy week, and the stars aligned so that no sooner was I was ready to write, our WiFi was down. Because we had plans all of last week, we had to live without it through the weekend. Much as I complain about our overreliance on connectivity, I certainly do not want to suggest that being entirely unconnected is the way to go. For me, having only that little iPhone as my sole source of connection is a very thin string indeed. But now we have a brand new modem that is much faster than what we had before, something we should have arranged a long time ago.

Despite that, we had a FABULOUS week with Joshua. We spent Shabbat in Sharon and took off with him first thing Sunday morning to catch the Mets at CitiField. It was a really good game, with quite a lot of excitement at the end: they went into a 10^th inning and the Mets won (finally, since we have so far only seen them lose). We went back to Riverdale after the game and picked up dinner at Carlos & Gabby’s, where Joshua ordered his favorite, the breaded chicken fingers.

On Monday the weather looked reasonable so we headed off to the Bronx Zoo. We took my scooter which made this nicer for me, and I think we may have even seen some things we had not seen before.

 I'm sure this Julia's parents think the world of her, but do her looks befit the name Julia? Really?

On Tuesday morning we headed over to The Intrepid, Joshua’s request after having visited last year. He and Barry took a tour through a submarine, not suitable for schlepping oxygen, so I worked on the NYT Crossword puzzle while waiting for them.

In the afternoon we went to see the new animated film, “Minions.” If my understanding is correct, this movie is a prequel to the two “Despicable Me” films. Although the review on Rotten Tomatoes was not terrific, we actually enjoyed it, and Joshua’s laughing out loud through much of it was contagious! Barry bar-b-qued dinner: hamburgers and veggie burgers with some salads he had picked up.

Wednesday was our day at the Museum of Natural History. We had taken the children there a few years ago and have gone a number of times ourselves. We ended up doing a lot of the scheduled presentations, including the planetarium. It is all but impossible to see the entire museum in a day but we enjoyed it. Joshua requested a return to Carlos and Gabby’s for dinner.

We got up first thing Thursday morning and headed off for the highlight of the 2015 session of Camp NanaSabba: Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Barry had been there when he was about Joshua’s age although he remembered little of it and there have certainly been many updates and expansions since then, with fifty years and countless changes in the teams. We walked around all afternoon until even Joshua admitted he was getting tired, checked in at the hotel where Joshua swam for a bit, had some dinner and went to sleep early. Friday morning we packed up the car, headed back to the Hall of Fame and spent a few more hours in the museum and perusing the gift shops before leaving to return to New York.

  

Joshua is almost eleven years old now, with an impressive knowledge of baseball. He is energetic and funny and a complete joy to have around. He and I have a sort of game we play: with a completely straight face, he will tell me something that sounds outrageous and then wait for me to realize that he is (yet again) pulling my leg. I tend to be a very literal person so he can easily get away with this! What I find particularly endearing about this is that he understands me so well.

In a couple of weeks we will have his sister Ella, and then cousins Maya and Eliana. We have big plans for each of them.

Stay cool – it is hot out there!

Love,

Rebecca

Our trip to Canada, part 2

I left off after describing the magnificent fireworks display on Canada Day last Wednesday evening, going out with a bang, so to speak.

We never seem to be able to sleep very late, so we took off the next morning for the Jardin Botanique (Botanical Garden). Not only was it very large and very beautiful, it had a distinct advantage in our eyes of being almost entirely flat, making it much easier to get around. We certainly did not see everything but we spent a number of hours there on a beautiful day full of sunshine. 

Having made a decision to stay through the weekend, we stopped to pick up more food and check out the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (International Jazz Festival). This annual festival is held at countless venues all over the downtown area, not far from where we were staying. This year over 3000 musicians from 30 countries performed more than 650 concerts, 450 of them free, over 9 days. The estimated attendance was 3.5 million people!

One highlight performer we saw was Adam Cohen, where the crowd was estimated at upwards of 100,000 people! Some of you may recognize the name of his father, Leonard Cohen, a native of Montréal who has been a poet, singer, and songwriter since the late 1960s. Some of his earlier compositions were popularized by other singers, for example “Suzanne” sung by Judy Collins, and his song “Hallelujah” performed by many artists over the years. Adam is much more the showman than his father, and the crowd clearly loves him.

Having gone to a number of crowded places and events over our week in Canada, we found the behavior of the crowds quite refreshing. If you ever wonder where all the politeness has gone, look north! There was surprisingly little garbage strewn around after that Adam Cohen performance, probably most of it left behind by patrons visiting from the country to the south, who seem to be accustomed to leaving garbage in public places. The other thing that was quite heartwarming was the number of times people offered assistance with the wheelchair or scooter. When we had difficulty on the cobblestones, numerous people asked if they could help. One evening, we had arrived at one of the outdoor performances a bit after it started, and sitting in my scooter I could not see a thing. A woman standing by us tried to offer us a path towards the front but we declined. A few minutes later another woman came up and simply said “this will not do” and took it upon herself to ask people to please move and let me through. Although a bit embarrassing, her act was amazingly heartwarming.

All good things must come to an end [Aside: the original line from Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14^th century was “There is an end to everything, to good things as well.”] so on Sunday morning we headed back to New York on another gloriously sunny day. All I can say is that Barry has already checked out the dates for the 2016 festival!

Back to life in New York, next week is our first Summer Week with a Grandchild, and Joshua will be with us. We have some great plans for him.

Have a nice weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

A trip long in the making

The absence of posts during the past week is not because I had nothing to say, but because I had far too much to say. As I embark on this, I am not sure whether it will all be part of one post or two. I will see how it goes.

When Barry and I were married on the first of July in 1973, we talked about honeymooning à Québec (in Quebec City.) I had been an avid étudiante de la langue française (student of French) in junior high and high school, and Barry had studied la langue française for a couple of years. Québec is not terribly far from where we lived in upstate New York (Rochester), so seemed a reasonable drive. The trip was simpler then because passports only began to be required for travel between the US and Canada in 1999. We never had passports until our first trip to Israel in 1980.

In 1974 we got as far as identifying a hotel, Le Château Frontenac, long considered one of the finest in Montréal. But resources simply did not allow for the trip, and we ended up getting a ride to Toronto for a few days with some friends later that summer.  With somewhat greater flexibility at this point, the hotel selection was easy, only the name had changed: twenty years ago Le Château Frontenac became the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. We booked a two-room suite, almost a necessity for us now because the oxygen concentrator is rather noisy, making it difficult to sleep (that does make a nice excuse, n’est pas?)

We had a little something to eat and collapsed from that long drive, most of it in pouring rain. The next day was still rather gray but at least the rain was more threat than reality. Québec is built on a large hill. There is a vertical train called the Funiculaire that goes up and down between the top, where the hotel is located, to the bottom, with many shops and restaurants along the road that snakes down the mountainside.

This turned out to be a bit trickier than we had imagined, because most of that road consists of large cobblestones that are quite old and not particularly level. We saw many young parents struggling with children in strollers, and it is all but impossible to push an adult in a wheelchair. The scooter did make it, although it was a challenge that it clearly did not like, occasionally just shutting itself down entirely (a bit scary since it is still quite new). By the afternoon we found the best ways to walk to stay away from the cobblestone streets as much as possible. It must be said, though, that without the need for wheels it really is quite lovely!

On Tuesday morning we headed off for one of the main attractions on the lower level of the city, the Musée de la Civilisation

 https://www.mcq.org/en. Here is an overview from the museum’s web page:

Musée de la civilisation is a government corporation. It was established on December 19, 1984 under the National Museums Act, which sets out the museum's major functions as follows:

·        to make known the history and the various cultural elements of our civilization, particularly the social and material aspects of the cultures of the occupants of the territory of Québec and the cultures that have contributed to the enrichment of those cultures;

·        to ensure the preservation and development of the ethnographic collection and other representative collections of our civilization;

·        to ensure the participation of Québec in the international network of museological events through acquisitions, exhibitions and other cultural activities.

A good deal of space is devoted to pictures and films. It would have been easy to spend an entire day here. They were screening a series of animated short films, and we watched quite a few. One in particular that we loved was called “The Danish Poet,” which won the 2007 Oscar award for Best Animated Short Film. It was only when we read about it later that we realized why the narrator’s voice was so familiar: it was narrated by the actress Liv Ullmann who starred in many of the Bergmann films to which Barry introduced me in the early 1970s.

We also watched a lengthier film about life in Québec, and agreed that it portrayed a more even-handed and honest view of the country – including not only assets but problems - than would normally be seen in a film at an American museum.

After the day at the museum, we took off for Montréal.

Wednesday, the 1^st of July, was Canada Day.

Canada Day (Fête du Canada) is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire. Originally called Dominion Day (Le Jour de la Confédération), the holiday was renamed in 1982, the year the Canada Act was passed. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as among Canadians internationally.

We started the day at the Musée des Beaux Arts (Museum of Fine Arts). A highlight now is an exhibit of Rodin sculptures called “Metamorphoses: In Rodan’s Studio,” including the two most well-known, The Thinker and The Kiss. We also explored the “Decorative Arts and Design Section,” and took a few pictures of some very interesting furniture, if anyone is looking for ideas.

In the evening, we had arranged to do something we did once in New York some years ago, going out on a tour boat to watch the fireworks. Fireworks seem to be enormously popular in Canada. Many years ago we saw part of an international fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia. This year, one of the competitive events was on July 1^st in Montréal. It was quite a display! It seemed that the music was broadcast on a local radio station so that we were actually listening to the music to which the display was choreographed, so to speak. It must have gone on for over 30 minutes, and was simply spectacular. Some videos have been posted to youtube but they simply do not do it justice.

I have been at this almost the entire day, between uploading the pictures and selecting those to keep, writing this narrative, and figuring out how to get the accent marks in French. Well, I tried to do the latter but could not seem to get it to work, so resorted to cutting and pasting from web sites in French.

I will work on the remainder of our trip over the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, enjoy the summer that has finally arrived!

Love,

Rebecca