The pictures say it all....

We have a wonderful three days with Maya. Here are some pictures to capture some of the things we have done.

Stay warm!!!

Love,

Rebecca

Amazing experience

Just wish I could be there with them……

Walk down memory lane

If you type “Watergate scandal” into your browser, you will quickly find that the infamous event that eventually led to the resignation of the 37^th president of the United States, Richard Nixon, occurred on June 17^th, 1972, which was Barry’s 21^st birthday. Somewhat less memorable are the events that occurred just a year earlier, beginning on June 13^th, 1971, when the New York Times first published portions of the “Pentagon Papers,” an immense classified report that chronicled America’s involvement in Southeast Asia from World War II to 1968. The Times had received these documents from Daniel Ellsberg, a former marine who lost faith in the Vietnam War effort while working for the government. A judged ordered The Times to cease publication after Attorney General John Mitchell accused the paper of violating the Espionage Act. Shortly after this decision, the Washington Post, under the leadership of publisher Katharine Graham who had just inherited the position from her late husband, and editor Ben Bradlee, decided to pick up the story and continue publishing.

The new movie, “The Post” chronicles those fateful weeks in 1971, with Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham. Back in those days I was not an especially avid reader of the New York Times, but Barry was, having read it since junior high school in New York City where it was distributed to interested students at a minimal cost (he remembers 4¢). I do not remember paying much attention to any of this until we were married on July 1^st of 1973 during the United States Senate Watergate Hearings.

I believe the movie was a fairly accurate portrayal of the story, but I will leave that assessment to those who are far more knowledgeable of the details than am I. What I will say is that it was really well done and expertly written and performed, and a great lesson in an important part of American history. Barry, my in-house Watergate guru, really enjoyed this movie. 

Easy as it may be to write about Watergate and Richard Nixon, events that occurred over 40 years ago, it is quite a bit more difficult to write about current events. I have tried very hard to stay out of politics on this blog, and I promise not to get started on the tax reform bill. But I am attaching two recent pieces that I happened to see on-line. The first is about how our perspective on what is “normal” may be shifting in the current political climate. And the second imagines an event which will never happen, namely, our president apologizing for what many undoubtedly consider inappropriate behavior, particularly towards women.

How Trump makes extreme things look normal

https://www.facebook.com/ezraklein/videos/811825905671680/

We Imagined What a Donald Trump Apology Would Sound Like

https://www.facebook.com/feministabulous/videos/140217433363072/

I am writing this as Maya is on her way to New York, escorted by her other grandparents who spent the weekend in Sharon, to spend her week with us, the one she missed last summer following my bladder cancer diagnosis. We have many fun activities planned which I will share over the coming days.

For those of you who are observing holidays this week, enjoy!

Love,

Rebecca

Lots of pictures and one last Chanukah song

 Shutterfly is having a sale on their photobooks that ends tonight at midnight, so I spent most of today trying to pull together all the pictures from Thanksgiving and Chanukah to make up a photobook. Now I can share a few here.

Maya playing at the “piano party” (what we used to call a recital)

All together for candle lighting and dinner

 

Nana and Noah selfie

Maya made an edible arrangement for Chanukah (except for the glue, I guess)

A few other pictures

Meanwhile, I have one last Chanukah song, which I believe I first saw in a Facebook post from my friend Bat Sheva last week.

As parents of a baby born in 1977 at 28 weeks gestation weighing just 1090 grams (2 pounds 7 ounces), Barry and I definitely believe in miracles!

Enjoy the last day of Chanukah!  

Love,

Rebecca

A surprising find

As I searched for interesting music to share during this week of Chanukah, I found one that was a bit surprising – a 1956 recording of a popular Yiddish Chanukah song performed by the late folksinger/composer Pete Seeger.

Here are the lyrics to the song in English:

Chanukkah, oh Chanukkah, come light the menorah¹
Let's have a party, we'll all dance the hora²
Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat
Dreidels³ to play with and lakes⁴ to eat

And while we are playing, the candles are burning low
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago

¹The menorah is the special candelabra used on this holiday.

²The hora is the traditional Jewish circle dance.

³A dreidel is a small four-sided top. The Hebrew letters found on the four sides correspond to the phrase “a great miracle happened there.”

⁴Latkes are fried pancakes made of shredded potatoes and onions mixed with eggs and flour and fried in oil.

Happy Chanukah!

Love,

Rebecca

Too busy to write but....

We’re having a blast with the family but are just so busy! Glad I had lined up a few links earlier in the week.

Will fill in details later. Meanwhile, enjoy!

Love,

Rebecca

On a roll

I am having so much fun with Chanukah songs, so I am going to keep up that theme for all eight days.

Today, I share a 1999 recording from Tom Lehrer, who sang of spending Chanukah in Santa Monica.

Here are a couple of pictures from last night. We got started a bit after Noah had gone off to bed, and Joshua was at basketball practice. The whole family will be together on Sunday evening so I look forward to having some more to share.

In a little while we are heading over to Maya’s school for a 4^th and 5^th grade Chanukah concert. It is bitterly cold here today so we are spending this evening in our apartment but we will hopefully be able to make it to synagogue tomorrow morning and to lunch with Dina and Aaron and the children.

Stay warm!

Love,

Rebecca