Reopening bowling alleys

It is really quite stunning how much our thinking about simple things has shifted over the past two months. Take bowling alleys. While I no longer have the strength to bowl (not to mention that I never had much talent), we have taken our grandchildren to bowling alleys numerous times and they always enjoy it. Suddenly it is hard to imagine not only how we ever did this but how we could ever consider doing it again. Think about it: putting on those smelly shoes that have been handled and worn by numerous people, sticking your fingers in those holes that are likely never cleaned, let alone disinfected, the list is nearly endless.

Our view of what once seemed the simplest activities has altered so quickly. So I was stunned to read about bowling alleys reopening in a number of states, along with barbershops, hair and nail salons, body art studios, and gyms. There do not appear to be any strict rules about the number of new cases before these facilities are opening. The restrictions are tough, for sure, but not as tough as the infection.

On a much happier and lighter note, our Julia has now mastered the wonderful skill of riding a bicycle! This is so exciting!

And our daughter Dina has made me a video of challah braiding techniques for 6 and even 7 strands. Maybe this week….

Meanwhile, just stay safe and well!

Love,

Rebecca

Dreams

Barry often wakes up in the morning and tells me about strange dreams he has had. Tuesday night’s dream found him in India, where the corona virus outbreak is rampant. Why India? Who knows?

But whether I dream and just do not remember, or dream very rarely, I am always surprised when I wake up remembering a dream as I did a couple of mornings ago. In my dream, Barry and I had driven to a water park resort. When we arrived near the site, we must have made a wrong turn and found ourselves on a dirt road, but we eventually made our way to the entrance. Not surprisingly, there were long lines of cars and hundreds of people. And I suddenly remembered that we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic and wondered why in the world we had chosen to come to this place, and why so many other people had done the same.

This was especially puzzling because our children and grandchildren have visited such places and we have never gone with them because they are not a good environment for someone with pulmonary problems. It was quite strange.

We watched a couple of good movies over the past week or so, one old and one new. We were prompted to watch the 1956 film, “The Wrong Man,” after seeing the actual man on which the story is based, Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, on an old episode of “To Tell the Truth.” It is apparently one of the few films directed by Alfred Hitchcock that was based on a true story and whose plot closely follows the real-life events. Balestrero was played by Henry Fonda and his wife, Rose, by Vera Miles. It is a rather frightening tale of mistaken identity which nearly destroyed the lives of this perfectly innocent couple, the parents of two young sons. It was only through a stroke of luck that the man who actually committed the robberies in question was identified. It really is an outstanding film.

The second film is a new one titled “Bad Education,” available on HBO, Amazon Prime, and hulu, which stars Hugh Jackman as school superintendent Dr. Francis A. "Frank" Tassone and Allison Janney as his assistant, Pamela "Pam" Gluckin. Based on a true story, Tassone, an incredibly popular administrator, and Gluckin, unbeknownst to many around them, were found by a curious reporter for the high school’s newspaper to have embezzled millions of dollars from the school district. It makes for quite a sobering tale about how much we humans are able to overlook the obvious when alternatives better suit our desires.

Please continue to stay safe and well!

Love,

Rebecca

A new and moving tradition

New York is a big city and people do not usually think of it as a friendly or supportive place. But, like the period following the 11^th of September in 2001, New Yorkers generally know when they need to come together and offer a supportive community to those in need. Once again, residents of many neighborhoods in The Big Apple have found novel ways to do this. For the past few weeks, every evening at 7 pm, they open their windows and just make noise in recognition of the thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers who are out there risking their lives to help others during these challenging times. The tradition has taken hold here in our little neighborhood in the Bronx, and we have been dutifully opening our front door and stepping out onto the porch to add our support. There really isn’t much to see, but you can definitely hear the cheering, and it is really heartwarming.

This link will give you a bit of an idea of what it sounds like, but it does not really do justice to the feeling of standing outside and listening to it each evening.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/10/nyregion/nyc-7pm-cheer-thank-you-coronavirus.html

On a much lighter note, the Jeopardy! College Championship has been broadcast over the past two weeks, culminating in the final two games last week. The $200 clue in the category “Unique College Courses” was

One of the topics in a Major League Baseball Course at Arizona State is this player who broke the color barrier in 1947.

The correct question is, of course, “Who was Jackie Robinson?”

https://twitter.com/yayroger/status/1250561404337299457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1250561404337299457&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2F2020%2F04%2Fjeopardy-jackie-robinson-video

But the player who rang in first asked “Who was Babe Ruth?” This had to be one of the funniest – dare I say dumbest - moments we could ever remember in a Jeopardy! game. First of all, Babe Ruth played major league baseball from 1914 to 1935; he died in 1948. And second, Babe Ruth was white, so he did not break any color barriers.

You have to feel a little bit badly for that Jeopardy! contestant who will forever be remembered for that ridiculous question!

Stay safe and well!

Love,

Rebecca

A little levity never hurts

We just heard the late breaking news that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the presidential race, and this is what came to mind (just replace “Birdie” with “Bernie,” and it’s nearly perfect!

Bye, bye, Birdie
I'm gonna miss you so
Bye, bye, Birdie
Why'd ya have to go

No more sunshine
It's followed you away
I'll cry, Birdie
Till you're home to stay

I'll miss the way you smile
As though it's just for me
And each and ev'ry night
I'll write to you faithfully

Bye, bye, Birdie,

It's awful hard to bear
Bye, bye, Birdie
Guess I'll always care
Guess I'll always ca-a-a-a-are
Guess I'll always care!

Love,

Rebecca

Struggling to find words

You all know me, a person seldom at a loss for words. It has been a difficult past eight years, having survived two unrelated cancers on top of a long-term, albeit fortunately slowly progressing, pulmonary disease. I think I have maintained a pretty good spirit and sense of humor through it all.

But these are different times. At the risk of sounding a bit selfish, those previous challenges were just mine, and I was fortunately surrounded by many people who could support and care for me. But now we are all suffering, all navigating very difficult waters. Everywhere I look, everything I read (still with difficulty) or see on television is focused on people who have it far worse, not only the thousands of medical personnel who are on the front lines in hospitals, but the everyday folks who enable us to continue to put food on our tables and provide us with many of our everyday needs.

I do not have any good answers for this. As we approach the first night of Passover, my usual enthusiasm for this holiday is nowhere to be found. Over forty years ago we had our own “Passover miracle” when our daughter born after only 28 weeks of the normal 40 survived those early tenuous weeks. I can only hope that the first bites of matzah will awaken some reserve of hope.

Meanwhile, we cannot let out guards down. We need to continue to do everything we can to curb the spread of this dreadful disease, and hope that we will get through this without too much pain.

And again, as I ended my last post, a little bit of humor can never hurt.

Love,

Rebecca

A Passover Message from Dr. Seuss

Thanks to our daughter Simmie for sharing this!

I do not want you in my house

I do not want you or your spouse

I do not wish to eat with you

At Seder one or Seder two!

Don't get me wrong, I think you're nice

But the CDC gave out this advice,

"Ten Plagues are enough, you don't need one more

Turn away Elijah, the prophet, if he shows up at your door"

This year's only guests: Father, mother, sister, brother.

“NEXT YEAR in Jerusalem!” we will say to each other.

From now on at each seder, this story we'll tell,

Of how God saved His people with a squirt of PURELL!!

A little humor during these dark days surely cannot hurt!

Love,

Rebecca

Finding great joy in art

First, I am posting a picture of the latest piece of art created by our granddaughter, Maya, 11 years old. This one is especially fascinating by its small size, painted on an 8 x 10-inch board. Somehow, she was able to capture an amazing amount of detail with this small canvas. Her talent never ceases to amaze us, two folks who can barely draw stick figures. During this hiatus, Maya, who always finds productive ways to keep busy, has been learning how to do card tricks! 

We started watching a mini-series (I believe the entire series is just four episodes) on Netflix, “Unorthodox.” It is based on a memoir written by Deborah Feldman which traces her upbringing in the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and her abandoning the community and the way of life when she was twenty years old and had been married for one year. There have been a number of similar autobiographical accounts of young men and women who have chosen paths radically different from the ones on which they were raised. It does not appear to be painting a particularly positive image of this close-knit Chasidic community, and I can certainly see how some will object to the clear bias against that way of life. I wish that both sides could find within themselves more patience and understanding. Call me naïve, but I feel that there has to be space in the world and within the Jewish community for different views and different approaches to finding the right path. We have yet to watch the last two episodes, but I believe we can predict how the story will end.

On a much lighter note, the late-night hosts have all returned to television, broadcasting from their homes with the help of family members and technology. On Monday night, Seth Meyers, host of “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on NBC, showed a short film obviously produced before the outbreak of the Corona virus that we found highly amusing, having lived for five years in the Boston area. It is a good five-minute break from all the misery around us!

Stay well!

Love,

Rebecca