Leora

Two American Windows

Can you guess which window is in Cape May, New Jersey and which one is in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania?

For more window views, visit:

biz.leoraw.com with style

In between everything else in life (I am awaiting the films for the Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, getting ready for the Jewish holidays, planning a bar-mitzvah, spending much of my late afternoons doing homework with a second grader, and updating various other websites) I found a theme for http://biz.leoraw.com/ and modified the theme so it would fit the look of the rest of https://www.leoraw.com/.

I hope to write two posts in particular on the new site:

1. Choosing a theme, why I chose the “Panorama” theme, and how I modified the theme
2. Permalinks: what is the best SEO strategy for permalinks for one’s blog?

There is a lot that goes into setting up a new blog; perhaps I can make a post with a checklist of what one might consider in setting one up. When I feel “Websites for Small Biz” is ready for prime-time, I will link it up with the rest of my site and start tweeting some of the newest posts.

Coming next week (at about this time) to this blog: an interview with the creator of NJ Playgrounds.

Torah Dedication Sephardi Style

A new Torah was dedicated on Sunday at Congregation Etz Ahaim, a Sephardi Orthodox synagogue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Sephardim read the Torah with the Torah scroll in an upright position, whereas Ashkenazim read the Torah scrolls placed flat on the bimah (raised platform). So the Torah cases of the Sephardim are made out of fancy metal, and the Ashkenaz ones are typically embroidered cloth.

The happy occasion was in honor of a bat-mitzvah; the bat-mitzvah girl conducted the dedication, along with her grandmother. It was a lovely community affair, and children were in attendance, including some who got rather sleepy (such as my daughter) because the ceremony was happening at their bedtimes. When they brought out all the Torah scrolls, the children woke up, with all the lively singing and dancing.

Reds of a Pomegranate

For more images with a little red or a little of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Squash in Watercolor

What to do with squash? One of my friends said she will make my squash into a delicious squash soup. Will she share the recipe? Hmm. I could chop up the zucchini and saute it with onions, fresh garden basil and a bit of tomato. The little pumpkin, I told my son, is too tiny for a jack o’ lantern, but I told him we could buy a bigger one for that purpose for Sukkot (holiday in three weeks). I will probably make a stuffed squash for Friday night.

Stuffed Squash Workshop

44th of 44 and Persepolis

Robin has been hosting Summer Stock Sunday all summer, and this week is the closing week. I couldn’t decide what to post, so I went with the 44th photo of the 44th album of my 2009 directory of photos. And here is a striking yellow and orange flowery umbrella from Sandy Hook Beach. Bye, bye summer.

I read a graphic novel called Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi today. It is a young girl’s tale about living through the Iranian Revolution. I would like to write more about the book, in another post; but I’ll first ask: have any of you ever read the book? Or seen the movie? I relate the book a bit to going to the beach, because at the beach I often find people wear less than my comfort level, and in the book, the women and girls are obligated to wear the veil (two extremes). Her story reminded me of my grandmother’s own story, of living through the Russian Revolution. Marjane, however, had it easier: at least her family had food to eat. During the starvation period, my grandmother used to tell me, she had to walk many miles in the cold Russian winter just to get a frozen potato that was often black inside. One ate what one could find.

Thanks, Robin, for a summer shared with others.

Weekly Review with Beet Watercolor

Rosh Hashana is coming next week – for the Jewish New Year, Jews around the world are (supposed to be) preparing themselves spiritually for the day. I approach the upcoming holiday by exploring the simanim, the food symbols that we put on the table. Beets, pictured in the above watercolor, are one siman. More on the simanim next week.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

These bloggers wrote memorials for 9/11:

• Mason Resnick: 9/11 What Was There
• IsraMom: Ronald John Hemenway
• Baila: 9/11: Remember and Honor–Terence J. Manning
• WestBankMama: Mark Rothenberg, Victim on Flight 93
• Raizy: Remembering Katherine on 9-11
• Gail: Remembering Christine Barbuto
• Debbie: Let’s PREVENT another 9/11 in addition to the memorials!
• Robert: 9-11: Not a Tragedy
  Do you know the difference between an atrocity and a tragedy?

Looking for recipes for the upcoming Jewish holidays? Visit:

• Ilana-Davita
• Mimi

Thursday Challenge: Flight

This is probably a greater black-backed gull. Thursday Challenge theme is FLIGHT (Birds, Insects, Kites, Helicopters, Jets, Boomerang,…). Nature Notes is brought to us by Michelle of Rambling Woods. I didn’t include the nature note button this week because the colors conflicted with the photo and upset the mood.

Reds of Cape May

I took so many pics of Cape May, and of course many of them have red, appropriate for Ruby Tuesday. Feel free to tell me which is your favorite of these.

      

      

      

Bottom left and bottom center is the Southern Mansion. Bottom right is the Chalfonte Hotel, built in 1876, which has “Victorian” air-conditioning (a special method of cooling off the large hotel with the attic windows).

For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

JPIX Carnival and an Award

Lorri of Jew Wishes has awarded me the Blog de Ouro award. Thank you, Lorri, I feel honored.

I happily award James and James – both are posting beautiful photos.

The first James has recently posted he is thinking of changing his blog name to something that reflects his current interest in walking (“Views from my Walking Shoes”?).

The second James lives in nearby Newtown, Pennsylvania, and I greatly enjoy his collection of photos of familiar and less familiar locations.