Michelle at Rambling Woods writes: “I am going to challenge myself and hopefully you to take a look at nature. What is going on in your area? Is it spring in your part of the world or are you heading into cold weather. Take a little walk….. look at something you might never had paid attention to..a flower…a plant..an animal…What changes are taking place?..Is your garden starting to come to life again?..Step outside and close your eyes. What do you hear? …take a deep breath…What do you smell?”
Each month I post a listing of birds sightings in Highland Park. I don’t do the bird sightings; I just set up the page way back in 2001 and post the data. This month I noticed a lot more X’s in the May column. Joanne Williams, who gathers the data from other local birdwatchers, explained to me:
Lots of birds come here to breed in the summer and some just fly through to points farther north. It is one of the reasons that the World Series of Birding (yes, there is such an event) is held in New Jersey in May.
I have been seeing a lot of gray birds in our backyard. It turns out these are called gray catbirds. Michelle sent me this link about catbirds. And if you look at Joanne’s list, you will see that catbirds don’t show up in Highland Park until late April. Here are some photos I took of the gray catbirds:
Do you see the little brown patch near the tail? The bird is not all gray.
I photographed this house on 5th Avenue in New York City with Mary’s Window Views meme in mind. Hardly looks like a house, does it?
Here is more of the house. I believe this is the Harry F. Sinclair House, which was built in 1898 for stockbroker and banker Isaac Fletcher. The architect is Charles Pierrepont Henry (C.P.H.) Gilbert; the name does not ring a bell for me among the greats of American architecture. I wonder what it looks like inside?
For more window views, visit:
Oh, and here it is in sepia, with a bit of blue sky:
Adin Steinsaltz will be speaking at Congregation Ahavas Achim in the middle of the day on Shabbat and at Congregation Etz Ahaim at 4:30 pm. I hope at least my husband will be able to hear him; there is a little chance that maybe if I can get my daughter to come with me and play with her friends, I can listen, too.
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Velveteen Rabbit will be showing at the newly re-opened Forum Theatre in Metuchen at 3 pm on Sunday. You can follow the Forum Theatre on Twitter (@ForumTheatreNJ). From the review of the Velveteen Rabbit on Facebook by Graham Gudgin:
I do not want to give too much away, but it was an extremely entertaining show. Steve Graham, playing Velveteen, was very engaging, and Maggie Graham played three roles, and played them very well. One thing I noticed especially was that while there were sad and scary parts, there were also funny and happy parts, and the whole thing was so very well structured and paced, that it held the youngsters’ interest throughout. I found that there was enough to keep the adults amused too, which always helps. In addition, the music, by Paul Farinella, was great.
• • •
In this post I’ve juxtaposed two very different events, both of which interest me – ah, the beauty of eclectic interests! Have you seen the Velveteen Rabbit? Read the book? Have you heard Adin Steinsaltz speak? Read any of his books?
There is also a blood drive at a private home in Highland Park this Sunday.
Boy Peers Into Window of Jerusalem Pizza, Highland Park
No pizza served at any of these events, but I thought you might enjoy this photo of a boy peeking into Jerusalem Pizza on Raritan Avenue. Click to enlarge.
This bridge leads over the Raritan River into Highland Park from New Brunswick. It is hard to believe that in the 18th century one had to take a ferry to cross over the river. The bridge was named the Lincoln Highway Bridge in 1914 according to Jeanne Kolva, a local expert historian. You can find a timeline of when all the Highland Park bridges were built here.
I liked this shot of the bridge a little better than the top photo (do you see graffiti as art or as pollution or ?), but no water in this shot.
Note: this is the first of in series of those who take my link challenge. I was going to do a more light-hearted post for the first one, but I got news that my friend Rick Black’s father died on Sunday. So this one is for G6 and Rick Black.
I remember vividly walking home from the hospital in utter desolation after his petirah, feeling like my world was so very dark, that I would never learn another thing ever again — how would I smile and laugh again?
How I wish somebody could have come up to me at that very moment and taken me by my shoulders, looked in to my eyes and said….. “SEVEN YEARS FROM THIS VERY DAY you will be sitting at your Shabbos table, surrounded by your entire family, which will include a new son in law, a new daughter in law and you will be cradling your brand new granddaughter in your arms on her very first Shabbos, as everyone at the table sings zemiros and learns in your father’s memory. Your granddaughter will be given her Jewish name on this very day seven years from now.
Please leave comments for her on her post. So beautiful how she savors her father’s memory and connects it to her current family joy.
*petirah = death
• • •
An interview of a son with his father
Rick Black interviewed his father over the past two years. An excerpt from those interviews is on the Jewish Writing Project blog, spoken in his father’s voice:
I was bar mitzvahed in a very small shul – the one on Lake Street. We didn’t make much of it. It was just a small bar mitzvah for our family. I davaned Saturday morning for the service, Shacharis and Musaf, and when they took the Torah out of the ark, I had to sing the “Shema” and my voice broke, and a kid from Hebrew school said, “You alright?”
Another piece of the interview, where Rick’s father befriends Max the Russian:
So, this fella’s name was Max Bregoff and I met him. He was a tough Russian. I introduced him to a lot of my friends who were members of the club and we made him a member of the club, too. We called him the mad Russian. He used to get very angry. He’d spit at them. He was a tough hombre but he found the American way and he was able to live a good life and enjoy himself. He spent a lot of time at the Jewish Center. Yes, he did find the American way and he became a friend.
Read Growing Up Jewish, an interview of David Black by his son Rick Black.
Rick, may you be comforted among the mourners of Israel; may we all know simchas (happy occasions) like the one G6 describes, of a happy, healthy family singing and enjoying together.
Additional Note: I spoke to a friend (not Jewish) here in Highland Park who asked questions about making a shiva call. Topic for another time, explaining a shiva call – do’s and don’ts, the halachot (laws) and the customs. If anyone has suggestions for explaining a shiva call, please feel free to comment. I told my friend that the mourner is supposed to do the talking; the mourner should take the lead in the topic of conversation.
This post is less of a recipe and more of a discussion on what to eat on Shabbat that is warm. Klara, who lives near Jerusalem, came to visit me a few weeks ago. I like to learn about macrobiotics from her, even if I only eat a few of the recipes (but I learn from the discussions). We were discussing warm food on Shabbat.
It is customary for observant Jews to eat something warm on Shabbat; this is because even though we have the prohibition not to cook or to light a fire, we should still show don’t need to eat cold food. Or sit in the dark. The traditional warm Shabbat food that Ashkenazi Jews eat is chulent (see Ilana-Davita‘s and Lion of Zion‘s posts); Sephardim (Jews that were originally in Spain) eat dafina or chamin.
I prefer not to eat chulent, as I find it too heavy a food. So I have a tendency to make lots of salads, and I greatly enjoy those. However, in the middle of this winter I noticed that the food that we had warm on Shabbat was mostly chulent and potato kugel, neither of which are my favorite food. I do sometimes eat a bit of chicken warm. So I started warming up beans cooked with turmeric and other curried flavors. But I really wasn’t in the mood for the beans.
Back to my discussion with Klara: Klara felt that in keeping with macrobiotic teaching, food on Shabbat should be warm. I think there is a conflict here, as macrobiotics seem to suggest food should be eaten warm AND right away (not left on a blech or warming tray for 4 hours). And I wonder how many nutrients a salad-like food such as kale has after 4 hours of re-warming.
My conversation with Klara did spur me on to find this one dish that I liked re-warmed on Shabbat. It is simply mushrooms, onions and something green sauteed in a bit of olive oil.
Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 onion
2 boxes of mushrooms, preferably baby bella because they are “meaty”
a green: parsley, basil, kale, collards, thyme, sage – I used a bit of broccoli rabe
Warm a bit of olive oil. Chop the onion, mushrooms (into slices) and greens (into bits). Saute the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms begin to soften, add your chopped greens. If you don’t add the chopped greens, the recipe will be fine without it. Put it in a small casserole dish (covered) so it can be reheated on Shabbat.
Alternative: use Ilana-Davita’s mushroom recipe. She suggests serving it cold, but if you are in the mood for a warm mushroom dish for your Shabbat meal, this one might work.
Love when this flower blooms. Commonly called cranesbill, this perennial is of the genus “geranium,” but geranium is also the name of that annual that is often red or white. According to Wikipedia, geranium has symmetrical flowers, while pelargonium has irregular or maculate petals.
I have two cranesbill plants in front of my home.
Sage, the tasty herb that goes nicely in potato salad or in a chicken dish, is showing its dainty purple flowers now.
I was looking at my daughter when I drew this. So I can’t say it is “of her” but rather inspired by her presence. When she saw it, she declared, “but I’m not purple.” She seemed to be OK about my posting this intense work of art. Executed in fine children’s crayons on old spiral notebook paper, it is available for the asking price of a mere $1,000. Should I add another zero to that figure? Any bidders?
Do you think it’s blog-worthy? Well, here it is. I had a hard week last week (family stuff: my father is doing well now, thanks), and I was concentrating on concentrating on doing my work (and that second ‘concentrating’ is not a typo: when life gets stressful, doing what one needs to do can take a lot of energy).
What do you do when life feels stressful? Do you write about it, talk about it, run around the block, play music?
I had a tough week. Busy with work (three meetings in a row with three different clients) and then the real anxiety-provoker, dealing with my father’s surgery. He’s doing well. So I got the chance to write my most creative post last night:
Keyword and Link Challenge: I am challenging you, my readers, to put your favorite post (can be yours or someone else’s) in the comments of that post. Then I’ll come up with a post using a few of those links. Sort of like paper bag dramatics: you put a bunch of objects in a box, then you and your group put on a skit.
I have another picture from the parade I hope to post for Summer Stock Sunday. This was my first entry for that summery meme hosted by Robin: Summer Beach Items
Nature Notes: New Moon (aside note: best wishes to Michelle in dealing with her mom, who is in the hospital)
I didn’t get a chance to do a Weekly Review last week, so here’s an artsy post: Flower Power Painting
Stay tuned for a scribbly, fun art post last Saturday night Eastern time.
Elsewhere on the Web
Klara, who runs a Yahoo group for macrobiotics, wrote that the newest member is Jen Hoy, who writes for About.com. If you want some ideas for tantalizing salads, visit her post on summer salads. You don’t have to adopt the whole diet to make one delicious and healthy salad!
…it makes me angry that my living in my home is equated with terrorists killing innocent men, women, and children. Am I really as dangerous as a suicide bomber? I am a suburban mom raising three kids, and have never threatened anyone…
Michelle at Rambling Woods writes: “I am going to challenge myself and hopefully you to take a look at nature. What is going on in your area? Is it spring in your part of the world or are you heading into cold weather. Take a little walk….. look at something you might never had paid attention to..a flower…a plant..an animal…What changes are taking place?..Is your garden starting to come to life again?..Step outside and close your eyes. What do you hear? …take a deep breath…What do you smell?”
