We headed to the rabbi's house tonight to celebrate Sukkot, the fall harvest festival (although it felt much more like summer than fall). Rabbi Cahana invites the whole congregation to dinner and a Sukkot service at his home, but the weather is usually so cold and/or rainy that we've never gone. But I checked the weather ahead of time, and saw that it was going to be nice outside, so we all went.
Rabbi Cahana has triplet girls and an older son, so they need a lot of room -- but, geez, was this a nice house. It's in the hills of Southwest Portland, and they have a pool, a hot tub, a deck, a large kitchen and presumably enough rooms for the kids (although I believe at least two of the girls have to double up). Ida Rae, the cantor -- and the rabbi's wife -- said they bought the house with the idea of holding congregational celebrations. The food was lovely; Ida Rae's mom made a noodle kugel that was out of this world, and even Rachel and Drew got enough so that we didn't have to think about dinner.
At 6 p.m. we all went outside to the sukkah that Rabbi had made. (He was trained in theater, and you could tell that from the construction; it was very well done. Theater majors all have to try their hand at prop-making, and many of them do construction on the side to make ends meet). We had a brief service, and then the kids took turns swinging the lulav (I didn't have a camera with me so I didn't get a picture of Rachel, alas). Then we all went back inside and continued eating.
I'm glad that Rachel got to see the whole thing, but Drew and I had mixed feelings about it. He summed it up perfectly by calling it an "event" -- not quite a dinner party, not quite a service. There was a little bit of reserve there. A few people from our chavurah showed up, and they were friendly, but none of us really got a chance to visit. Not sure I want to repeat this next year, but I'm open to considering it.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
What Rachel said at the park
..while I was in a grueling, all-day chorus rehearsal:
Drew was pushing Rachel on the swing at Laurelhurst Park. After a while she said she wanted to get off. As Drew was helping her out, she said, "I want to let the other kids who want to swing have a chance."
"That's very good!" Drew replied. "You're sharing the swing! And you know that sharing..."
"Is caring!" Rachel replied.
And THEN she said:
"I care about EVERYbody. Even the people I don't know. Even the little babies with no hair. And I want to share everything with everyone."
It's this kind of story that, as I explained to Drew after dinner tonight, makes me feel that Rachel is the little ray of hope I've sent into the world to make it a better place.
Drew was pushing Rachel on the swing at Laurelhurst Park. After a while she said she wanted to get off. As Drew was helping her out, she said, "I want to let the other kids who want to swing have a chance."
"That's very good!" Drew replied. "You're sharing the swing! And you know that sharing..."
"Is caring!" Rachel replied.
And THEN she said:
"I care about EVERYbody. Even the people I don't know. Even the little babies with no hair. And I want to share everything with everyone."
It's this kind of story that, as I explained to Drew after dinner tonight, makes me feel that Rachel is the little ray of hope I've sent into the world to make it a better place.
Storytime, Part 2
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Rachel who loved ballet. She loved it so much that she didn't want to do anything else -- study her lessons at school, for instance. Even though her teachers and her parents urged her to pay attention in class, all she wanted was to be a ballerina.
One day, Rachel and her mommy went to the ballet costume store and saw a beautiful ballet dress of the palest pink, with a beautiful blue ribbon, and pink ballet shoes. Rachel immediately wanted it, and when the saleslady put it on her, it seemed as if it was made to fit her body. When she got home she danced and danced in the costume until it was time for bed. Then when she tried to take the dress off, she discovered that....it wouldn't come off. There was no way to get it off! Rachel woke up the next day and tried to get the dress off and just couldn't. Every day she danced in the dress, and it got more and more tattered, and dirty, and Rachel and her mommy tried to take off the dress but couldn't, even when they used scissors. They started getting more and more worried.
Finally they went back to the costume store to find the old saleslady who had sold them the dress....but she no longer worked for the store. So Rachel and her mommy went to find her. They finally found her house and knocked on the door, and she answered. When they explained the problem, the saleslady refused to talk to them. They came back the next day, but the house was gone so they looked all over town to find it...only to find that it had mysteriously moved to another part of town, far away at the edge of the town. They knocked on the door again and the saleslady opened it, finally.
She said, "Years ago, my daughter was just like you. All she wanted to do was dance. She loved dancing so much that she didn't pay attention in school and she left home and moved far away to join a dance company and I never heard from her again. So I made a dress that another girl who loved to dance would wear someday and would never be able to take off."
Rachel promised that she would pay attention in class, do her lessons, and still do ballet but she'd never abandon her mommy. So the saleslady said some words and un-did the spell she had put on the dress, and Rachel was finally able to take it off. She paid attention in class and eventually joined a ballet company and became famous, but she always came home to visit, just like she'd promised.
***
That was the story I told Rachel on Thursday as we were driving home from school. Her reaction?
"That was a GREAT STORY!" she sighed.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Storytime
Once upon a time there was a wonderful amusement park called Fairyland Park. It had wonderful rides, and attractions, and games. Everything was colored in pale colors -- pink, blue, green and purple -- and all the rides were gentle, so the little kids could ride them. And although the park had been around for years and years, the rides never broke, the paint never peeled or chipped, and all the kids for years and years had great fun there.
One day, two little siblings named Susie and Jimmy went to the park and noticed that the paint was peeling on the rides, and the rides weren't gentle anymore. In fact, when the kids got on them, they went VERY VERY VERY FAST and were so scary that the kids threw up and were green and dizzy when they got off. And gradually the park fell into more and more disrepair.
One day a spirit appeared, and he roared over the whole park: "This is MY park! Go away! All of you!" And that's when Susie and Jimmy realized that that was why the paint was peeling and the rides weren't gentle anymore -- it was an evil spirit who had taken over the park and made it that way. Susie and Jimmy went home and tried to figure out what to do.
The next day they went to the park and asked the spirit why he was so mean. "Because a long time ago, little kids made fun of me and teased me, and this is my way of getting back at them!" he roared.
"Well, that's not very nice," Susie and Jimmy said, and then they had an idea: they'd gather all the little kids from their town, and there were about a hundred of them. So the kids came to the park and they all spoke to the spirit. "How about you have the park for a certain number of hours and we have it for the rest of the time?" they asked.
"NO!" the spirit roared. "It's MY park! MINE! I will NEVER share it with ANYONE! Go AWAY!"
Well, Jimmy and Susie told the spirit that if he wouldn't share the park, they'd bring their friends. And the next day, they brought the same hundred kids who had been there the previous day -- plus waves and waves of kids from the towns nearby. There were hundreds and hundreds of kids, and they all stood in front of the spirit and shouted, "This is not YOUR park. It's OUR park! Be GONE, spirit! Be GONE!"
And all of a sudden the spirit started howling, and swirling, and twisted upward into a great cloud of dust...and tiny dust motes of fairy sprinkles in all different colors started drifting down. And the colors of Fairyland Park were restored, and rides were fixed again...and that is the story of how the kids took back Fairyland Park.
***
That's the story I told Rachel on the way to Sunnyside Park today, after she asked for a story that's "a little spooky" but not a lot because she didn't want to have spooky dreams. She made up the names of Jimmy and Susie but I supplied the rest.
***
Cute Rachel sayings from yesterday:
"I love Superman! He's the best!"
"Why?" I asked.
"'Cause he SAVES people!" she replied.
"Mom!" Rachel said as I was pushing her, hard, at her request, on the tire swing. "I feel like I'm dancing in a swirl of fairy dust!"
Yes, it seems we have a budding writer in the house. Despite all our best attempts not to.
One day, two little siblings named Susie and Jimmy went to the park and noticed that the paint was peeling on the rides, and the rides weren't gentle anymore. In fact, when the kids got on them, they went VERY VERY VERY FAST and were so scary that the kids threw up and were green and dizzy when they got off. And gradually the park fell into more and more disrepair.
One day a spirit appeared, and he roared over the whole park: "This is MY park! Go away! All of you!" And that's when Susie and Jimmy realized that that was why the paint was peeling and the rides weren't gentle anymore -- it was an evil spirit who had taken over the park and made it that way. Susie and Jimmy went home and tried to figure out what to do.
The next day they went to the park and asked the spirit why he was so mean. "Because a long time ago, little kids made fun of me and teased me, and this is my way of getting back at them!" he roared.
"Well, that's not very nice," Susie and Jimmy said, and then they had an idea: they'd gather all the little kids from their town, and there were about a hundred of them. So the kids came to the park and they all spoke to the spirit. "How about you have the park for a certain number of hours and we have it for the rest of the time?" they asked.
"NO!" the spirit roared. "It's MY park! MINE! I will NEVER share it with ANYONE! Go AWAY!"
Well, Jimmy and Susie told the spirit that if he wouldn't share the park, they'd bring their friends. And the next day, they brought the same hundred kids who had been there the previous day -- plus waves and waves of kids from the towns nearby. There were hundreds and hundreds of kids, and they all stood in front of the spirit and shouted, "This is not YOUR park. It's OUR park! Be GONE, spirit! Be GONE!"
And all of a sudden the spirit started howling, and swirling, and twisted upward into a great cloud of dust...and tiny dust motes of fairy sprinkles in all different colors started drifting down. And the colors of Fairyland Park were restored, and rides were fixed again...and that is the story of how the kids took back Fairyland Park.
***
That's the story I told Rachel on the way to Sunnyside Park today, after she asked for a story that's "a little spooky" but not a lot because she didn't want to have spooky dreams. She made up the names of Jimmy and Susie but I supplied the rest.
***
Cute Rachel sayings from yesterday:
"I love Superman! He's the best!"
"Why?" I asked.
"'Cause he SAVES people!" she replied.
"Mom!" Rachel said as I was pushing her, hard, at her request, on the tire swing. "I feel like I'm dancing in a swirl of fairy dust!"
Yes, it seems we have a budding writer in the house. Despite all our best attempts not to.
Rachel the defender
One of the things we're trying to teach Rachel is the importance of standing up for people when they're being picked on or teased -- something I wish I had done more often when I was a kid. Actually, I was usually the one being teased. What I really wish is that I had stood up to the bullies and gathered all the other nerdy kids who didn't fit in and form a group to defeat the popular kids. You know, like in the movies.
Anyway....
Rachel had this to say the other day: "At lunch all the kids were teasing Sadie."
"What did you do?" I said.
"I tried to stop them but they didn't listen to me. Finally, Joe (the teacher) came over and stopped it. He said if anyone else teased Sadie, lunch would be scooped up and they'd find themselves in the bathroom right away."
When I pressed Rachel a little more on the teasing, she said, "They were like saying, 'ha ha ha ha.' She was trying to stop them and she was almost into tears."
I felt so sorry for Sadie but so proud of Rachel.
Today I ran into Sadie's mom, Mims, who told me that when Drew said good-bye to Rachel last week before he left for Wisconsin, Sadie was very concerned. "Who's going to take care of Rachel?" she demanded, and Mims reassured her that her mommy would.
Anyway....
Rachel had this to say the other day: "At lunch all the kids were teasing Sadie."
"What did you do?" I said.
"I tried to stop them but they didn't listen to me. Finally, Joe (the teacher) came over and stopped it. He said if anyone else teased Sadie, lunch would be scooped up and they'd find themselves in the bathroom right away."
When I pressed Rachel a little more on the teasing, she said, "They were like saying, 'ha ha ha ha.' She was trying to stop them and she was almost into tears."
I felt so sorry for Sadie but so proud of Rachel.
Today I ran into Sadie's mom, Mims, who told me that when Drew said good-bye to Rachel last week before he left for Wisconsin, Sadie was very concerned. "Who's going to take care of Rachel?" she demanded, and Mims reassured her that her mommy would.
Uncle David's influence
Tonight I made up a story about a malevolent spirit that haunted a playground called Fairyland. At the very end of the story, Rachel announced, "The spirit is a Republican."
"Huh??" I exclaimed. "Who told you about Republicans?"
"Uncle David," she said. "Publicans are greedy. We demand, they force. They're much like the stepmother and stepsister in Cinderella. I don't even want to be NEAR one."
I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't reply. We were silent the rest of the way home.
"Huh??" I exclaimed. "Who told you about Republicans?"
"Uncle David," she said. "Publicans are greedy. We demand, they force. They're much like the stepmother and stepsister in Cinderella. I don't even want to be NEAR one."
I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't reply. We were silent the rest of the way home.
Back from the dead
..well, not literally, but I'm at least able to work and take care of Rachel when Drew is in Seattle. I've spent $200 out of pocket for medical care over the past week and they STILL don't know what's wrong with me. The most recent surmise is a sinus infection, for which a very nice allergy doctor gave me antibiotics. I'll finish taking them on Sunday, but they'll be in my system for another week. So far there isn't a noticeable difference except that instead of being exhausted, I'm merely very, very tired. Still have the bronchial cough and drip, drip, drip of mucus throughout my body. I'm also taking a B-complex vitamin every day, probiotics (to deal with the antibiotics) and Vitamin D (because despite what our hyperventilating tourist officials say, we get very little sun here for long stretches of time during the year, and about 30 percent of us are deficient in Vitamin D, which helps build a healthy immune system (plus drinking lots of green tea, which I am doing as I write this).
Some of the fun things I learned through my journey through the American health care system:
--I grumble about paying $200 out of pocket, but I am really lucky to have health care.
--I'm allergic to some grasses, mold and dust and that's about it. Turns out I'm not allergic to cats, so when I'm around them and I sneeze, I can only guess that I caught that allergy from Drew. And so help me, if he gives me asthma I am OUT OF HERE.
--My body has produced enough mucus to cover several football fields. And it's still not quitting!
--I am really lucky to have health care.
--Rachel has my cough but not the post-nasal drip, hives and mucus flow. Someone must be watching out for us. It may well be true that God never gives us more than we can handle. Although between my illness, the various things that need fixing in the house, and all the other items in my life that need attention RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, I would be happy if things calmed down a little.
--The allergy doc told me that my life sounds fantastically busy but that I should really try to slow down. I may consider his advice for several days before rejecting it.
--I am really lucky to have health care.
Some of the fun things I learned through my journey through the American health care system:
--I grumble about paying $200 out of pocket, but I am really lucky to have health care.
--I'm allergic to some grasses, mold and dust and that's about it. Turns out I'm not allergic to cats, so when I'm around them and I sneeze, I can only guess that I caught that allergy from Drew. And so help me, if he gives me asthma I am OUT OF HERE.
--My body has produced enough mucus to cover several football fields. And it's still not quitting!
--I am really lucky to have health care.
--Rachel has my cough but not the post-nasal drip, hives and mucus flow. Someone must be watching out for us. It may well be true that God never gives us more than we can handle. Although between my illness, the various things that need fixing in the house, and all the other items in my life that need attention RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, I would be happy if things calmed down a little.
--The allergy doc told me that my life sounds fantastically busy but that I should really try to slow down. I may consider his advice for several days before rejecting it.
--I am really lucky to have health care.
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