kochleffel

Here's another interesting story from Buffalo, about a man who broke into a school and rescued about two dozen people who were stranded. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/31/buffalo-blizzard-jay-withey-rescue-school/

Before Christmas, several of my Christian clergy friends were discussing what their churches would do on Christmas morning; in general it seems that people would rather attend church on Christmas eve than on Christmas morning, even if the morning is Sunday. One pastor said that his church would have a breakfast with hymns, but no actual church service. Well, for today, another announced that his church would be completely closed. It's not one that teaches temperance, if that has any bearing.

Rabbit, rabbit. (When I say this to the Junior Cat, she looks around as if asking "Where? Where?") No hangover -- only two glasses of champagne last night and those were fairly early. The meal suggestion would be possible, but if making at home would require a vegan substitute for either the chicken or the cheese. I'm looking for a recipe combining squash (!), black-eyed peas, and greens, but the squash is the only one of the three that I actually have.

I remember his posts in several different forums. We seemed to agree on various topics. Happy 7th day of Christmas, 6th day of Kwanzaa, and 13th day of Hanukkah (there is no such thing). I self-tested before going to the synagogue this morning; it was really too soon, but I didn't want to miss a liturgy class after the morning service. Years ago I tried to persuade my doctor that I suffered from a champagne deficiency, but she insisted that there was no such disorder, and wouldn't prescribe it for me. She had graduated from the Harvard medical school so there was no point in arguing. I've put a bottle of Israeli champagne in the refrigerator (doesn't matter to me that it's from Israel, but it has been around for about five years). I'm not sure that I could afford Veuve Clicquot, or even find it here. I'd be pleased with basil-crusted veal but dinner will actually be salmon, with broccoli if it's still fresh enough to use (purchased before I went to Washington). I thought I might have to dash out to a store this evening to buy bread, an unpleasant thought because I don't like to drive anywhere after dark on NYE, but came home from the synagogue with half a dozen bagels that were left over.

I got home just after 5:00 p.m. yesterday. The Junior Cat had a lot to say and none of it sounded complimentary. Driving back was not as difficult but was, if anything, more annoying: gas stations that didn't sell gas (is their business lottery tickets, or meth?), restaurants that closed just as I arrived (no staff), the worst coffee I've ever tasted, including NCL's. However, it was 50° and I got my car washed in Harrisburg. On Monday it had gotten so coated in slush that, in the hotel garage, I couldn't recognize it; it appeared to be battleship grey instead of electric blue. My luggage did not get lost, which would be really alarming in a car trip. For my last two international trips, because it would be harder to buy replacement clothes abroad, I've carried an international-size carry-on bag (slightly smaller than the maximum allowed on domestic airlines) instead of just a so-called personal item. For the Spanish Farewell next year, I'll use it as one of two bags to check on the outbound flight, and then carry it for the return flight from FLL, where I'll be able to check only one. If you can get to Washington before March 26, "Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South" is well worth seeing at the National Gallery. https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2022/called-to-create.html

There's a reason for not using lima beans: they require a long growing season, so might not ripen in northern New England. Cranberry beans are ready to eat as fresh shell beans in 60 days, or for drying in 85, but traditionally are eaten as fresh shell beans.

Here’s an interesting story about how two retail managers in the Buffalo airport fed stranded travelers and emergency workers. https://wapo.st/3hSqmWV

The Senior Cat in Charge was the most talkative of mine. He was a large, long-haired cat with the voice and temperament of a Siamese, and he had a lot to say on absolutely any subject. The cat in the painting yesterday was the only one I've seen in Washington.

I was on aNother Cruise Line for an itinerary that included Patmos, but it was just in the evening, after Kusadasi, and I was so tired from Ephesus that I didn’t go ashore. I must have been tired yesterday, too, because I went to bed at 10:00 and slept uninterrupted until 8:00, then made and drank a cup of coffee, went back to bed, and slept until 11:45 a.m. I did get to the National Gallery, hence the Titian of St. John and the Still Life with Fish and Cat by Clara Peeters (Flemish, 17th c.).

Since many here have probably visited Patmos For the Junior Cat

Maybe so. That part of Pennsylvania has two Federal prisons, Lewisburg and Allenwood ("Club Fed"), but only office workers would have the day off.

Yes. It’s why I planned to start the trip yesterday, but it doesn’t explain the severe traffic jams elsewhere.

In Arlington, rather later than planned. Why should there be bumper-to-bumper traffic in Shamokin Dam, PA, pop. 1,647? Or in semi-rural Maryland and yet traffic moved swiftly closer to the I-495 Beltway?

And on a happier note:

Happy Boxing Day, second day of Christmas, first day of Kwanzaa, and eighth (last) day of Hanukkah. It's also "Christmas Day Observed" for government offices and banks. My office is closed, which is handy since I'm headed for Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington) as soon as I can get ready, which is not going to be right away since clothes that I need are still in the dryer. Squash! I have a honeynut squash but will not be cooking it, or anything, today. In general I would like the cocktail even though it would remind me of homemade cough medicine, but shaking anything with ice doesn't feel very attractive despite the heat wave we're having. Yesterday the thermometer fell up to 19° and will reach 22° today. Washington will be warmer, 47° on Wednesday. The loss of life from the storm west of here is at least 17 souls. Yesterday Erie County requested help from volunteers with snowmobiles, sometimes to rescue the rescuers themselves.

The Junior Cat has a new ritual, if that's what it is. She cries almost constantly for canned food, and the v-e-t- wants here to have some, but she will only eat one spoonful out of a can. After that, she continues to cry for it, but won't eat any more unless it's from a freshly opened can. Even opened for 30 minutes is too old.

For others: There is always confusion about this, and about other Jewish holidays. For the other holidays, the confusing part is that calendars list them on the actual days, but the celebration starts the evening before. For Hanukkah, what is most necessary to know is how many candles to light, so that's what Jewish calendars show. Thus, on a Jewish calendar, the space for today reads "8 candles" because that's the number to light tonight, but then it will be tomorrow in Jewish time.

Merry Christmas and happy 7th day of Hanukkah (not 8th). Neither of the meal suggestions works for me, and meals here today will be strange, even more so than usual, because of what needs to be used up. I haven't been to New Zealand, but I have been to Wellington, Ohio. It has a rather noticeable village hall. By Larry Pieniazek, Lar (commons) or User:Lar (primary) - Picture taken by User:Lar, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3714781

There was a Private Zero in the Beetle Bailey comic strip. Naive, rather dimwitted farm boy from Cornpone, Nebraska.

By Jewish time, the day begins at sunset on the evening before the day shown on the calendar, so I'm declaring that it's Christmas Day as of about an hour ago. Merry Christmas and Happy 7th Day of Hanukkah. I went to the synagogue for lighting the BGM after Havdalah, the ceremony that marks the end of the Sabbath. I was standing outside in the snow when the phone rang: the rabbi had canceled the outdoor lighting and phoned because I hadn't replied to a text. I was already hosting it on Zoom, so I let myself into the building while he led Havdalah from home and his children lighted their menorah, then carried the phone back outside to show the lighting of the BGM. I can't host Zoom while wearing gloves, so it was cold, although at 11° it was the warmest it's been all day. It was zero when I went to the synagogue this morning and 9° when I left. I was pleased with my birthday celebrations there, although the total in-person attendance was only 5 at each service including the officiants. I had food for way more than that. On Friday evening the rabbi called me up for a birthday blessing, which he read from a copy of the Rabbi's Manual that his predecessor, now deceased, had used. It requires inserting the recipient's Hebrew name, and he was floored to find mine written in pencil in the margin in his predecessor's handwriting. It's possible that the last time this was done when 11 years ago, on my 60th. (The celebration this year was postponed because at this time last year the synagogue still wasn't allowing food.) News reports say that, in the Buffalo area, the storm is the worst ever recorded. There was a record for snow set just last month; this time the snow is about the same depth, but it's also very cold and very windy. The southern suburbs of Buffalo had the worst of it in November, but this time the wind direction was slightly different and the most snow fell on the city and northern suburbs. There is still a travel ban in effect in several counties, and the Thruway is closed from west of Rochester all the way to the Pennsylvania line. I can imagine people driving from the NYC area heading north and west on the Thruway as usual, getting forced off and then getting lost or stuck on minor roads. In fact, if they were to take I-80, I-81, and I-86, they could avoid all of it--but the Thruway (I-90) is the time-honored route even though the other highways don't have tolls. I plan to drive to Washington, D.C., on Monday, but the most direct route for me is US-15. I hope to stop at a Waffle House or similar to celebrate the last day of Hanukkah the Dutch way, with waffles. This stems from mixing Hebrew and Dutch: in Hebrew, Hanukkah is described as nes va-fele, "a miracle and a wonder," but to the Dutch ear it sounds like "a miracle and waffle." Wednesday of the past week would have been Flory Jagoda's 99th birthday. She grew up in Sarajevo and it's almost solely because of her that Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) music of the Balkans survives. Here's a video of her singing "Ocho Kandelikas" (Eight Little Candles, a Hanukkah song). If you understand any Spanish, it will all be comprehensible.

Tying up the loose end for anyone reading this thread now. Effective November 14 2022, travel authorizations will no longer be required to enter Bermuda. Visitors (arriving by air or yacht) travelling to Bermuda from November 14 onwards do not need to apply for a travel authorization. In its place, the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) will reinstate the Bermuda Arrival Card, a digital form for visitors only, which was in place before the onset of the pandemic. Cruise visitors are not required to complete any entry form. https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus-travellers-visitors

We're not supposed to see much more snow, but the temperature is already down to 8°. Outdoor menorah lighting is cancelled (as a group, I mean; someone will do it quickly). Me, to the Junior Cat: "Are you hungry or are you getting ready to throw up?" (It was the latter.) At leasat we don't have to watch for falling iguanas.

It's still raining, but that will change to snow in the next hour or so and then the temperature will drop all day. The meal suggestion would be OK with me, but dinner will likely be salmon. I wouldn't mind having Pfeffernüsse but the cookies I baked are chocolate chip. @RedneckBob Shouldn't the key lime pie be battered and fried before the chocolate coating goes on? For my birthday (today) I started a fund-raiser on "Spacenook" for the International Rescue Committee. I don't have very many actual friends there--more are professional contacts--but it was fully subscribed within an hour.