Mine. Mine mine. Mine.

I didn't even orchestrate it. Mich came down for breakfast and mentioned that Abigail was coming over for breakfast. And for about 15 minutes, four of us (Josh was there too) sat around the kitchen table and talked and ate and laughed just like we used to, and it felt like it was all mine, just for me, mine mine mine, as the seagulls in Finding Nemo like to say. I know it wasn't really all mine. I know it was really for all of us. But life sure is good when it's for all of us but it feels like it's all mine. Mine mine. Mine. Mine.

Spring flowers!

I haven't been writing a lot in my posts lately, and among the things I haven't been writing a lot about is that this is not just a blog about joy, but about pure and selfish joy. I think sometimes I've lost track of that for myself as well, but I also think it's partly because it's becoming internalized and that I take it for granted that these minutes or hours in my day are all for me, and not for anyone else. Which has been making a significant difference in my outlook and enjoyment of life, and also has made me much happier to do things for other people (I have always liked to do things for other people, but I don't feel put upon anymore, because I'm also doing things for me EVERY DAY) and also it's made it easier for me to ask for help from other people. In all, a net gain all around.

And so, it's with this context, that I write about a day of doing joyful things that were NOT all for me, and were still completely brought me pure joy. It was Josh's birthday. He wanted to go to the gym and the botanic garden and to come home and bake birthday dessert. I wanted to do all those things too, so we went together to the gym, and I ran for 35 minutes on the treadmill. (I'm starting to feel better! My iron infusions are working!) Then Josh creamed me in a fierce game of ping pong. (He uses spin. It gets me every time.) Then we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and things are starting to bloom! It was in the low 50s, very Spring-like, and we got to see beautiful dwarf irises, a few dwarf tulips, and the very very very very very first magnolia buds starting to open. Oh yeah, and an early-flowering peach tree. Nothing opens my heart like these early flowers. Puts me right back to East Bare Hill Road, when I would go out barefoot even though the ground was still really cold, and I would basically just wait for everything to start blooming. Forsythia, flowering quince, lilacs, apples, iris, lilies, violets. And then eventually the ground warms up, and eventually everything's out, and eventually you take it all for granted—as if it's always Spring, and then it's always Summer. Or at least as if it's always supposed to be.

The best soup I've ever made

I invented a recipe for a smoked fish soup a couple weeks ago. I think I wrote about it. I replicated it for Soup Swap—tripled to make 8 quarts. I ordered fish from the Harbor Fish Market in Portland Maine, and had it shipped overnight. The key to the soup is smoked haddock—that's what gives the richness to the broth. That and some dashi (fish, kelp, and mushroom soup stock.) The joy in replicating the recipe was partly the joy of ordering fish from Maine. Not just smoked haddock but insanely large and beautiful fillets of fresh haddock. (Also smoked mussels, smoked shrimp and fresh lobster.) Another part of the joy of cooking this soup was that it was done, from chopping the fennel to cleaning the pot, in 2 hours. A rich, delicious, redolent soup—8 quarts of it (actually 11 quarts because it's hard to judge sometimes)—in the time it takes me to commute daily. I wish this blog had smell-o-rama, so you could smell what I smell now. Smoky and fishy and sweet, but all in a good way. Once again, I feel incredibly joy that Leila first gave me the idea, and that I had the gumption to start Brooklyn Soup Swap, and that people have joined me for so long.

Which came first?

Another holiday, another opportunity for food sculpture. If I've learned one thing this year, it's that I do truly enjoy playing with my food. a zisn peysakh, alemen!

A Book Report on Peter Rabbit

When I was growing up, my family played a song game on long car trips. The game goes like this. One person sings a song, and stops on a word. The next person sings a song with that word in it, and stops on another word. The next person sings a song with that word in it, and stops on another word. Etc. In order to keep the game hard enough but not too hard, there's a system of challenging, which is to say that if someone stops on a really hard word that you think might not be in another song, or at least that you can't think of one and you bet they can't either, you can challenge them, and if they can't think of a song with that word, you win that game, or point, or they get knocked out of that round.

Josh and I drove his niece Jenny down and back to and from Potomac, and we played the song game. She's very good at it. She knows tons of songs, and she grew up playing Encore, which is basically the same game, but with a board. After a while, we decided we wanted to try to make the game harder by only allowing songs from musicals. Jenny landed on the word "teaching" and I couldn't think of anything for it, so we decided to go collaborative and all work on it together. We worked our way through 13, Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie, South Pacific, and others, but we didn't come up with anything. Eventually I thought of A Book Report from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, which is one of my favorite musical numbers, but I couldn't come up with all the lyrics, so Jenny pulled it up on YouTube, and played it for us all. Joy.

[LUCY]
A book report on Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit, Peter ra-

[LINUS (overlapping)]
A book report on Peter Rabbit, Peter ra-

[SCHROEDER (overlapping)]
A book report on Peter Rabbit, ra-

[CHARLIE BROWN (overlapping)]
A book report on Peter ra-

[ALL]
-Abbit.

[LUCY]
Peter Rabbit is this stupid book
About this stupid rabbit who steals
Vegetables from other peoples' gardens
[She counts the words so far]
Hmm. 83 to go.

[SCHROEDER]
The name of the book about which
This book report is about is
Peter Rabbit which is about this
Rabbit.
I found it very-
I liked the part where-
It was a-

It reminded me of "Robin Hood"
And the part where Little John jumped from the rock
To the Sheriff of Nottingham's back.
And then Robin and everyone swung from the trees
In a sudden surprise attack.
And they captured the sheriff and all of his goods
And they carried him back to their camp in the woods
And the sheriff was guest at their dinner and all
But he wriggled away and he sounded the call
And his men rushed in and the arrows flew-
Peter Rabbit did sort of that kind of thing too.

[LUCY]
The other people's name was Macgregor.
[counts to 23]
Ohh!

[LINUS]
In examining a book such as Peter Rabbit, it is important that
the superficial chracteristics of its deceptively simple plot
should not be allowed to blind the reader to the more substancial
fabric of its deeper motivations. In this report I plan to discuss the
sociological implications of family pressures so
great as to drive an otherwise moral rabbit to
perform acts of thievery which he consciously knew were
against the law. I also hope to explore the personlaity of Mr.
Macgregor in his comflicting roles as farmer and humanitarian.

Peter Rabbit is established from the start as a benevolent hero
and it is only...

[CHARLIE BROWN (overlapping)]
If I start writing now
When I'm not really rested
It could upset my thinking
Which is no good at all.
I'll get a fresh start tomorrow
And it's not due till Wednesday
So I'll have all of Tuesday
Unless something should happen.
Why does this always happen,
I should be outside playing
Getting fresh air and sunshine,
I work best under pressure,
And there'll be lots of pressure
If I wait till tomorrow
I should start writing now.
But I if I start writing now
When I'm nbot really rested
It could upset my thinking
Which is
No good at all.

[LUCY]
The name of the rabbit was Peter
[counts to 30]
Yes!

[SCHROEDER]
Down came the staff on his head- smaah!
And Robin fell like a sack full of lead- crash!
The sheriff laughed and he left him for dead- ah!
But he was wring

[LUCY]
35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40.

[SCHROEDER]
Just then an arrow flew in- whing!
It was a sign for the fight to begin- zing!
And then it looked like the sheriff would win- ah!
But not for long.
Away they ran.
Just lke rabbits.
Who run a lot
As you can tell
From the story
Of Peter Rabbit
Which this report
Is about.

[SALLY/SNOOPY]
Rabbits rabbits rabbits rabbits...

[CHARLIE BROWN]
How do they expect us to
Write a book report
Of any quality
In just two days

How can they
Conspire to
Make life so mis'rable
And so effectively
In so many ways

[LUCY]

There were vegetables
In the garden

Such as carrots and spinach
And onions and lettuce
And turnips and parsley
And okra and cabbage
And string beans ans parsnips
Tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus
Cauliflower, rhubarb and chives.

[LINUS]
Not to mention the extreme pressure exterted on him
bu his deeply rooted rivalry with Flopsy, Mopsy and
Cottontail!

[SALLY/SNOOPY]
Rabbits, rabbits, chasing rabbits...

[CHARLIE]
If I start
Writing now
When I'm not
Really rested
It could
Upset my
Thinking
Which is
Not good
At all
Not good
At all.

Oh.

First thing
After dinner
I'll start

[SCHROEDER]
The name of
The book
A bout which
This book
Report is
About is

Peter Rabbit,
Peter Rabbit

All for one
Ev'ry man
Does his part

Oh.

[LINUS]
What drove

An otherwise
Moral rabbit

To perform
Acts of

Thievery?
Thievery!

Sociological
Implications
Fam'ly
Pressure

Simple plot

[LUCY]
Peter Rabbit
Is this stupid
Book about this
Stupid rabbit
Who steals
Vegetables
From other
Peoples'
Gardens.

Gardens,
Gardens,

75,76

77,78,79,80
81,
82.

[SNOOPY/SALLY]
Rabbit
Chasing
Rabbit
Chasing
Rabbit
Chasing
Rabbit

Chasing!
Chasing!

Rabbits,
Rabbits
Chasing
Rabbits
Find a rabbit
Do or die!

[LUCY]
And they were very, very, very, very, very, very
Happy to be home.

[SCHROEDER/SALLY/SNOOPY]
The end.

[LUCY]
...94, 95. The very, very, very end.

[LINUS]
A-men

[CHARLIE BROWN]
A book report on Peter Rab-

[CHARLIE]
-Bit

Just start
Writing

You can do it

Nothing to it

Got to

Start-

Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!

[SCHROEDER]
Peter Rabbit
Was
A lot like
Robin Hood

Peter Rabbit
Was
A lot like
Robin Hood

Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!

[LINUS]
Sociological

Implications

Joined with

Familial
Condemnations

Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!

[LUCY]
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit

Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!

[SNOOPY/SALLY]
Rabbit!

Rabbit!

Rabbit!

Rabbit!

Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit!

[CHARLIE BROWN]
I haven't even started yet!

[ALL]
Peter Rabbit!

White Peysakh (with apologies to Irving Berlin)

I woke up Monday morning to four inches of snow in Potomac, and still coming down. A beautiful, thick, Yuletide snow that inspired me to sit down to one of my most joyful pastimes. With apologies to Irving Berlin, but secretly knowing this is the song he wished he had written.


WHITE PEYSAKH


I’m dreaming of a white peysakh

With temperatures of 10 below.

Where the brisket glistens

Four children listen

To hear Elijah in the snow.



I’m dreaming of a white peysakh

With every plague that I recite.

May your herbs be bitter all night

And may all your Passovers be white.



I’m dreaming of a white peysakh

Just like the ones in old Poto.

Where the khomets is missin’

And the fireplace hissin’

To warm Elijah’s frost-bit toe.



I’m dreaming of a white peysakh

With every taskmaster I smite.

May your tyrants be stricken with blight

And may all your Passovers be white.

MICH KAY!

I've been coming to Potomac for peysakh for 10 years. So has Mich Kay.  Mich and I have been friends for 4 of those years, and for one reason or another, we have never seen each other in Potomac.  We first met at a community seder in Brooklyn (that was not on one of first two nights when we would have been in Potomac) so peysakh is actually our anniversary. Well, it came to pass that Michelle and I celebrated our fourth anniversary in Potomac by taking a walk around the oddly charming US Postal Service training facility-turned conference center where Josh and I are staying this year.

There's a stained glass hall. 

Where a lady bug crawled in while we were talking. 

The fitness center is near the Office of the Postmaster General.

And of course there's a statue of Samuel Osgood, the first Postmaster, in the lobby of the hotel.

Presidents Miniature Sheets outside the doors of conference rooms.

And a rural mail delivery wagon from South Dakota on display.

All of which is completely delightful, but none as delightful as MICH KAY!