Pesach, first half
Apr. 17th, 2006 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI went to the frank people for first seder. It was called for 8:30, but we got started closer to 9, so it's not surprising it ran late, even trying to save some discussion for dinner (that never quite works out, though; I should bring stickies to mark the bits of the haggadah to go back to :-).
There were ten of us, all people I knew, no children. The haggadot were the same plain texts, without interpretations, leaving it open for us to take in whatever direction we wanted. The leader read the Hebrew (some people read along), while the English went around the table, and everyone joined in for the songs (including singing up to where we were in the seder).
As always, the frank people are lovely hosts; no reflection on them that people were particularly tired with all they'd done during the day. I got home well after 2 am, after weeks of chronic undersleeping; I'd already marked the first day as time wallow at home and hopefully catch up on sleep.
The second seder I went to was hosted by an argonaut. He'd been at the first seder, too, which is why there were finger puppets both nights for the four questions ("matzo!"). He also had a lot of other toys, including finger puppets for the plagues, ping pong balls for hail, a selection of little plastic beasts, masks, fake glasses with eyes in them, and a green sticky-gel hand that had a long string of an outstretched arm on it.
We were 10 or 11, again all adults, but a much lower average age. I knew only a couple of people before we started, but it didn't matter; everyone was into the fun seder our host had planned.
As the night before, there was discussion on the form of the seder itself: the haggadah dances around the exodus, apparently assuming that the plain story is assumed to be told, perhaps. Oh, and Moses does appear in the text, two or three times, though more as a brief mention than an actual actor. And while we again used fairly plain text Orthodox haggadot, I noticed that this one included literal teeth in the translation of the wicked son, though it didn't include breasts in the translation about the nation growing up, though they're plainly there in the Hebrew. Not a surprise, I suppose; I imagine G-rated haggadot are what is preferred these days, especially.
Food highlights the second night included two options for charoset, one the regular apple-walnut type, the other a Sefardi confection of dates, spices, and nuts. Which was extremely yummy, but wasn't charoset to me. The other stand-out food for me were the tilapia fish cakes, with some green stuff in them, and a green sauce (parsley, arugula, and a couple of other green things in it) with it. Yummy, and an unexpected sort of fish course.
I made it to shul in the morning; it was sparse. During musaf, the gabbai called the cohanim to wash for duchening, and since there weren't any leviim (!), first-born males got the honor instead (if there hadn't been any of those, apparently the cohanim would have to wash their own hands)). At which point davening had to pause, because there wasn't a minyan with all those men out of the room. (There were six adult cohanim, and eleven other men; the ratio seems a bit high...)
The rest of the day was useful, but in a relaxed, happy sort of way. I got food ready for Shabbat, and didn't feel at all rushed, so it was fine when guests showed up earlier than I'd expected; everything was pretty much done. (I wish I could say this more frequently!).
I had a small but congenial Shabbat dinner; we were all very silly. Oh, and I managed not to forget to count the omer on the second night :-).
The menu:
Conversation ranged from more seder toys (my host from the second night was there) to representations of the wicked son (which range widely), to the beauties of the Moss haggadah, to the glories of new fridgeness, to recent theater.
We were all rather worn out by the beginning of chag, so I was happy to be able to offer crash space to a particularly exhausted person.
Which meant that there was someone to talk to over breakfast, so I wasn't reading a book, so I did look out the window, and see... a raccoon high up one of the trees two yards away. A big one, too, climbing up the boles on the branch. We watched its progress, taking time to appreciate the birds flying about, then when I looked back, there was another one, slightly smaller, a bit more tan - a female? I don't know for sure, but that's my guess. She'd been up in the tree already, at the juncture of some branches, and even after the darker one left (down the other side of the tree; I couldn't see how he got down), she stayed in the tree, appearing out of a hollow that seems to be at the bottom of a hollowed out branch. How very cool.
The rest of the day featured Strange Synergy and a walk about the neighborhood (not nearly so far as I should have walked, but something is better than nothing...).
Motza'i Shabbat I went to a spring party. I ended up wearing the white outfit I think of as my Yom Kippur/ Tu B'Av outfit, but that's what felt springlike. And it was a fun time, meeting a couple of new people and having time to chat with some already-known people.
Sunday I went to my parents' for brunch, and got to see not only my nephew (who's enjoying making cute clicking sounds) (oh, and his parents :-), but out of state relatives, too: an uncle, his daughter, and her son. I'd not seen him (the son) since his bar mitzvah almost two years ago; he's grown up and his voice dropped amazingly. Plus he likes good books, does sports, and is taking Latin. Yay.
I finally got to see the beginning of the new Dr. Who. Yay. (And who knew I had such nostalgia for the groaning sound of a TARDIS?)
This morning I finally wrestled with the last of the taxes (darned program wouldn't let me import stuff, so I had to type it all in; I'm considering paper next year), and now it's time to figure out food for the last days, and buy the fill-in stuff I need (how I thought I'd use only one small container of oil, I don't know. It's not Hannukah :-).
Not done: marathon watching, or going to the Patriot's Day reenactment in Concord. Next year...
There were ten of us, all people I knew, no children. The haggadot were the same plain texts, without interpretations, leaving it open for us to take in whatever direction we wanted. The leader read the Hebrew (some people read along), while the English went around the table, and everyone joined in for the songs (including singing up to where we were in the seder).
As always, the frank people are lovely hosts; no reflection on them that people were particularly tired with all they'd done during the day. I got home well after 2 am, after weeks of chronic undersleeping; I'd already marked the first day as time wallow at home and hopefully catch up on sleep.
The second seder I went to was hosted by an argonaut. He'd been at the first seder, too, which is why there were finger puppets both nights for the four questions ("matzo!"). He also had a lot of other toys, including finger puppets for the plagues, ping pong balls for hail, a selection of little plastic beasts, masks, fake glasses with eyes in them, and a green sticky-gel hand that had a long string of an outstretched arm on it.
We were 10 or 11, again all adults, but a much lower average age. I knew only a couple of people before we started, but it didn't matter; everyone was into the fun seder our host had planned.
As the night before, there was discussion on the form of the seder itself: the haggadah dances around the exodus, apparently assuming that the plain story is assumed to be told, perhaps. Oh, and Moses does appear in the text, two or three times, though more as a brief mention than an actual actor. And while we again used fairly plain text Orthodox haggadot, I noticed that this one included literal teeth in the translation of the wicked son, though it didn't include breasts in the translation about the nation growing up, though they're plainly there in the Hebrew. Not a surprise, I suppose; I imagine G-rated haggadot are what is preferred these days, especially.
Food highlights the second night included two options for charoset, one the regular apple-walnut type, the other a Sefardi confection of dates, spices, and nuts. Which was extremely yummy, but wasn't charoset to me. The other stand-out food for me were the tilapia fish cakes, with some green stuff in them, and a green sauce (parsley, arugula, and a couple of other green things in it) with it. Yummy, and an unexpected sort of fish course.
I made it to shul in the morning; it was sparse. During musaf, the gabbai called the cohanim to wash for duchening, and since there weren't any leviim (!), first-born males got the honor instead (if there hadn't been any of those, apparently the cohanim would have to wash their own hands)). At which point davening had to pause, because there wasn't a minyan with all those men out of the room. (There were six adult cohanim, and eleven other men; the ratio seems a bit high...)
The rest of the day was useful, but in a relaxed, happy sort of way. I got food ready for Shabbat, and didn't feel at all rushed, so it was fine when guests showed up earlier than I'd expected; everything was pretty much done. (I wish I could say this more frequently!).
I had a small but congenial Shabbat dinner; we were all very silly. Oh, and I managed not to forget to count the omer on the second night :-).
The menu:
- Alfasi Sauvignon Blanc 1999
- matza
- flounder fillets with lemon slices cooked over onions, mushrooms, and yu choi
- vegetarian (eggplant) liver
- turkey meatloaf (with scallions, matza meal, hot pepper sauce, and ketchup)
- green salad with mango, tomato, scallion, hearts of palm, and chicken breast that had been poached in salsa
- artichokes boiled with lemon and black pepper
- roasted carrots and parsnips
- cubed pears baked with ginger and brown sugar
- cranberry-rhubarb compote
- walnuts spiced with ginger, cayenne, black pepper, and brown sugar
Conversation ranged from more seder toys (my host from the second night was there) to representations of the wicked son (which range widely), to the beauties of the Moss haggadah, to the glories of new fridgeness, to recent theater.
We were all rather worn out by the beginning of chag, so I was happy to be able to offer crash space to a particularly exhausted person.
Which meant that there was someone to talk to over breakfast, so I wasn't reading a book, so I did look out the window, and see... a raccoon high up one of the trees two yards away. A big one, too, climbing up the boles on the branch. We watched its progress, taking time to appreciate the birds flying about, then when I looked back, there was another one, slightly smaller, a bit more tan - a female? I don't know for sure, but that's my guess. She'd been up in the tree already, at the juncture of some branches, and even after the darker one left (down the other side of the tree; I couldn't see how he got down), she stayed in the tree, appearing out of a hollow that seems to be at the bottom of a hollowed out branch. How very cool.
The rest of the day featured Strange Synergy and a walk about the neighborhood (not nearly so far as I should have walked, but something is better than nothing...).
Motza'i Shabbat I went to a spring party. I ended up wearing the white outfit I think of as my Yom Kippur/ Tu B'Av outfit, but that's what felt springlike. And it was a fun time, meeting a couple of new people and having time to chat with some already-known people.
Sunday I went to my parents' for brunch, and got to see not only my nephew (who's enjoying making cute clicking sounds) (oh, and his parents :-), but out of state relatives, too: an uncle, his daughter, and her son. I'd not seen him (the son) since his bar mitzvah almost two years ago; he's grown up and his voice dropped amazingly. Plus he likes good books, does sports, and is taking Latin. Yay.
I finally got to see the beginning of the new Dr. Who. Yay. (And who knew I had such nostalgia for the groaning sound of a TARDIS?)
This morning I finally wrestled with the last of the taxes (darned program wouldn't let me import stuff, so I had to type it all in; I'm considering paper next year), and now it's time to figure out food for the last days, and buy the fill-in stuff I need (how I thought I'd use only one small container of oil, I don't know. It's not Hannukah :-).
Not done: marathon watching, or going to the Patriot's Day reenactment in Concord. Next year...
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 06:01 pm (UTC)Im glad you made it over for Doctor Who last night. We will have to make sure to keep up on these... of course the fact that we ended the night with a cliffhanger might help.
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Date: 2006-04-17 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 07:37 pm (UTC)Thursday?
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Date: 2006-04-17 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 10:21 pm (UTC)yep... thats the one. you are on my calendar.
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Date: 2006-04-18 10:31 pm (UTC)