magid

Today in plants

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:04:39 GMT

I worked from home today because I wanted to check out the Arbor Week event at the library today. The city arborist was there with seedlings people could take. The choice was red maple, some kind of birch, redbud, or lilac. I chose the one shrub, because I know that lilac is edible (I’ve made lilac liqueur, which means lilac syrup also works). And I grabbed one of the little seed-implanted bits of paper they had in the shape of a tree.

There was also a table with information about a couple of city programs organized by GreenCambridge, which I didn’t know about before. The Canopy Crew offers a tree planted on private land by paid high school interns learning about forestry and environmental careers. The types of trees were chosen to provide habitat and provide biodiversity, as well as provide shade, clean the air, and reduce the chance of flooding. The other program is focused on Alewife Brook Reservation, which offers informational walks and the chance to help clear invasive species; I’ve joined the mailing list.

Once I was home, I checked the pawpaw seeds I’d put in the fridge last fall to see whether they’d survived without drying out or molding. Some looked ok, so I planted three in the corner of the back yard near where the neighbor’s cherry tree used to be (ie, it’s sunnier there than it used to be), along with the lilac seedling. The internet says I’d need to have at least two different varieties to get any fruit, because apparently the pollen isn’t ripe at the same time as the flowers being open (essentially), which seems like a non-optimized design….

I took the seed-implanted tree paper, along with some other similar bits of paper with seeds, and put them under dirt in the front yard, in a corner that looked rather patchy. Some of the shrubs in front had some dead branches, while others were getting overgrown, so I spent some time pruning. It’s not at all perfect, but it’s definitely better. I left the debris underneath, to decompose back into the soil. The only downside was that I managed to pinch some bits of my palm between the handles of the snips.

There were petals of tiny pink flowers that had fallen onto the moss in the front yard, which I hadn’t noticed before was so beautiful. I really do love having moss around, such wonderful colors and textures.

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Threads that bind

Wed, 06 May 2026 16:57:00 GMT

Last night I went to the Newton Library (read: far too long on the D branch of the Green Line plus a mile walk after) for an event sponsored by the Vilna Shul and JArts: "Threads That Bind: Weaving as a Practice of Storytelling,” which included a talk by Josh Kurtz about the history of weaving, (including texts and examples from Jewish history and other indigenous folkways), plus time to start a project on laser-cut flat hand looms that we could take home to finish later (along with whatever fibers we wanted from the varied assortment he’d brought, which varied from whole skeins to small balls of leftover yarn to roving).

I had a good time, though each part felt too short. The talk included slides, of the oldest known woven piece (a dress from Egypt about 5000 years ago); of a workers’ solidarity/protest banner that showed a complete picture including protest banners as part of it; of a piece commissioned by the Jewish Museum (in NYC, I think, not Jerusalem) to remember the Holocaust, six panels in browns, white, and black, which looked to me like they were unreadable text; of the unicorn tapestries; of a woven ceremonial dress made by a Native person in the southwest (I failed to take notes, so don’t have his name, but do remember he’s 26), who not only wove the cloths, but also shepherded and sheared the sheep, combed and spun the fibers, and foraged the materials to dye the thread/yarn (!!!!).

The looms were flat, laser-cut wood, looking rather like a rectangular picture frame, with holes in all corners, and little teeth top and bottom. We warped our own looms (though he did have some pre-warped, for those who wanted), then chose some of the fiber abundance to use as weft. The laser-cut pieces also included a flat, wide needle-like piece that could help with the back-and-forthing of fiber, and a smaller flat ‘fork’ for pushing the rows down. Both were optional, but useful. There wasn’t time to complete a piece, but we got to take the looms & tools & fibers we wanted home to complete! Josh requested photos once people finished their pieces.

I had arrived early, so I was there during room set-up. Josh mentioned that he’d gotten some yarns at Make and Mend in Somerville, so after the event, I asked if he was headed back to Somerville by car, and if so, could I catch a ride back (rather than another mile-plus walk, an eternity on the D-line (ok, maybe an hour?), then three-quarters of a mile walk home), which he was happy to offer. We chatted on the way back, talking textiles, and also Jewish geography (NHC turned out to be our first connector of friends in common).

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A pretty decent day

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:32:38 GMT

This morning I checked section 3 of the eruv. At that point, it was flatly overcast, perfect for checking since there was no glare. I took a new route to work afterward: it turns out the 101 bus stops at the far end of the section. I hadn’t tried it before, but today, someone was waiting, so I figured it wouldn’t be an unreasonable time until the bus came. That got me to Sullivan, then I hopped on the new, revised 85 bus (that was almost the previous CT2, except much less express), which would’ve worked fine had there not been roadworks that involved a detour and extra traffic. Still, I got to work at a reasonable hour, and got to see some new-to-me murals, so overall, a win.

I’d forgotten I’d signed up for a training; it’s lucky they sent a reminder email. It was in person, so I got out of the office, walking halfway across campus to learn more about how to deal with various types of fires (pull the fire alarm, don’t try to stop it unless very confident (people are more important, so get out)), and, interestingly, don’t call 911, but the campus police: they have a direct line to the municipal fire department, which has locations nearby, so they can get to anywhere on campus in 4 minutes. 911 gets routed to Framingham (mid-state), then bounces back to the city, resulting in a 12 minute response time. We covered the various types of fires (flammable types of metal sound particularly hairy) and how to stop them. (But really, get out and let the professionals do it.) And then we went to the loading dock and each got to set off a BC extinguisher, which was very cool, and also LOUD, which I hadn’t expected. I feel like I got another adulting point.

I took a bit of a long-cut back to the office to get some food, and got to pet some grape hyacinths before I talked with my mom on the way (she’s off for an international adventure with one of my cousins).

I realized it was the end of the month but I hadn’t gotten a reminder email about giving blood, so I hopped over to MGH to donate (OK, I took the T, no actual hopping involved ;-P). It took waaaaay longer than usual: they’ve just switched (less than a week ago) from a paper questionnaire to tablets, and it is not yet a faster system. For one thing, when you need half a dozen pages to explain what to do on the tablets, the design of the interface is not good. After help from multiple folks, I got through it, and then it turned out that the answers hadn’t gotten sucked into the system, so the intake person had to redo it all anyway. And it’s also why the email didn’t come: this new system is… not yet optimized, shall we say? And none of the snacks were sugarless or gluten-free, other than the raisins, which I feel are ingredients, not snacks in and of themselves.

And so home via bus 69 to make some food, feeling like the day was far from wasted.

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The Future Is Peace

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:33:19 GMT

I went to a lunchtime book talk at work today, with co-authors Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon talking about how they came to be working together towards peace in Israel (and hopefully around the world after that).

Maoz Inon told about how he was on the phone with his parents, who lived just north of the Gaza Strip, at 7:30a on October 7; they were in their safe room, and it was clear something was happening. Five minutes later, he couldn’t get through again, nor reach anyone from the community there until 4p, when he finally talked to a local, who told him his parents’ home had burned down and there were two bodies inside. He and his siblings arranged to sit shiva immediately. One of them (London based) asked the rest of the family to consider standing up for not retribution, but peace. It took days to get to the point of considering it, but they did.

Aziz Abu Sarah described growing up in Jerusalem, attending school at al-Aksah, never sure when something awful would happen. He described always going to school with an onion, because raw onion can shorten the effects of tear gas. His older brother had been arrested for throwing rocks, which he denied until tortured, and after a 10-month sentence, returned home, broken and ill, and ended up dying at just 19 years old. Aziz was 10. He avoided learning Hebrew in school, hating Israeli power, despite being required to learn it. He later realized that if he wanted to do more than wash dishes, he had to learn Hebrew, so he joined an Ulpan class where he was the only Muslim. And because the teacher saw his discomfort and made a point of treating him like another human, with dignity, he started to understand that there are people on both sides interested in peace.

They’d met briefly before October 7, enough to be FaceBorg friends, and that light connection grew into much more when Aziz reached out to Maoz offering condolences after the death of his parents. They started talking, and both had committed to working towards peace, with a goal of 2030 (!). Their organization is InterAct, and they’ve written a book together, The Future Is Peace. The talk included more details about the coalition building they’ve done (with other peace groups in Israel, meeting with Congress (2 years ago 3 senators were with them (Warren, Sanders, one other); now it’s 40), meeting with the Pope, carrying an Olympic torch together in the most recent games, etc.), and the hope that each of us will choose to work towards peace.

Thanks to either a local bookstore owner or my employer, there were free copies of the book available (I hope it’s well written), plus a ‘boarding pass’ card for “global citizen”, on flight “Hope Airlines, flight 203”, destination “Peace” which included an Arabic poem, and the English translation.

Travel Tickets

The day I’m killed,
my killer, rifling through my pockets,
will find travel tickets:
One to peace,
one to the fields and the rain,
and one
to the conscience of humankind.

I beg you my dear killer: don’t
Ignore them. Don’t waste such a thing,
But take and use the tickets. Please
I beg you to go traveling.

- Samih al-Qasim (translated by AZ Foreman)

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Alpha-gal

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 22:02:26 GMT

I know multiple folks who’ve been bitten by ticks and ended up with alpha-gal*, an anaphylaxis-level allergy to mammal-based foods, which sucks mightily (ticks and mosquitos have their place in the web of life and all, but they’d be my first two to vote off the planet if I had the option). And since folks often don’t know they’ve been bitten until they have a reaction, and like other tick-borne diseases (Lyme…), can be difficult to figure out, it’s extra awful.

None of which goes through by brain first when I hear “alpha-gal.” No, instead I ruminate on how it would be fun to read the adventures of AlphaGal and her sidekick, BetaBoy! I still haven’t decided whether these would be superheroes with powers tbd, or ones whose adventures focus on linguistics and various alphabets (perhaps for kids? or a much more clever person would be able to write them for adults?).

* link to Wikipedia; it’s awful that the CDC doesn’t feel like a reliable source these days.

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Earth Day

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 19:38:59 GMT

Today is Earth Day, and tomorrow the weekly (USian) drought monitor updates (link is to the whole US; I generally look only at MA). We’re still in drought, albeit not as badly as some weeks ago, with slow progress as we do get some precipitation.

I was thinking, though, that while we can’t do much about what the weather brings us, there are some things that humans do control that can mitigate (or not), in how we use our spaces.

One example is that paved parking lots mean the skywater we do get is runoff, rather than being absorbed where it lands. If too much of the environment is paved, that can mean flash floods even when the absolute amount of water wouldn’t predict that. I saw that up close and personal years ago when a sudden storm left parts of Somerville underwater (I slogged through water that was half-way up my calves to get to my volunteer shift that day), while Cambridge, which has more unpaved space, was totally fine. (Some parts of Somerville tend towards having the spaces around various houses and triple deckers paved, so there’s no yard maintenance. Which means other challenges instead.)

Another example is how so many places have ‘drained the swamp’ (or other types of wetlands). Fewer mosquitos tend to be a win, but really, there’s a reason for wetlands in a lot of places: they act as sponges that can absorb a lot of water if necessary/available, then release it slowly over time, so it all gets somewhere useful.

A third example is that when soil is reduced to dirt, there’s a much greater possibility of flooding and erosion, because the soil has been degraded so much (from pesticides, fungicides, even commercial fertilizers, also repeated ploughing that disrupts many underground systems, etc.) that it’s more an inert growing medium, rather than a dynamic biosystem with not only plant roots, various underground dwellers (earthworms among them), and microbes, but also mycorrhizal fungi that make soil healthy and able to use the water that comes. As with so many other things, diversity leads to better soil health, leading to more resilient systems, and food with more nutrition.

The world feels like it’s all in flames. Given that, let’s think about rebuilding with systems that aren’t wholly extractive, but regenerative of the planet.

Some related reading:
Paradise Lot, Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates
Wilding, Isabella Tree
Grass, Soil, Hope, Courtney White
Dirt to Soil, Gabe Brown
The One-Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka
Deeply Rooted, Lisa M. Hamilton
Farming While Black, Leah Penniman
A Call to Farms, Jennifer Grayson
The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Shabbat food

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 23:03:24 GMT

This week I’m hosting a tiny Shabbat dinner (two guests) and lunch (one guest).

Today’s food prep:

challah
split pea soup with barley, carrots*, garlic, Impossible sausage, onion, tomato paste
sauted Baby Bella mushrooms for hummus
roasted Brussels sprouts
roasted beets* and rutabaga*
roasted zucchini, tomato, lemon, and onion
roasted garlic
salmon with minced preserved lemon and whole wheat panko
potato salad with dill, parsley, and chives*
improv peach crisp with rice flour, walnut meal, and buckwheat flour topping
ginger cake
green salad with cucumbers and sunflower seeds
beef stew/cholent with onions, tomato paste, diced lemon, diced lime, farro, chickpeas, and Vadavan seasoning

* locally sourced

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A sadness: two MA colleges

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:56:10 GMT

Hampshire College has announced that they’re closing at the end of the fall 2026 semester (Why in the middle of the academic year? I have no idea, but it seems really odd.).

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/hampshire-college-closing-amherst-massachusetts/

I’ve never been there, but apparently it’s part of my emotional-geographical mental landscape anyway, given my need to post about it: so many years of listening to WFCR in the mornings, WBUR in the evenings growing up. (Apparently WFCR is just known now as the western MA NPR affiliate, not Five College Radio. And four starts with F, too.) This is yet another sadness in an already challenging time. I feel badly for the current students, and worse for the employees. Will the other four institutions in the five college area be hiring? What will happen to the campus? It won’t help the local businesses, either.

Closer to where I grew up, apparently Anna Maria College’s future is also shaky. I have a lot of the same questions, though presumably that not being definite gives people more time to plan?

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/anna-maria-college-massachusetts-risk-of-closing/?intcid=CNR-02-0623

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In which Sunday included far less than I’d hoped

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:54:57 GMT

Today I’d had the intent to finally put the Pesach kitchen away so I can start cooking, but that hasn’t happened (yet? Maybe posting this will get me to do it?). I was already underslept by a lot, and today’s must-do’s were emotionally raw. ( Read more... )

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Pesach cooking

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:23:39 GMT

Tonight is the start of Pesach. For the first days, I’m hosting no meals at home, but bringing food to both seders and almost half a meal to Shabbat dinner. I can cook on yom tov, but prefer to minimize it, plus I’m not leaving the oven on for three days, so cooking will be on the hot tray (variable temp options) if it happens. Oh, and later I’m to go to Seder1Home to help with their prep, which is why I got up early to cook here even though I’d taken the day off.

a lot of chocolate-matza clusters (70-80, using 4 of the six bags of chocolate chips I had to get because there were no bars of plain chocolate at the Butcherie (I did manage to avoid the other option, which was “chocolate flavored chips”)), spiced with ginger, cayenne, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt (going to all three meals)
six heads of roasted garlic
a dozen hard-boiled eggs
tray of roasted veggies 1: golden beets*, purple-top turnips*, potato*, carrots* (seder 2)
tray of roasted veggies 2: carrots* and purple-top turnips (seder 2)
tray of roasted veggies 3: potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, red beet* (Shabbat dinner)
tray of roasted veggies 4: halved eggplants, which then were scraped out and drained, then got added to
a spread of the eggplant, smoked paprika, sauted onions and baby bella mushrooms, some of the roasted garlic, plus walnuts and walnut meal (may add minced hard-boiled eggs at individual meals) (likely some to Shabbat dinner)
potato salad (oil and vinegar dressing) with hard-boiled eggs, scallions, parsley, and cucumber (may add pickled beets* at individual meals)

Still to make: carrot*-radish* slaw (Shabbat dinner; can make Friday once I make an eruv tavshilin), and whatever food for lunches (could be matza-with-toppings (cheese, whitefish salad, egg, eggplant spread), could be matza brei (with onions and scallions) or eggs-and-vegetables, could be some form of a beef stew or tsimmes (if the former, with potatoes, onions, carrots, tomato paste, a touch of hot pepper paste, possibly zucchini and tomatoes; if the latter, with onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, diced limes).

I forget betweentimes that I really do like my Pesach chopping knife; it’s a reminder that I should be sharpening my rest-of-the-year chopping knife much more frequently.

Chag kasher v’sameach to those observing.

* locally sourced

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A Wednesday

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 02:03:48 GMT

Work was lower key today, now that a deadline for $PrintedThing has passed (so much last-minute scrambling, including deletions due to no longer wanting to feature $CompanyThatDidStupidThings, as came to light yesterday). There are still some ongoing things, but without that one piece, it’s easier to cope with them.

I checked the forecast, and was appalled to see highs in the high 80s (°F): it’s not even April yet! We shouldn’t get those temps in Boston until late May at the earliest. ::sigh::

I was on to check my section of the eruv this week, and decided to do that after work today instead of before work tomorrow. Usually I start near the East Somerville T stop and head approximately outbound. Since I was already on the Green Line, I took it to the other end of the section and worked my way back. It was just enough different that it kept me on my toes.

I ended by a 109 bus stop, and decided to go to Costco before heading home. I was walking around the casino hotel, and realized they’d probably have a nicer bathroom than Costco, so now I’ve finally been inside the Encore building, though only a small fraction of it. It’s impressive, with fun mosaics in the floors, and the feel of a very very upscale mall, plus conference space (not to mention the hotel and casino). I think some of the landscaping includes mugo pines, so I may have a way to make actual mugolio this year. This Costco didn’t have much that was useful for Pesach; at least I finally bought the new pillows I’ve been wanting for months.

My feet are tired now; turns out I walked >6 miles today, some of it carrying some heavy groceries.

Weird idea: given that I can find tapioca starch kosher for Passover, shouldn’t I be able to find whole tapioca pears kfP? (Not that I’ve seen this.) And if so, I could use them not only for pudding, but also maybe in a savory application like a kfP cholent variant.

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Midday cuteness

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:07:49 GMT

There was a drop-in work event today, Barn Babies, by the college my department is part of, which is how I got to see the adorableness that is smol animals, including a piglet, a goat, a few dogs, and a lot of rabbits and chickens that were being held by folks after being wrapped up in little towels, a little loaf of rabbit or chicken. (Looking was enough for me as a quick break from actual work tasks, especially since it got me outdoors to go to another building.)

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Bus updates: CT2 & 85

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:12:16 GMT

There are three bus routes that end by my work. One I take when I don’t walk the whole way, one I take to Brighton (friends and/or shopping), and the third, the 85, goes from Kendall Square to Union Square (Somerville) (it claims to go to Spring Hill, but that was cut off the other end years ago due to some construction and never put back afterward).

Until early next month, that is. The powers that be at the T have decided to merge the CT2 route, which currently runs from Ruggles to Sullivan (southish and northish on the Orange Line, but with the route wiggling west from the train route, going through the medical area, and not-close stops to make it more express, as befitting a “cross-town” bus), with the 85. Although the route will be almost the same as the CT2’s much longer path, for some reason, the name CT2 is being retired, and the new route will become the 85.

The new route bypasses the last stops of the old 85 route, leaving the Spring Hill area without much bus service. I use the current route as a convenient way to get to Market Basket after work. The new route will mean a longer walk to make that happen, though still doable. On the plus side, it will go past Sullivan to Assembly Square, which I haven’t visited in ages, so maybe I’ll manage to get there some time. (Also helpful for folks who have jury duty at the courthouse.)

I took the 85 (old route) last night, and the bus driver was Not Happy about the route change, partly about how it leaves that part of the Union Sq area unserved by buses, and partly about how the route will be moved from one T garage to another, after a previous change left the current garage down a route already.

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The End Is Nigh

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 01:30:19 GMT

Thursday night I went to a performance of Liars and Believers’ The End Is Nigh at the Foundry, which has a black box space.

It was an impressive show about three contestants on the last game show on the air at the end of the world as we know it (complete with ridiculous ads). The expectation is that as they deal with this week’s Horsemen of the Apocalypse, only one will be left standing (this week’s Horsemen included War, Famine, Plague, and Ecological Disaster), but not only did the three work together to overcome the various situations, the supporting musicians found themselves changing, no longer believing that the pain and suffering of others was enjoyable entertainment.

The show is very accessible, with all the dialogue projected on the backdrop. The set was bare bones, using things like tarps. The costumes were varied, especially given there were at least 18 characters among the 6 actors. There were masks, shadow puppetry, and more, and a lot of really funny moments along with a serious message about treating people as full humans.

Another interesting show by this group; I look forward to talking about it with the director at first seder.

I went with a friend I haven’t seen in months, back from her travels. We caught up on the walk home (I spotted a witch hazel in bloom, planted in a microclimate that was office building on three sides so obviously just a bit warmer), doing our usual talking for ages at the point where our paths diverged. It was long enough that we saw six cop cars going by in one direction at the end of shift change, then another six coming out, plus another two after someone’s car was stopped in the middle of Inman Square. The car ended up being impounded, so my guess is drugs, but really, I have no idea.

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A soup conversation

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 23:32:11 GMT

I thought of Minoanmiss when I read this dialogue from Thomas Gray in Copenhagen: in which the philosopher cat meets the ghost of Hans Christian Andersen (Philip J Davis), pp. 37-29: ( Read more... )

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Winter share, 11 of 11

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:23:40 GMT

I was surprised to find a boxed share at the distribution site; it just doesn’t feel that cold. I pulled out the kitchen scale to get weights.

a big bag aka 2.5 lb of spinach
6 lb carrots
2 lb beets
3 lb enormous red radishes (some bigger than the beets), Scarlet Queen variety
3.5 lb little round potatoes

First thoughts: the farm email had said there would also be collard greens from one of their neighboring farms; I’m disappointed that they didn’t come (and nothing else was substituted, either). Other than the spinach, these will all last well, so I can use them now and through Pesach. And other than the R.O.U.Ses (Radishes Of Unusual Size), these are all pretty easily used-in-almost-anything veggies for me, too.

The summer share starts sometime in June (tbd based on spring conditions); it’s always a bit dd to have no pickups on my calendar.

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Today in food prep

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:10:23 GMT

roasted sweet potatoes* with cumin
sauted Beyond with onions to serve over hummus
red cabbage*, carrot*, and purple starburst daikon* slaw with soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, lemon juice, and toasted cashews
cucumber-mango salad with tajin seasoning
sauted parsnips*
matza balls to put into
soup with veg* stock, dried baby lima beans, carrots*, and onions
seitan to put into
a saute of onions, carrots*, zucchini, Baby Bella mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms
ginger* cake from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

* locally sourced

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Winter share, 10 of 11

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 22:53:02 GMT

2 pounds of parsnips
1 largeish red cabbage
3 small bags of spinach
3 pounds of potatoes
4 pounds of carrots (swapped for more potatoes, because I am still inundated with Previous Carrots)
1 medium-large rutabaga (which, unlike last year, is actually a rutabaga, not a Macomber turnip, yay! (I like Macombers too; I just like rutabagas more, so if I have to choose only one, it’s an easy decision))
3 0.75-oz packages of basil (swapped for another rutabaga)

First thoughts: parsnip slices sauted in butter/Earth Balance, with nutmeg or possibly a spice mix. Various cabbage and carrot slaws, possibly with daikon, since I still have at least three big red ones. Roasted rutabagas. Colcannon with potatoes and spinach.

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Blood donation

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 02:40:45 GMT

It was time for another blood donation, and I finally found time to do that today after work.

I got lucky: the intake person managed a finger stick that didn’t hurt (this is usually the worst part of donation, so it’s noticeable*, and the phlebotomist was also excellent. (Also, very attractive.) We were chatting for the 5 min or so it took to drain enough blood, and it turned out that his sister graduated from $MyEmployer, 19 years ago. Which surprised me enough that I used my outside-my-head voice to say that either his sister is much older, or he looks seriously younger than he is. Turns out he’s 20, and all his siblings (and half-siblings) are seriously older than him: his father is in his 70s, and could be his grandfather. Whoa. He mentioned that he would’ve liked the chance to be a kid with siblings closer in age to hang out together, but did have the advantage of many more adults invested in him (in a way that made me think of Clara Barton.**)

On the way out, I recognized the other phlebotomist who’s my birthday twin, and he said that {other woman in a donor chair} was also our birthday twin, so we had a birthday triplets moment :-)
(And I got to tell her that we also share our birthday with The Count, from Sesame Street.)

* apparently Children’s Hospital and possibly also the Red Cross have ditched the finger stick (to determine hemoglobin levels; too much or too little (much more likely) disqualifies the donor for the day) in favor of something non-invasive. I’d really like MGH to get with the program.

** also apparently, I keep thinking Clara Barton thoughts around when donating blood. I suppose it makes some sense.

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221 Mt Auburn St

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:35:59 GMT

I’ve had a couple of (regular corpus maintenance, not fixing) appointments at Mount Auburn Hospital recently, and I decided to walk rather than bus. The first time, I figured I’d get to check out the progress at 221 Mt Auburn St, but no dice: the street is not only blocked to vehicular traffic for a couple of blocks (non-trivial; it’s a somewhat major street), but also pedestrians. I feel so badly for the folks who used to live there.

( backstory )

Demo photos by week available at:
https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/capitalbuildingprojects/projectsinitiatives/221mtauburnstreet

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Blizzard!

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 23:59:50 GMT

Yesterday morning, $Municipality announced snow emergency parking would be starting at 8a (the snow didn’t start until after dark), while $Employer announced later Sunday that today would be a snow day, with regular operation starting tomorrow morning at 7a. Alas for me, that I can work remotely, so I didn’t get any benefit (other than the lack of commute).

The wind today was impressive, snow whipping around so strongly that walls were coated in white, not just roofs. It’s slowed now to just snow, having already dropped what I think is over a foot of snow (the drifts make it difficult to be certain; a recently posted news article lists amounts ranging from under half a foot out on the Cape, to almost three feet in Dartmouth). It looks beautiful from the comfort of home; I’m very glad not to be out, though.

My porch is filled with snow; I haven’t been able to open the doors to the porch since MLK weekend.

eta, 7:50p: The city isn’t lifting the snow parking ban until 5p tomorrow, and my functional boss has said that tomorrow’s work sessions will be online tomorrow, just like today, so I can work from home again tomorrow if I wan/if Outside looks less navigable than I’d like.

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GetFit

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:13:47 GMT

Every year $Employer has run a voluntary exercise program in the late winter, where people form teams to cheer each other on to make weekly goals (minutes of movement, not intensity, so open to a fairly wide range of folks). After last year’s program, there was an announcement that it had been cancelled, presumably as part of the cost-saving measures put in place to mitigate the deficit by the sudden change in tax rate on money from endowments. I was a little sad, but as a wholly non-essential program, it made sense.

This fall, there was an announcement that it would be happening again this year, as part of a different department’s programming, and as an 8- rather than 12-week program.

It’s still motivation to get moving during a time of year it’s easy to cocoon, so I signed up. In the old program, there were weekly goals of however many minutes. In the current one, there’s also a weekly goal, but when I looked at it, I was overwhelmed: the 8th week had over 8000 ‘wellable’ points, with a maximum of 1500/day (for scale: 1 mile walked = 100 points). What?! I started freaking out just a bit, trying to figure out how in the last week I’d manage that many points. Then I was chatting with the leader of the tunnel walk I went on Thursday, and she said that she thought it was cumulative, not weekly, goals. Which made a lot more sense, when I thought about it.

So I’m trying to work in more exercise, but not go so overboard that I injure myself or something.

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Today in food play

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:57:23 GMT

soup: turkey stock (made around Thanksgiving, frozen since then) with onions, carrots*, parsley, and matza balls
turkey breast (also frozen since Thanksgiving) topped with smoky tomato* jam, baked over onion, sweet potato*, and slices of Georgia peaches (frozen since the summer)
mashed potatoes* with spinach*, pureed basil*, pureed garlic scapes*, and scallions
sort-of red flannel hash, with onions, pieces of what I guessed is corned beef in the mix of deli ends picked up from the Butcherie, thinly sliced cabbage*, potatoes*, and beets*
the rest of the peach slices baked with a bit of matza meal, Earth Balance, and a a little hot* honey*

* locally sourced

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Food court

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 01:00:59 GMT

I’ve been at $CurrentJob for almost four and a half years. Thursday, for the first time since I started working there, the street-facing half of the first floor was open, a new food court*. I was excited because it includes a new Clover location, a year and a half after the previous Kendall location closed (because the landlord jacked the rent up too high), and it also means there won’t be any more construction noise (the drilling was horrible, even floors above). Unfortunately, when I got home I found a post in a local kosher group noting that the new place doesn’t currently have certification, and the guy behind the counter yesterday didn’t have any idea of when or whether it might happen, so I’ve emailed both the company and the guy who certifies the others. It would be very nice to have a kosher option near work without having to hop on the T. Here’s hoping.

* It’s an odd term; I feel like it should refer to something like a cross between Judge Judy and Veggie Tales.

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Winter share, 9 of 11

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:50:50 GMT

Boxed share again, so I pulled out the kitchen scale.

2 smallish bags of spinach
4 dried hot peppers (looks like two different varieties, but the email is not helpful here)
almost 3 lb beets (3 large beets)
almost 7 lb carrots
3 heads of what the email said was Savoy cabbage, but looks a lot more like Taiwanese flat cabbage (one tiny, one small, one medium, about 5 lb)
a jar of giardiniera (swapped for more potatoes because lack of kosher certification)
almost 10 lb potatoes (both my original ones and the swapped ones)

First thoughts: all the roasted roots. Do the pickle thing already, darn it! Baked roots under a protein (fish/poultry). Various cabbage and carrot slaws. Carrot soup. Carrot halwa. Carrots baked with lemon tahini dressing. Any further carrot suggestions?

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