My daughter and I went for a walk on a lovely spring day this week. This is what we found:
Can anyone identify this tree?
It has to be a fruit tree, because on the tree we found this:
This is the bracha for a fruit tree. So my daughter and I said the bracha (blessing):
Transliteration: Boruch A-toh Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ho-olom She-lo Chi-seir Be-o-lo-mo Ke-lum U-va-rah Vo Be-ri-yos To-vos Ve-i-lo-nos To-vos Le-ha-nos ba-hem Be-nei A-dam.
Translation: Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made nothing lacking in His world and created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees to give mankind pleasure. (This transliteration and translation is the Chabad version.)
and we went on our merry way.
If you are in Highland Park/Edison area, this tree is located on North 8th in Edison, near the Shabbos park.
Who ate my tulips? Was it you? Or you?
Here are my tulips one week ago:
And here are the unhappy remnants today:
Most probably it was a deer. The deer live a few blocks away. Families that live close to RPRY on the Edison/Highland Park border report having a difficult time growing tulips. The deer gobble them up. In the past few years, gardeners in my neighborhood have also had to contend with the deer liking the taste of tulips. My neighbor down the block already knows of two ground hogs, but they nibble the ground plants. Like broccoli and canteloupe. Almost impossible to grow those here unless you grow them in a cage.
I like to read. But I don’t care for much of the fiction written these days. So I am looking for recommendations; please leave some in the comments. Or else I will read yet another health book.
Some blogger recommendations that sound good:
A book that sounds somewhat interesting:
(I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and liked it, though I can’t say I loved it. I found the end a bit disappointing).
Update: I was at the library this morning for a meeting (because of budget cuts in Highland Park, the library is now having a part-time consultant–me–update their website instead of a full-time employee). The Highland Park Public Library owns the top three recommended books on this post, as well as three copies of The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn. It turns out The Lost is a biography, and I was looking for it in fiction! I took out Dara Horn’s book and Nancy Geary’s book. Noah Gordon’s books will have to wait; they were the fattest.
A while back I wrote about a young woman’s battle with cancer:
I met her once at an art class. We shared a table. She cheerfully told me about how she does art in between chemo sessions. If there is a gene for optimism, she had it.
Here is her obituary, which will appear in today’s Star Ledger:
Kiersten E. Hickman-Perfetti, 22, of Highland Park died at home with her parents after an almost 4-year battle with cancer on April 23.
Kiersten was born in New Brunswick New Jersey on July 5, 1985. She attended public school in Highland Park. Kiersten played varsity basketball, threw the shot put, discus and javelin, and managed the football and baseball teams at Highland Park High School. She swam at the YM/YWHA and the University Swim Club from ages 5 to 14. Kiersten was an avid music lover. She played the clarinet was in the high school band.
Kiersten attended Goucher College in Towson, Maryland for her freshman year in college 2003-2004. Kier played basketball at Goucher College her freshman year, and she was awarded an honorary degree by Goucher in 2007. She was an avid Rutgers Women’s basketball fan and friend to the team, and a member of the Rutgers Cager’s Club. The RU women’s bball team dedicated their 2007-08 season to Kier. Kier enjoyed scrapbooking, reading, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, music, and movies. She took art lessons. Kiersten loved children and became an important person in the lives of many children in Highland Park and at the Children’s Hospital of Philly.
During her illness Kiersten developed a list of things to accomplish. She went to The Daily Show four times and met Jon Stewart, who was very kind to her. We thank Jon Stewart and Teri Abrams. She went to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, several Fab Faux concerts, Saturday Night Live, The Lion King, Rent, the WNBA 2007 All-Star game, and the NCAA 2007 Final Four women’s BB game. Kier also started a foundation, Kier’s Kidz, to raise money for research into the treatment and cure of pediatric cancer.
Kiersten is survived by her mother, Mimi Hickman-Perfetti, her father, Larry Perfetti, her brother, Keith Hickman-Perfetti, and her grandmother, Betty Perfetti of Maple Shade, NJ. Her other grandparents, Al Perfetti, and George and Nancy Hickman, predeceased her. She has numerous other relatives and friends.
Viewings will be held on Sunday, April 27, from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm at Jacqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 S. Adelaide Ave., Highland Park, NJ. Full memorial services will held on Sunday, May 4, at 2pm, at Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, Kier would appreciate your making a contribution to: Kier’s Kidz Lemonade Stand, c/o Alex’s Lemonade Stand, 333 E. Lancaster Avenue, #414, Wynnewood, PA 19096.
This past Sunday my daughter had the pleasure of attending an art and yoga workshop for ages 4 -7 here in Highland Park with Jill. Daughter made it clear she didn’t want me to leave her. I said OK, as I also wanted to watch Jill do a workshop (she’s very talented and good with kids; she teaches art to my Middle Son). And I took pictures.
One of my daughter’s friends came, so that relaxed her a bit. Jill first asked the kids to say their names and tell about what they like. My daughter was shy. Jill then did some yoga with the kids. When it came time for art, which my daughter usually loves, she came into the corner with me instead of going to the art mat. I went over to the art mat and pretended that I was going to do the art instead. Finally, she came over and did the art project. All the kids decorated funky suns.
My daughter eventually got really into the project.
You can see that she has some of her dollies with her to keep her company.
At the end, Jill taught the kids to do the sun pose. My daughter, however, was by then focused on her tummy, which was announcing that it was lunch time. So we left quickly at the end and thanked Jill on our way out.
Great workshop, Jill!
A week ago I posted about Z., a friend of Ann who is very ill with cancer. Z.’s father regularly writes posts in a password-protected blog on the hospital website. Ann gave me access to these posts, and they are touching. And disturbing. It is clear that this is an important emotional release for Z.’s father. Z. was hospitalized so they could improve her pain medication. She will be coming home soon and receiving hospice care.
Some quotes from the letters:
I wish that I knew what Z. was thinking and feeling. We respond to her pain, try to understand her increasingly garbled speech, guess at what might make her less uncomfortable, and tell her that we love her, almost all of the time.
and
Thanks for your posts, your emails, your prayers, your love and warmth. And for our fellow Cagers and bball fans who are going to Greensboro, give a yell and clap really hard for our team. Tell them Z. sent you.
Go, Rutgers.
Love and Peace,
[Z.’s father’s name]
Finally,
As one of my friends has said right along, “no parent expects to watch his child die. It is our own personal Holocaust.”
Sometimes people mis-use the term “Holocaust”. Not here.
Unfortunately, too many families have suffered such a loss. Here’s another family’s story.
Yesterday I cleared out space on the top of my cabinets. Passover is coming, and I need to stock up on the non-perishables already available for weeks in the supermarket.
Clearing out the space was easy, because in addition to anything I had placed there for Purim, for the last few weeks I put up non-perishables that I did not need and wanted to donate to the Highland Park Food Pantry. I dropped them in the food pantry bin today in our local supermarket.
I’ve organized two Cub Scout food drives in the past for the Highland Park Food Pantry. Unfortunately, too many people in our area find it necessary to stand on line and wait their turn for food. One of my friends said her son saw a classmate standing on line. It made him feel his task was all the more important.
Passover food is expensive, too. So our area has a kosher food bank at the Jewish Family and Vocational Service.
So while we are all enjoying the spring, put a non-perishable item in your local food pantry bin.
Last week I was discussing the term Sephardi, and Little Frumhouse on the Prairie, who just posted a delicious carnival of delightful bites, suggested I blog about how we Ashkenazim came to a Sephardi shul (or should I say beit knesset…shul is yiddish).
There are a lot of Ashkenazim at Congregation Etz Ahaim. A while back, I wrote a post about Voices of Etz Ahaim, a marvelous oral history book put together by two Ashkenazi members. Many of the Ashkenazim are women married to Sephardi men, but sometimes it’s the reverse. I decided to make a list of “key ingredients” of why Ashkenazim are attracted to Etz Ahaim. Then I add my own personal note at the end.
1) food: Sephardim (the women–the men can’t locate the kitchen…so maybe I should say Sephardot?) know how to cook. Elaborate kiddushes might include dishes such as meat patties on pastry, borekas with a variety of fillings, bulghur & chickpea salad with grated carrots and parsley, and fancy cookies. A simpler kiddush has chickpeas and olives. And there’s usually a jar of herring for the Ashkenazim who need their fix.
2) International flavor: Countries represented include Turkey, Greece, Italy, Israel, Iran, Iraq, France, Morocco, Brazil, Russia. French is spoken in pockets; it’s fun to listen in on the conversations.
Ladino is part of the service. Bendicho su nombre is sung when the Torah is taken out. Ain Kelokeinu is also half Hebrew, half Ladino: non come estro Dio (there is none like our God).
3) Community: It is the only synagogue in Highland Park that isn’t over-crowded and bursting at the seams. We remember “losing” our boys as toddlers in the the large kiddushes of the our previous synagogue. And at Etz Ahaim friendliness comes with the territory.
4) Rabbi Bassous: Our rabbi is both learned and kind, a natural teacher. One can learn from him no matter what your level of Jewish education.
Did I mention the food?
On a more personal note, I like the way the misheberachs (prayer for the sick) are done at Etz Ahaim. When my mother z”l (may her memory be a blessing) was very sick with cancer, the misheberach was very important to me. I didn’t care to say it “quietly to oneself” as was done in the Ashkenazi shul we attended. At Etz Ahaim the women can stand at the mechitza (the separation between men and women) with their requests, and the Rabbi says each name loudly and clearly. I started attending Etz Ahaim on my own, in part so I could hear my mother’s name said out loud. My oldest son soon joined me, as his best friend was at Etz Ahaim. His younger brother soon followed (at that age they went to the groups).
We eventually pulled in my husband (my daughter was born later). Now my husband is on the Executive Board, he’s the treasurer, he keeps track of the aliyot donations, he finds someone to do the haftorah each week, he finds lainers (men who recite Torah) and speech givers when the Rabbi goes away in the summer; they caught him!
But really, it’s the food.
Do you like nature? Do you like photographs? Do you like hearing about good things being done in a small town?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Arnold Clayton Henderson, a wonderful writer and naturalist, since 2001(?) on the Environmental Commission website. Way back in 2002, about the time my daughter was born, the Environmental Commission submitted the website for an award, and we won! (yes, that little baby is now almost six years old).
This winter I switched the Environmental news site to WordPress. On Friday Arnold took the plunge into what he calls the “brave new world” of Word Press, and there are three new articles up: a plan of the Scentennial Garden, a photo of a seal by Bill Bonner (another talented local–an award-winning photographer), and news of the latest Backyard Bird Count. He also sent me that great photo of a deer running through a forest that is now in the header.
The Highland Park First Aid Squad, a group of dedicated volunteers who give of their own time, often answering calls at all hours of the night, needs your help. The First Aid Squad has been accepted as a possible recipient of up to $15,000 to be used towards a new ambulance by a project called “My Hometown Helper” sponsored by Hamburger Helper.
But to help the Squad get it, we need to post our support on the Hometown Helper website: http://myhometownhelper.com/ViewProject.aspx?id=37530
You should never need the Squad’s services, but if you do you’d want to make sure the ambulance is in good working order.
