Monday, September 22, 2025

Seeking Beauty: the last weekend of summer, part 3

I am posting this on the autumnal equinox.  Last night (in the wee hours of Monday) it finally rained, breaking a long dry spell.  

For the Beauty of the Earth.
The Toddler Common Household Son,
photoshopped standing on the moon.


Part 3: Sunday

First we sang “For the Beauty of the Earth”, which includes this verse about neuroscience:  

For the joy of ear and eye,

For the heart and mind’s delight,

For the mystic harmony

Linking sense to sound and sight:

Lord of all to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.


We heard the hopeful passage from Isaiah 65 with new heavens and a new earth, no more weeping, the wolf and the lamb getting along splendidly.  “They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”  Seems like pie in the sky but I’m all for continuing to hope for pie and peace.  There’s no alternative but to hope.

We can also maintain hope for earthly pie. 
I mean, not mud pies, but pies to enjoy
in our current times.  


And then the gospel of John, chapter 19, the crucifixion story, where the beauty in the midst of pain and strife is shown by Jesus’ deep concern for his mother and his friend. He needs them to know they will have each other.   


Pastor preached a wonderful sermon based on the Beatles song “Let It Be” which we sang during the sermon.  Part of the sermon reminded me of the deep love shown when my mother would visit my father in the nursing care unit every evening, ending their visit by singing “Fairest Lord Jesus.”  Every single evening.  


Main point of her sermon:  “Let it be” does not mean sit around and do nothing.  And so, taking the sermon lesson to heart, I left church before worship was over, so I could get to the “No Kings in Our Neighborhood” rally in time.


Ralliers stood on all four corners of this intersection.

My bestie J with the "No Kings / No Princesses" sign
and me in the purple shirt.

These rallies are necessary in these times.  If you are likeminded with me, and are able, I highly encourage you to attend one.  Without them, we can start to believe the lie that we are alone.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  We gave away all 100 “Vote Yes to Retain Judges” yard signs!  I saw activists I haven’t seen in a while.  A joyful time!  But also a scorching-hot-sun time.  After an hour we were glad to head home.

Use it or lose it.



I stopped off at Trader Joe’s for honey, but the store was utterly full of long lines.  Nope.  Rested for two hours at home, then went to the other grocery store to get honey.  Since this post is about beauty I will not tell you how much I spent on two bags of groceries.  ‘Cause that’s ugly.


Not only did I procure honey, but I bought the one in the bottle shaped like a bear.  Because the Common Household Husband had mentioned more than once that this is the way honey should be jarred.  

Honey bear watches over cake.



I made the recipe below, which is quick straightforward and quick.  I made a square 8x8 cake, as the recipe called for.   Events so far in 2025 made me forget that the usual shape of All Things Jewish New Year is the circle.  This denotes the cycle of our lives, with the year being renewed in a circular fashion.   This is why it is traditional to have a round challah on this holiday.  


We are going with whatever honey cake we have at hand.  Happy New Year to those who celebrate.  Yes, I dare hope that all may be inscribed for a good year, but I am not putting an exclamation point on it because it seems inappropriate to be overly enthusiastic.



Honey Applesauce Cake 

 

1/2 cup oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup applesauce

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

 

Mix it all together. Pour into a greased 8" x 8" pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.



Here is part 1: Friday

Seeking Beauty: the last weekend of summer, part 2

Part 2: Saturday

My coleus plants on Aug 29th, before this
current stretch of HOT and DRY


On Saturday late morning I went canvassing with my friend J.  It was so good to get out door-knocking.  For this introvert there is beauty in connecting person-to-person about democracy.  (Yes, we still live in a democratic republic, but barely.)  We had good conversations with the voters who chose to open the door.  These municipal and judicial elections in PA are SO important.  Vote Yes to Retain All Judges!  Turn your ballot over and vote on the back!


We traversed hill and vale in the blinding sun and heat (okay, it was probably less than 85 F but for us it was HOT).  Around here, all door knocking terrain is hill and vale, and often steep steps to get to the front door.  After hiking back up the steep hill when we were done, I was DONE. 


I have no photos of canvassing because I left my phone in my car – at the top of the himalayan heights.  Reset assured that my face was red from heat and exertion.  


When I arrived home, Older Daughter and Her Husband had arrived for a short visit.  Yay! I was supposed to go to the Phipps (again, this time with my ‘good’ camera) with Older Daughter but I could not.  She went by herself.  I took a blessed shower and read a book.


We received an unexpected package!  It contained a heart-shaped challah and a tin of kichel, with wishes for a sweet New Year.  WooT!  This was a gift sent by the ever-generous and lovely mother of our son-in-law.  


I mustered enough energy to water the flowers in our gardens.  My coleus plants had been so healthy a week ago, but they were on their last legs on Saturday.


The Common Household Husband mentioned plaintively that honey cake could be a beautiful thing to have on Rosh Hashanah.  I remarked that we STILL do not have any honey. But I was way too tired to fetch groceries.  In the countdown to Rosh Hashanah, the holiday of apples and honey, two days were left.  The likelihood of honey cake was looking slim (although I am not).

Rosh Hashanah 2010.
When I found this photo I realized
I forgot to obtain candles.

Part 1 is here.
Part 3 is here.

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Seeking Beauty: the last weekend of summer, part 1

It has been HOT and DRY here.  The flowers in our yard are wilting.  In these times one must find beauty where one can.  My weekend activities showed me beauty in the midst of a troubled world.


Part 1: Friday

On the way to meet my friend N for lunch in town, I walked across the Schenley Bridge, and had this view of the Cathedral of Learning (University of Pittsburgh) in a bright blue sky, uncharacteristic for Pittsburgh.


And also saw a cajillion of these combination locks attached to the fence on the bridge. Ah, humanity and its penchant for weird romantic traditions.




Then we went to The Phipps Conservatory, where they grow plants a lot better than I can.  The humidity in the Phipps can’t be beat.  We saw nearly every part of the place, spending over 2 hours there.  Lovely, but I was exhausted.  

This is maybe a coleus?





The Common Household Husband and I went to synagogue Friday evening, for the blessing of the new torah covers for the high holidays, which are fast approaching.  (Yikes! I had not yet bought the requisite honey!)  It was beautiful to sing familiar tunes for the prayers. 


I have no photo of the torah covers because I had an asthmatic coughing fit and had to leave the sanctuary.  Nobody wants a coughing fit to remain in the room these days.  CHH said it did not sound as dramatic as I thought it did, but I decided not to sing any more.


I do have a photo of these paper flowers at the synagogue.  You can’t tell from the photo, but each flower is about 3 feet across.  They are stunning.


Here is Part 2:Saturday.
Here is Part 3:Sunday.



Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Things that have broken this year

Mosaic at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
Philadelphia, PA
Sometimes it is a good thing when something breaks
because you can make art out of it.

Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia’s blog has broken. Message to The Queen: if you are reading this, know that I miss your blog.  If you have been able to move it somewhere else, please let me know where!  I suspected this day might come but still was not ready for this loss.




Things in the Common Household which have broken (not that I am particularly sad about them):


1. My mother’s flour sifter.  

It may have even been my grandmother’s flour sifter.   Its time had come.




2. The kettle.

I dropped the electric kettle, spilling water all over the kitchen floor, and the lid broke off.  It still heated water but if I wasn’t careful about how I poured the water, the lid would fall right off, engulfing my hand in steam. It was at least 20 years old.  So we bought a new one.


3. Toilet brush

I was just tapping it on the edge of the sink, and it snapped.   While I was at a rally, I saw someone with a toilet brush with the Toddler-In-Chief’s image incorporated.  That’s an appropriate place for that man’s image to be, but I don’t want it in my house, not no way not no how, not even in the toilet.


4. Watch battery

My watch battery quit at the end of April.   Not many in the newer generations use a wristwatch.  Weeks went by, and I missed my watch, but didn’t find the time to get it fixed.  Finally in June I went to the jeweler to have the battery replaced. It took 5 minutes and just a few dollars –  much less expensive than the kiosk at the mall.  If the kiosk is even still there – maybe the watch kiosk broke too.  Is the mall still there?


5. My expensive but ultra comfortable shoes.  

On March 9th, a piece of rubber on the bottom of the shoe started flopping around.  I remember the exact day because I was walking to the Dem Committee endorsement vote at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.  I managed not to fall down.  I took my shoe to the shoe repair place, but they refused to do anything to fix it, recommending instead that I get some glue and do it myself.  Dammit.  I eventually bought some gorilla glue but haven’t fixed the shoe.  I would be enraged that such an expensive shoe fell apart before it’s allotted time, but there has been too much else to be enraged about.  I bought a cheaper, less comfortable pair of shoes. It’s fine.  FINE.  This is all proof that the endorsement vote should be abolished.


6.  Inner ear.

In June my inner ear(s) broke.  I’ve had vertigo before, but this was extreme.  I hope never to have to repeat this experience. 

Unbreakable door in my area in 
the emergency room.
If you look closely you will notice that
I broke the rule by taking this photo.



7. Watchband of the aforementioned watch.

In early July my watchband broke. In late July I bought a new watch, which comes with a fresh watchband, because it was right there and took less time than figuring out where to get the old watchband replaced.  I am so wasteful.  I wanted a wristwatch before I went on a trip.  Two days later, before I even went on the trip, I discovered that the battery in the new watch was dead.  I returned it and got my money back.  And then for my birthday the marvelous Common Household Husband got me an entirely new watch *and* a new band for my very-old-but-with-new-battery watch.


Now that I have two watches, does this mean I am on time everywhere?  No, it does not.



8. The innards of the bathroom sink handle.  

It took a little while for the tiny part to arrive, but eventually the guy came to fix it.  No charge.

In this photo the faucet handle on the right
 is LEAKING. It took me weeks
 to convince the Common Household Husband
of this.  He thought we (meaning I)
were just being sloppy.



9. Glasses

Today at the hairdresser’s my glasses frame broke and one lens fell out. The lenses are just reading glasses on the lower part, and nothing on the upper - I wear them for driving so I can see the road and the dashboard.   I have artificial lens implants, thanks to cataract surgery last year,  which give me nearly perfect focus for distant vision.  So I was able to drive home with no problem.  The frames are about a year old.  


Maybe it’s just a screw loose.  As is true of a lot of people and things this year.

This one I am sad about.



Monday, September 1, 2025

First Lines: August 2025 edition

 I finished 8 books in August, with two long plane rides working to my reading advantage. 

 

 

Book 1

An Abduction

Jean McConville was thirty-eight when she disappeared, and she had spent nearly half her life either pregnant or recovering from childbirth.

 

 

Book 2

As we stepped off the plane at the small airport, the howl of the jet engines deafening and the snowcapped foothills of the Himalayas looming behind us, two old friends embraced.

 

 

Book 3

The Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, 1914

When Margery was ten, she fell in love with a beetle.

 

A beetle, but not the one in the book.

 

Book 4

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

Q.  I hate to ask you this, but–approximately–how many people do you think you’ve slept with?


 

Book 5

The small, slender woman with apple-red cheeks, greying hair, and shrewd, almost naughty little eyes sat with her face pressed against the cabin window of the BEA Viscount on the morning flight from London to Paris.

 

 

Book 6

Chapter 1: Women’s Rights in Antiquity: The Seed is Planted

4500 BCE to 859 BCE

“Welcome to the history of women’s rights.  Sometimes you have to start at the beginning to understand where you’ve been and where you want to go.”


 

Book 7

Chapter One: It is Important for Children to Learn About Electricity

Mma Ramotswe remembered exactly how it was that the subject of taking a holiday arose. 


 

Book 8

The voice of her new friend, bidding her good night, followed Miss Hannah Mole as she went down the garden path, and the laurel bushes, as she brushed by them, repeated in a whisper, yet with a strange assurance, the persuasive invitation of Mrs. Gibson to come back soon.



Did not finish

Prelude

The conversation took place over dinner in October 1837.  Dusk had likely fallen, and the city’s gas lamps had lit up the central streets of Berlin.




 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

Patrick Radden Keefe

441 pages • first pub 2018

nonfiction, history, politics, true crime


This was a book I could not read at night.  Northern Ireland was a violent place.  The unfolding of the crimes and the trajectory of the major characters was well told.   I thought one big shortcoming of the book was that it did not explain the background of the hatred between Protestants and Catholics in N. Ireland.  That said, I did not want this book to be longer than it was.  The inadequacy of the Good Friday Accords was touched on - I was unaware of that.  I read it for book club, where it engendered a good discussion.


Some of my maternal ancestors were from what became Northern Ireland, most likely from County Tyrone.  I don’t know when they emigrated to the US - likely in the late 1800s.  

 

 

My parents on their honeymoon in Ireland.

Book 2

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama XIV, with Douglas Carlton Abrams (Translator)

384 pages • first pub 2016 

nonfiction, philosophy, self help


Good ideas (but I disagree about the nature of suffering). Repetitive.  I didn’t read the last 20%, which was basically more self-helpy, mainly because one of my book clubs might be reading this book next year.  I’ll probably read that part next year.

 

 

Book 3

Miss Benson's Beetle

By Rachel Joyce

352 pages • first pub 2020

fiction, historical.


I read it for book club.  It was sort of thriller-ish, veering from one tragic event to another, but I had been led to believe it was cozy, light lit.  I didn’t really come to appreciate any of the characters.  I suppose most of the scenes were meant to be comic but there was just too much gripping tragedy for me to find amusement.  The author’s first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, is one of my all time favorites, but this one was not for me.

 

 

Book 4

Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President

By E. Jean Carroll

368 pages • first pub 2025

nonfiction, feminism, gender, memoir, politics

 

Oof.  A fast read.  Big trigger warning - rape and sexual assault are described in full detail.  Also, bullying, because, you know, the FFOTUS is an adjudicated rapist and a sexual predator but can’t admit it and has to lash out at other people to cover up what he has done.  The writing style is breezy, chock full of references to high fashion, movies, and literature.  I am not sorry I read this book, but after Miss Benson’s Beetle and this one, I was truly ready for something not thrilling, without any crimes.  


 

Book 5

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Mrs. 'Arris #1)

143 pages 

By Paul Gallico.  Electronic edition published 2022.

First published as Flowers for Mrs Harris in Great Britain by Michael Joseph in 1958.

fiction, classics 


Snobby British people look down their noses at the cleaning lady Mrs. Harris.  But she finds congenial types on a lark of a trip to Paris to obtain the dress of her dreams.  


I had to read it on my tablet, which is less preferable than reading on my kindle.  A pleasant diversion from today’s cruel world.

 

Purim celebration, 2014
The Common Household Husband as
The Phantom, and yours truly as Esther, in a
fancy dress and child's costume tiara

 

Book 6

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights.

By Mikki Kendall (writer) and A. D’Amico (illustrator)

208 pages • first pub 2019

nonfiction, feminism, graphic, history


This graphic book covers a huge amount of history, and as such is a good overview of the fight we’ve had.  The artwork was well done.  Includes intersectionality, and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights as well.  


One line made me so sad, I almost decided to hand-write an update in the library book: “These are some of the successes of the women’s movement in the ‘70s.  Even though the E.R.A. didn’t pass, women won the right to have an abortion if they wanted one.” (page 152)  The book was published before the right to an abortion was snatched away by the corrupt and patriarchal SCROTUS.  


Page 178 has the sad truth:   “The women’s rights movement still has a lot of work to do.  Although some women–insulated by wealth and privilege–have been able to rise above most of the concerns affecting the majority, it’s a precarious perch that can be toppled as long as some women aren’t equal.  The patriarchy will hold up the exceptions as examples of what can be achieved and blame everyone else for not being as successful.” 

Political pins.  
All of them state the truth.



 

Book 7

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #16)

By Alexander McCall Smith

224 pages • first pub 2015

fiction, mystery


Blessedly familiar characters, lots of tea drinking, and an interesting twist near the end.  

 

 

Book 8

Miss Mole

By E.H. Young

288 pages • first pub 1930

fiction, classics, historical


Less cheerful than I had expected, but there is no violence, blood, or gore.  I was not in the right frame of mind to read this book, starting it when I was nervous about job-related matters, and not able to fully concentrate. The writing style is anti-Hemingway, with giant sentences.  There was quite a bit of irony, although I’m sure I missed more of it than I got.  The novel seemed to be deeply psychological at points.


There is wringing of hands at the breaking of social norms and at not having the latest style of hat to wear.  The main character, Hannah Mole, has the desire but not the resources to break free from all of that, and uses stinging repartee as her main weapon against the patriarchy.  She had been educated “above her station”.  And she is also a vulnerable human with valid feelings and needs.  I read on because I liked the main character, and wanted to find out how the author wraps up the story.  When I was about ¾ of the way through, I discovered E.H. Young was herself quite the rule-breaker and feminist.  I think it is probably a very good book of its time, as a daring commentary on the role of women in 1920s society, but I picked the wrong time to read it.



Did not finish

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

Siddhartha Mukherjee

490 pages • first pub 2022

nonfiction science

I enjoyed reading about the people involved in doing the science, but got muddled in reading about the actual science.  I appreciated learning about Rudolf Virchow.  The library snatched it off my kindle before I could finish.