yes indeed. slow and precarious. can get dumped off at any time, it seems.
today was foggy all afternoon in santa monica. a quiet day. got a start on the words i will be saying on Rosh Hashanah Day (next Tuesday), with help and Hebrew from my father. i got to take a nap, and then we watched a bit of CNN dissecting the debate. it is all pretty surreal if you ask me. then we watched some baseball. SF giants couldn't pull it off again like they did last night. Dana will be happy.
i took the sparkly polish off my finger nails, but left them long. will probably do a new coat or even maybe a new color for Monday. the color i got was pale but with opalescent glitter. really nice. subtle, not too flashy.
i promised myself that if ever i stay overnight in santa monica, that i must get down to the water once. that will have to be early in the morning then as we are expecting company starting at 11 AM.
tissue alert...
one other thing that i had been putting off: writing up the listing for the memorial book that is distributed on Yom Kippur. Linda's name will be read as part of the list of those who have died since the last High Holy Days. then family have an opportunity to have names listed separately. what i think i've decided on for wording: "Linda Blauner Klein, lovingly remembered by Deborah Zimmer and family"
because really, all the dear friends really are family. this is going to be a tough one. fortunately, i will have the incredibly reliable Jackie with me. the memorial service is open to anyone (4:30 PM or thereabouts, Campbell Heritage Theatre, 1 West Campbell Ave, corner of Winchester, THURSDAY OCTOBER 9).
because of timing and proximity to the memorial service, i have been relieved of my traditional part at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur afternoon service, and will instead be saying some words on Rosh Hashanah day, Tuesday. i will be doing the introduction to the Haftarah (no it's not half a Torah) which is the story of the birth of Samuel, starting with his mother Hannah's prayer at the temple in Shiloh, asking for a child. the similarity between this and the Torah portion (birth of Isaac) is that both Hannah and Sarah were barren for many years. Difference: Sarah asks Abraham to pray to got on her be half, and Hannah prays directly herself. Good point to make. i will cite Rachel Adler, a wonderful scholar and teacher at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform seminary here in LA. it is unusual for a woman to be named directly in torah or the prophetic writings (I Samuel 1:1 - 2:10 is the selection), and also the first time that personal prayer is mentioned. let me just say that i love text study and wish i had a bit more time to work on this.
well, the boarding pass for tomorrow is printed. we are expecting visitors later in the day on Sunday which i set up during the week. i hope the fog lifts a bit, tho it keeps the temperature nice.
it is still weird. overall. the whole situation.
i was so torn over the past 2 years especially. i needed to come down here to visit, and felt guilty about leaving Linda even for a day. now i only feel guilty about leaving Ketzl. and i recall Adam's comment early on: strange about flying when there is no one to call to say "hey, i've landed safely, i'll call you from the house." grrrrr. no one to whom to be responsible. weird. still.
met a nice young man on the plane down. he is a professional percussionist. travels all over, some gigs in LA but was in San Jose to play with Ry Cooder. they got picked up at the hotel in low riders with hydraulics! way cool. they played at the SJ Civic Auditorium, where we had High Holy Day services for several years. a nice venue.
well it's a civilized time to go to sleep. good part is that late at night i can hear the sound of the ocean, and before i go to sleep, i peek thru the blinds and look at the white line of the rolling waves coming to shore. the wonder of living across the street, almost, from the Pacific Ocean.
