Yikes, almost shabbos again
¿How does that happen so quickly?
The week flew by, even with Tisha b'Av.
Today, I had the pleasure of a breakfast visit with the daughter of a friend after shul---what a delightful person. And a very-quick visit from a friend in the afternoon.
Then last-minute groceries.
Then the garden after rain.
Finally, beginning to cook for shabbos.
Netanel and his lady have driven across the country from the East Coast, and will be arriving soon.
A pot of Guinness Irish Stew is cooling on the stove for shabbos, in their honor; and the fixings for spanakopita are calling to me from the refrigerator. (Shhh, I tell them; tomorrow morning.)
Funny, how the custom of greeting with food is irresistable, even though I know it is late, and quite likely that a comfortable bed is more desired than anything else.
Yotam was supposed to have been here this week as well; but that has been postponed.
I am discovering that there are days like today when I carry missing-Zalman around on my shoulder, like a friend, or perhaps more like a well-known ghost. Somewhere barely a quarter of an inch below the surface, a light running commentary is going on: isn't R., my young friend, amazing, creative, funny, caring, honest? Isn't it odd that there is a Vitamin Cottage now where the Olive Garden restaurant used to be? Isn't it scary that a neighborhood blog is warning of a potentially violent sexual predator in the area of the new Jewish Community Center? Isn't it impossible that it should almost be shabbos again? Was Tisha B'Av really just two days ago? Counting UP the sephirot, tonight begins Netzach sh-b'Malchut...doesn't that feel strange, to be counting up rather than down as we do from Pesach to Shavuot...How shall I prepare to speak as a Jew for the Naropa day on the Ecology? Can I resurrect the me who taught and gave weekend workshops and seminars long before I met Zalman? What about the playlist for the next concert, maybe in November?
I think it's time to lie down.
I wish us all a good shabbos...