News for the New Year

L’shanah tovah!  We’re at the start of a new year (5779) in the Jewish calendar, and it’s a time of many changes.  Slightly cooler weather has finally arrived, and I’m hopeful that the humidity level will drop along with the temperatures.  Leaves have already started to fall from the trees, a sign of the upcoming season.  

Daily life, however, remains much the same.  Elisa, Christian and Sylvie are still in residence.  However, that situation will probably be changing fairly soon.  They expect to relocate to Brooklyn within the next month or so.  That will trigger a whole series of changes in my routines.  But for now, I’m enjoying multi-generational living. 

Life revolves primarily around family activities, with Sylvie keeping us all entertained (as well as exhausted). Her developing verbal abilities continue to astound us.  I admire how Elisa manages to keep Sylvie occupied and how both Elisa and Christian handle Sylvie’s frequent meltdowns.  It certainly isn’t easy being three! 

All of the adults in the house spend several hours a day living in the world of Sylvie’s imagination.  Very often, she’s a baby owl, a baby cheetah, or a baby horse.  She also assigns roles that we must play and we’ve learned to stay in character for long periods of time.  Other times, she pretends to be a mommy taking care of her babies, i.e. her many stuffed animals, who seem to suffer from all kinds crises – they’re sick, a fire burned down their house, they’re lost, their parents died (!), etc.  I predict that she has a bright future as a novelist, playwright or filmmaker.  

From a very early age, Sylvie has been fascinated by animals, from the tiniest bug to the most enormous dinosaur.   

Observing a bug

 Sylvie in her new T-rex shirt

Fortunately, a whole family of deer, including two adorable fawns, frequently visit our yard.  Sylvie would love to play with them and is always disappointed when they run off. 

Elisa capitalized on Sylvie’s animal interest by baking pretzel animals with her on a recent rainy afternoon. 

Art activities occupy much of Sylvie’s time.  Any paper left around the house is liable to be covered with her scrawls.  The driveway and the entrance outside the front door provide ample space for chalk drawing.  Not long ago, I came home to find Sylvie’s decorations on the front door itself.  

We have special family time on the weekends when we get together at the house with Elisa’s sibling, Mint (formerly Matt), for late breakfast.  I had never developed the brunch habit, but the influence of the younger generation must have rubbed off on me.  On Saturday or Sunday morning, I prepare a big meal – sometimes bagels, lox, and eggs with all the trimmings; other times omelets, frittata or a variety of pancakes; always a platter of cheese and fruit and a pot of coffee.  When we sit around the table in the family room, enjoying the food and each other’s company, I marvel at how lucky am I.  And I sigh, as well, thinking how happy Elliott would be to share these moments with us. 

Elliott would also be thrilled to see the completed patio that Christian built, with the occasional help of the other family members.  Just last week, Christian installed stepping stones in the backyard and now he’s even adding some landscaping.  I’m eternally grateful for all he has done and I’m sure we’ll enjoy sitting out there once the weather gets a little more comfortable. We had hoped to celebrate Christian’s September birthday on the patio, but instead opted to enjoy our pizza dinner indoors to escape the ever-present bugs.  

The construction crew 

Candles in the ice cream for Christian's birthday

Speaking of food, Elisa and I are trying new recipes several times a week.  One of our favorites is polenta lasagna, a super easy vegetarian version of the Italian classic.  The idea came from the sampling table at our local Trader Joe’s.  

On a recent evening, Elisa introduced me to her version of Israeli shakshuka.  After the onion, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes had cooked with cumin and paprika, she added herbed feta cheese before dropping in the eggs to poach.  The result was delicious!  In keeping with the Middle Eastern theme, I contributed a smashed cucumber salad with lemon, garlic, mint and za’atar.   

On a different day, shopping trip to a nearby Korean market inspired me to cook miso-glazed Japanese eggplant and a roasted whole red snapper.  I’d always been somewhat hesitant to cook a whole fish but it turned out beautifully and it wasn’t difficult to debone at all.  Sylvie enjoyed stuffing the fish with lemon and fresh herbs.  

Finally, I’ve discovered goat yogurt.  Its tanginess combines beautifully with fruit or veggies.  This morning, I mashed a ripe banana, and added it to the yogurt along some a little vanilla extract and powdered stevia, and topped it all with chopped walnuts.  Even though I had it for breakfast, I was thinking that it would be great for a healthy dessert.  

Summer outings into DC included a trip to Snarkitechture, the current special installation at the National Building Museum.  It was very family-friendly, as you can see from the photos.  We followed the museum visit with lunch at Izakaya Daikaya, a Japanese restaurant I’d long wanted to try.  Sylvie is getting more adept at handling her chopsticks, but fingers always work best.  

We all enjoyed this cold noodle dish with plentiful toppings.

Of course, we make regular visits to Miss Katie at Greenspring.  She will be moving into a special memory care unit within the next couple of months.  Even though she doesn’t say much, she is always happy to see her family.  

Aside from being busy with the family, I’m keeping my brain busy with an art history class, 17^thcentury Northern European Art, at George Mason University.  The semester began at the end of August, so I’ve already done quite a bit of reading about the historical context.  Back when I was a history major at the University of Wisconsin, I knew all about the Holy Roman Empire, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Dutch Republic.  But that was nearly fifty years, so I appreciate the refresher. What a pleasure it is being able to combine my dual interests in art and history.  

So far, one of the biggest surprises from this class is what I’ve learned about the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens.  To be honest, I’d never been attracted to his work.  I’d always thought of him as a painter of florid fleshy women.  But now I see that he was a fascinating person as well as an important artist.  It’s too bad I didn’t have this knowledge in 2007 when Elliott and I made a trip to Belgium. We spent a week in Antwerp, Rubens’ hometown, without ever stepping foot into the Cathedral to see his altarpieces or seeking out his paintings at the Rubenshuis.  

Another very interesting fact I learned recently in class concerns the idea of imitation in art.  For many centuries, European artists routinely trained by copying the works of earlier artists.  This tradition goes back to the Renaissance, when artists from throughout Europe flocked to Florence and Rome to study the rediscovered sculpture of the ancient Greeks and Romans. By the 17^thcentury, artists from northern Europe, like Rubens, were coming to Italy to study the paintings and sculptures of Renaissance masters.  Since they couldn’t take photos, they made detailed sketches, which they brought back to their home countries as a visual library.  Later, they often incorporated compositions and poses they had sketched into their own paintings.  This was considered perfectly acceptable, whereas today, an artist who copied so much from other artists would be dismissed as derivative.   

As far as my own art goes, I’m getting ready to return to the glass studio this coming week for the fall session at the Workhouse.  I’ve already been working on designs and I hope to focus on making smaller functional pieces – draped pieces for votive candles, light covers (for hanging lamps and tabletop lamps), soap dishes, spoon rests, etc. 

Finding time to write continues to be a challenge, especially as my calendar is filling up with concerts, book clubs, and dining out with friends.  And soon I’ll be getting ready for more travel.  My next trip will be to Jordan and Israel.  I'll end this post with warm wishes to all for a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.