We're Back!

February 17, 2015 – We’re Back!

Finally, we have a much-needed snow day, which means I can stay home.  So no more procrastinating – it’s time to get back to the blog.  Even though I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks (yes, it’s been that long), I’ve been writing down my random thoughts in order to clear them from my mind.  Doing this has been very therapeutic for me, but I realize it leaves me out of touch with the outside world.  Get ready for a long post, which I’ve divided into two sections. 

Part 1 – Calm Returns to Convento

First of all, I’ll address the question everyone’s asking, i.e. how is Elliott doing?  Rest assured, he’s doing better than he was at the beginning of the month.  His condition seems stable now.  Our daily routines, such as monitoring his vital signs and making sure he follows his dietary restrictions, are falling into place.  He uses oxygen most of the time, which means he’s tethered to a hulking oxygen concentrator, a machine that resides just outside the entrance to the kitchen.  A long stretch of bright green tubing allows him to roam freely on the upper level of the house.  He’s comfortable, except for flare-ups of back pain, and he sleeps well at night.  He’s not physically active yet, but we’re hoping that will change soon. 

Elliott is looking forward to the arrival of a light-weight, portable Inogen oxygen concentrator that he can use outside the house.  For his recent doctors’ appointments, he had to push his walker while I walked beside him, matching his pace step by step, and pulling a wheeled cart with a big oxygen tank.  We looked like an exceedingly strange set of conjoined twins. 

Last week, we placed the order for the new equipment and now we are just waiting for paperwork from doctors and approval from Medicare.  It’s hard for Elliott to be patient, though.  After being trapped inside for the past couple of weeks, he has a severe case of cabin fever.  But considering the recent weather (temperatures well below freezing), he should be happy to stay indoors.  By the way, Elliott really appreciates the visits from friends and family.  And thanks to all of you who’ve called and sent email messages, too. 

Even though Elliott does less nowadays and I do more, I’m managing to keep up with some important activities, including daily exercise, my class at GMU, and my weekly fused glass class.  Fortunately, Elliott doesn’t require constant supervision, so I can get away for a few hours at a time.  I even found time to work on some glass projects in an open studio session at Workhouse yesterday, right before the big snowstorm.  I’m currently working on several different pieces, including a Seder plate that I hope to complete before Passover, which is in early April.  In the evenings, after Elliott has gone to bed, I relax by reading for an hour or so.  I’m about to start my seventh free-reading book of the year.  

Three recently finished pieces of fused glass

For those occasional moments my extra responsibilities weigh me down and lead to thoughts of self-pity, I turn to Trader Joe’s.  In fact, one day last week when I was in dire need of appreciation, Trader Joe’s held a Customer Appreciation Day.  It’s amazing what some live music, a triple-tiered chocolate truffle, and a few sips of good red wine can do for one’s mood.  Which brings me to the second section of this blog post.  

Part 2 – Food for Thought

Under normal (i.e. non-crisis) conditions, it’s not unusual for me to spend a lot of time thinking about food.  Now that Elliott’s been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and has new dietary restrictions, I’m finding myself thinking about food even more.  Every time I go grocery shopping – in other words, at least once a day – I look for low sodium items.  I’m also learning how to rely less on convenience items and shortcuts.  For instance, when I saw that commercially prepared chili powder contained salt, I decided to put together my own combination of spices.  Last Friday, when we had family from Yorktown arriving for a weekend visit, I used my custom-blended chili powder in the bison chili that I served for dinner, along with homemade cornbread and guacamole (both salt-free).  

 

Elliott with his grandson Tyler (visiting from Yorktown, VA)

It seems that Elliott and I are on mutually exclusive diets.  Things that he can eat are things I should avoid, and vice versa.  Since Elliott’s blood sugar and cholesterol levels are fine, he can pig out on ice cream, mashed potatoes, French bread and pastry.  I, on the other hand, have to watch out for carbs and sugar but can tolerate more salt in my diet.  Eating out will certainly be difficult, but I think I’ve figured out a solution to the brunch problem:  We’ll order a bagel with cream cheese and lox.  Elliott will eat the bagel and cream cheese, and I’ll eat the lox!

This past January’s Winter Restaurant Week is now a happy memory.  (I thought I wrote about this already, but I don't see it any of my previous blog posts.)  Of course, Elliott couldn’t join me for excursions into DC, but I found two willing participants.  With Kathy, I sampled the scrumptious Italian cuisine at Fiola.  Grilled arctic char on a bed of “melted” leeks was a standout.  We ordered two different desserts, shared them, and had a hard time deciding which was better – the pistachio cake with Chantilly ice cream, or the chocolate-hazelnut trifecta consisting of gianduja (my new vocabulary word for the day – it means a chocolate hazelnut paste originating in the Piedmont region of Italy), chocolate mousse and hazelnut praline gelato.  The restaurant is located a couple of blocks from the National Gallery of Art, making it an ideal choice for a museum-going day.

Later that same week, with Cheri, I made a second Restaurant Week foray into DC.  This time, we had a full day of walking, shopping, and eating in Georgetown.  We discovered the new DC outpost of Rent the Runway and checked out the fancy dresses.  

Before lunch, we even did some historical sightseeing.  The Old Stone House, maintained by the National Park Service, is the oldest structure in the city.  It's worth taking the time to stop in if you're in the neighborhood. 

The Old Stone House

All the walking built up big appetites and we were ravenous by the time we arrived at La Chaumiere on M Street.  It was my first time dining at this traditional French bistro, whose rustic décor features a central stone fireplace, wood beams and stucco walls decorated with copper pots and old farm implements.  My Restaurant Week lunch included moules farcies (baked mussels) with garlic butter and poire Belle Helene, along with a glass of Cote du Rhone.

The cozy dining room of La Chaumiere on a wintery afternoon

Although not officially part of Restaurant Week, my lunch with Matt at Matchbox on a blustery winter day was very satisfying.  It was great seeing him and watching him devour a Fire and Smoke Pizza (the heat comes from chipotles in the sauce) and a dessert consisting of a giant brownie, a big scoop of peppermint ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream.  I must admit I helped him finish off the last few bites of dessert.   

Matt needed my help with this dessert at Matchbox.

For a while, I thought that Elliott’s dietary restrictions might stop me from entertaining, but I’ve since determined that it’s simply another challenge to overcome.  Earlier this month, I prepared lunch for several family members who traveled from Baltimore, southern Maryland, and Fredericksburg to visit Elliott.  The menu had to be low salt for Elliott, gluten-free for Marie-Claude, low-sugar and low-carb for me, free of unhealthy fats for everyone, and vegetarian for – well, no one in particular, but why not?  After rifling through my mental database of recipes, I came up with a selection that pleased the whole group:  quinoa-chickpea salad with baby spinach and walnuts in a lemon vinaigrette; sliced fennel and red onion with blood oranges; hummus and spinach-kale yogurt dip with crudités; a low-sodium Swiss cheese; rice crackers – and a whole-grain bread for the gluten-tolerant; fresh strawberries; dried figs; and dark chocolate-covered almonds.  

Family visitors for a healthy brunch

In other words, don’t be afraid to accept an invitation to our house for lunch or dinner.  While the food may be low-sodium, low-carb, sugar-free, and/or gluten-free, I can guarantee it will be delicious – no modesty here. 

This additional attention to diet is having a beneficial effect on my health, as well:  I’ve lost eight pounds since the end of October.  I’ve also made an immensely important discovery about rugelach, those rolled up, jam- and nut-filled, cream-cheese dough pastries which have long topped my list of favorite foods.  I bought a package (at Trader Joe’s, of course) to serve to guests, thinking I would have to watch longingly as lucky others indulged.  But a quick check of the nutrition label revealed that a single piece of rugelach (5-6 bites worth) has only 7 grams of carbs and 4 grams of sugar!  And 120 calories, too, but that isn’t nearly as outrageous as I was expecting.  Overall, in the calories vs. satisfaction equation, satisfaction definitely outweighs calories, meaning that I can splurge occasionally on rugelach without guilt.  I'd take a photo of a rugelach to show you, but I just ate the last one.  

More Changes for Elliott (and Me)

February 2, 2015 – More Changes for Elliott (and Me)

Ugh.  I’ve been dreading writing this.  Last week was horrendous, mainly for Elliott.  But we survived, and life is slowly returning to a calmer state.  I’ve already mentioned how he started to experience breathing problems back in December.  I’ve written about the oxygen concentrator that he started using in mid-January.  We weren’t overly concerned since his pulmonologist had reassured us that it was a simple COPD flare-up.  But about ten days ago, when Elliott’s breathing hadn’t improved and he kept getting weaker, we decided to consult our long-time primary care physician.  At an appointment exactly one week ago, Elliott began a series of tests (blood tests, EKG, CT scans, ultrasounds, echocardiograms) that led to a lengthy visit to the emergency room, 2-day stay in Fairfax Hospital, and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.  

Elisa and Matt visiting Elliott at Fairfax Hospital

Remember how pleased I was that Elliott had gained about ten pounds over the past few weeks?  Well, all that weight was fluid his body had retained – in his legs, his belly and his lungs.  No wonder it was hard to breathe.  Once he started intravenous diuretics, he lost the fluid and the weight and he started to feel much better (although he was still using oxygen).  

Now that Elliott is home, we’re adapting our routines to include new medications and daily monitoring of his weight (a gain would indicate fluid retention), blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation level.  He’ll probably continue to need supplemental oxygen, which will restrict his activities considerably.  At the moment, we’re looking for an easy-to-carry portable oxygen concentrator that will permit him to get out of the house for a few hours at a time.  In the meantime, he seems content to nap or to sit quietly during the day.  A visiting nurse will be coming to the house a few times a week to check on his condition.  I’m working with Marshall and Matt to schedule times when they can come to stay at the house when I need to be away for more than a couple of hours. 

Elliott’s diet is also undergoing scrutiny as we try to reduce his sodium intake.  I’ve already discovered that many of his favorite foods are much too high in sodium.  For example, those big fat Entenmann’s cinnamon buns are loaded with salt.  Ditto for many of the cheeses he loves.  But it will be an adventure to search out low-sodium alternatives and at least Elliott’s not complaining.  As soon as he’s feeling a little stronger, I’m sure he’d be delighted to welcome visitors – in person, or by phone. 

Although a diagnosis of congestive heart failure is nothing to celebrate, we both feel relieved that the mystery behind his breathing problems has been solved.  While it’s a condition that can’t be cured, we’re confident that we can manage it and enable him to continue enjoying life. 

The New Normal

January 24, 2015 – The New Normal

The past couple of weeks have been some of the most challenging in recent memory.  Elliott’s condition seems to change from day to day and I’m constantly making adjustments to my schedule to accommodate his need for more and more attention.  Being on call 24/7 is stressful, and I’m trying to line up a support network for times when I won’t want to leave him unattended.  Right now, I’m able to get away for a few hours at a time.  My main refuges are the gym and the glass studio. 

Since he can’t do much (or doesn’t believe he can do much), he has become very frustrated.  On occasion, he expresses annoyance, resentment or even anger, especially when I come back from doing something for myself.  I try not to take his outbursts too personally.  He has a right to feel sorry for himself, but if he accuses me of not giving him enough attention, I refuse to feel guilty.  Sainthood is not in my future. 

As much as possible, I am maintaining the activities that keep me mentally and physically healthy.  At the same time, realizing that Elliott can’t get out as much, I’ll try to make his restricted world more interesting.  I’ll invite friends and family over to the house for lunch and dinner more often.  I’ll encourage neighbors to simply drop by for short visits.  I’ll get a larger screen television (Marshall’s suggestion) so he doesn’t have to sit right in front of the screen.  I’ve contacted a friend who’s trained in massage therapy to come and give Elliott a geriatric massage to ease his back pain.  Ideally, Elliott would like to resume his former lifestyle.  But, as he said to Joel on the phone today, “Mentally I’m fine, but physically I can’t do a damn thing.” 

I managed to lift his spirits temporarily with some Entenmann’s baked goods (a special request), as you can see in the photo below.  

Elliott with Entenmann's raspberry twist danish

Being Elliott, however, he still manages to get into trouble, especially when I’m not around.  One day this week, I came home from running errands to find him sitting calmly reading the newspaper at the table in the family room.  However, I immediately asked him why one leg of his pants was covered with large splotches of blood.  His explanation was pretty vague – he bumped into something in the garage a couple of hours ago.  Ignoring his lack of concern, I lifted his pants leg and peeled down the compression sock he was wearing.  Just what I feared:  an open wound on his shin.  Without the compression sock, the blood started flowing and, within seconds, there was a large puddle on the floor.  I switched into Nurse Robin mode, assembled all the necessary medical supplies, and bandaged Elliott up like an old pro.   I thought of telling him not to go down to the garage when he’s home alone, but it probably wouldn’t do any good.  He can manage to get into trouble anywhere, at anytime.      

The week ended with a gathering of The Elliott Fan Club at the home of neighbors Ellen and Michael.  Here’s a photo of the superstar and a few of his numerous female fans.  I’ve nicknamed them the Elli-ettes.  It’s a good thing their husbands aren’t jealous.  I suppose Elliott is one of those men whom women want to be with, and other men want to be like.  As soon as we got home from the exciting evening out, I had to connect him to his oxygen concentrator.  Today, he spent most of today in bed, recovering.  

Elliott and 3 Elli-ettes (Sue, Ellen and Anne)

I'm Elliott's biggest fan.

Elli-ette Tina and Elliott

Discharged!!

January 14, 2015 – Discharged!!

I’m happy to report that we’re down to a single patient in the Thompson Rehabilitation Center.  Marshall was discharged late last week from our facility.  Although he still has some pain from the bruises to his ribs, it seemed to me that ten days of coddling was enough.  At first, I tried a gentle nudge, suggesting that he might be less bored at home, but when that didn’t produce any acknowledgement, I was forced to use a more direct approach, i.e. “What groceries should I pick up for you before I drive you back to Arlington tomorrow?” 

Fortunately, Marshall didn’t resist the idea.  He simply hadn’t thought of it.  (Why are men so clueless?)  Even without the home-cooked meals, he’s probably much happier back in his own apartment, where his television screen is at least twice the size of ours.  Of course, we assured him that we’re always available to help if he needs anything. 

So now we’re adjusting to having the house back to ourselves.  I’m definitely more relaxed, especially in the kitchen.  I’m not putting any pressure on myself to serve an elaborate dinner every evening.  However, we’re still eating well, and I’m making sure Elliott gets three nourishing meals a day and plenty of calories.  I guess I’ve been successful because he’s put on about ten pounds in the past month or so.  Grilled cheese sandwiches at lunchtime, extra raisins and brown sugar in his morning oatmeal, and cookies along with his nightly ice cream are partially responsible.  And remarkably, I’ve been able to lose about five pounds in the same amount of time, by avoiding all the “Elliott” food.  

Also on a positive note, Elliott’s medical condition has improved.  The round-the-clock pain medication schedule keeps him fairly comfortable most of the time although his back pain never goes away completely.  He still has occasional breathing problems but the episodes aren’t as frequent as they were a week ago.  At least we now have an oxygen concentrator for those times when he struggles to catch his breath.  

Just in case Elliott needs it, we have an oxygen concentrator.

I’ve been using some of my time in the new year to go through the masses of art work and art supplies that we moved out to the garage prior to the downstairs remodeling.  We had emptied out a large storage closet and an entire ten-drawer flat file.  Looking through the stacks of paper (pencil sketches, charcoal drawings, pastels, colored pencil drawings, collages, etc.), I could hardly believe that I’d kept nearly every piece of art that I’d produced during the past thirty years.  For so long, I couldn’t bear the thought of parting with any of it.  But I no longer feel emotionally invested in it.  I’m able to look at it dispassionately, see how I’ve progressed, and then set aside a few of the better pieces.  The rest ends up in the recycling bin.  The process has left me feeling liberated – shed of my past and ready to go on and create more (and better?) things, such as the fused glass I’m now doing.  

One of several fused glass works in progress

One pleasant surprise – I uncovered a stack of Elliott’s papers, consisting of designs, ink drawings and templates related to his “Z” series.  We’ll save those for the Thompson archives.  A recent article in The Washington Post raised questions about the fate of many of the art works in the Corcoran’s collection.  It made me wonder what will happen to the paintings Elliott gifted to that institution many years ago.  It’s a shame that the Corcoran’s record-keeping was so haphazard.  As a result, there’s no accurate inventory of the works in their collection. 

It seems inevitable that even as I was disposing of stuff, I was accumulating more.  We now have two scales – at least until I get rid of the old battered metal one, which is no longer very accurate.  The new scale is a sparkly digital model that I’m happy to step on every morning.  Another new high-tech item is a countertop convection oven/toaster that does an excellent job baking Elliott’s croissants in the morning.  Consequently, the old toaster oven is looking for a new home. 

And then there are my brand new rabbit-y fire shoes.  Rabbit-y fire shoes?  Yes, that’s what I thought they were called.  My brother mentioned his fabulous new walking shoes during one of our phone chats about a month ago.  In his usual speed-talking way, he raved about how great they were (rabbit-y fire, the best shoes ever!, blah, blah, blah).  Right after our conversation, I went to the computer to Google these amazing shoes, but my searches just kept turning up photos of cute bunnies.  Well, it turned out my brother was actually saying “gravity defyer.”  (Say it really fast, and I assure you that it sounds like rabbit-y fire.)  Once the name problem was solved, I ordered a pair of Gravity Defyer shoes for myself.  They’re very comfortable and quite springy in the heels.  So springy, in fact, that I’m now bouncing rabbit-like around the streets of northern Virginia.  

A Rocky Start to the New Year

January 5, 2015 – A Rocky Start to the New Year

This tells you what my new year has been like.

At times these past few days, I’ve felt as if I’m running the Thompson Convalescent Center.  The first patient, Elliott, has been experiencing increasing difficulty breathing for the past few weeks.  He seemed to get tired from relatively minor exertion and spent much of his time in a horizontal position. To make matters worse, one of his hearing aids broke about a week ago and had to be sent out for repair. 

When Elliott is forced to curtail his activities, his appetite plummets, and he becomes understandably cranky and demanding.  His respiratory condition worsened over the weekend, when a simple walk from the bed to the bathroom resulted in several minutes of panting and gasping for air.  I was so concerned that I suggested taking him to the emergency room right away.  It didn’t surprise me when he refused to go.  However, as soon as he got up on Monday morning, he called and made an appointment to see his pulmonologist (lung specialist) the same day.  

The doctor examined him and found no cause for major concern.  While Elliott’s blood oxygen level was lower than it usually is, he showed no sign of pneumonia.  It seemed to be a simple flare-up of his COPD, which can occur from time to time.  Elliott started on a 10-day course of prednisone and is still taking it easy.  We’ve also ordered an oxygen concentrator, a piece of equipment that extracts oxygen from the air and delivers it to the patient through small plastic prongs placed in the nostrils.  In the event that Elliott experiences shortness of breath again, he’ll be able to supplement his oxygen intake and reduce his stress level. 

In addition to his breathing problems, Elliott has been suffering from back pain.  At times, it was so bad that it immobilized him.  This is probably due to the resistance he developed to his pain medication.  The only way to alleviate his pain now is to take the painkillers more often.  After some experimentation, he finally came up with a schedule that seems to work.  It requires taking pain pills six times within a 24-hour period, including at 4 o’clock in the morning.  Since he’s afraid he’ll forget to take a pill, I have five reminders set on my phone.  At least for the 4:00 a.m. pill, he came up with brilliant plan that allows me to sleep through the night.  He sets an alarm on his cell phone and sets the phone to vibrate.  When he gets into bed, he puts a glove on one hand and slips the phone into the glove.  He wakes up when it vibrates in the palm of his hand. 

And now for the second patient who’s currently convalescing in our house – Marshall.  My stepson fell on our front steps little over a week ago, and didn’t mention his accident to us at the time it occurred.  He figured the pain in his ribs would go away in a couple of days.  But it didn’t.  In fact, it got so bad that he couldn’t sleep at night.  So last Wednesday (New Year’s Eve), he decided to make an appointment at Kaiser to find out if he’d fractured anything.  Of course, in his condition, he couldn’t drive, so he put in a call to the Thompson Patient Transport Service. 

X-rays showed that Marshall had badly bruised ribs but no broken bones.  The doctor gave him a prescription for a strong painkiller to make him more comfortable.  We were all starving when we finally left Kaiser, so we went out for New Year’s Eve lunch at La Cote d'Or, a charming French restaurant in Falls Church.  Since it’s impossible for Marshall to drive, we suggested that he move in with us until he’s feeling better.  It wasn’t quite the New Year’s Eve I’d been anticipating.  

Mussels with pommes frites for Elliott

A slice of buche de Noel helps Marshall forget his pain.

On New Year’s Day, after caring for the two patients, I was eager to escape from the house – actually, I was desperate to escape from the never-ending football on TV.  I called Matt and asked him to meet me at a new Chinese restaurant in Fairfax.  Hunan Taste purports to serve “authentic” Chinese food in addition to the more familiar Chinese-American favorites.  I’m always interested in trying new types of food, but one look at their menu, and I started to reconsider.  Fish maw (whatever that is), fish head, fish tail, pig ears, ox lung, pig blood, tripe, pork intestines, chicken gizzard, spicy frog, and soft shell turtle didn’t sound very appetizing to me.  Fortunately, I found a delicious vegetable dish (baby bok choy and mushrooms) and a version of Kung Pao chicken that were quite satisfying.  Our friendly server (whose English was extremely limited) must have told the chef to tone down the heat level because the dishes weren’t as spicy as we were expecting.  Matt and I agreed that Hunan Taste is worth a return visit.  

One of the "safer" dishes on the menu at Hunan Taste

Of course, when I came home, the boys were still watching football on TV, and it went on well into the night.  The television has been on almost non-stop since Marshall arrived.  Thanks to Marshall, I now know which channels show classic movies, British comedies and murder mysteries, and English soccer games.  The pain medication gives Marshall some relief, but he still can’t move freely.  Since he has perfected the art of leisure, he seems quite content to spend his days on the sofa. 

As for Elliott, he’s still spending a lot of time napping.  It will take time for him to regain his strength.  I’m trying my best to tempt him to eat a bit more – offering juice, ice cream, cookies, and other calorie-rich goodies throughout the day.  Everyone is on a different schedule when it comes to breakfast and lunch, but we all sit down together to eat a multi-course dinner.  At dinnertime, I feel as if I’m running a restaurant single-handedly.  Some of the items that have been on the menu at Café Thompson in recent days are moussaka (yum!) – along with stuffed grape leaves and Greek salad; split pea soup; roasted beet salad with chevre; flounder fillets with a sauce Aurore over spinach; and braised red cabbage.  About that cabbage dish – it’s so sweet and delicious, I could eat it for dessert.  

This red cabbage is unbelievably delicious.

While I’m enjoying the cooking, I hope Elliott and Marshall will recover soon.  Nurse Robin’s patience is starting to wear thin. 

The Books of 2014

December 30, 2014 – The Books of 2014

At the end of every year, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to look back over a list of the books that I read during the previous 12 months.  Keeping track of my reading is a habit that I developed in high school.  It stuck with me over the years and grew into a full-blown obsession.  For several decades, I used index cards alphabetized by author’s last name, but I switched over to an Excel spreadsheet (and transferred all the earlier data) six or seven years ago. 

I still remember quite vividly sitting in the library of Eagle Avenue School, on one of those low stools, pulling “real,” i.e. not picture, books off the shelf.  What a thrill it was when I discovered that I could read chapter books!  From that moment on, I was addicted to reading.  I plunged into various series, such as The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew (girl detective), and Cherry Ames (student nurse). 

My goal this year was to read a book a week.  I didn't manage to read 52 entire books, but as 2014 comes to an end, I see 43 titles, both fiction and non-fiction, on my list.  Thank goodness for the Fairfax County library system!  Without their books and e-books, I’d be broke.  The list doesn’t include books I read for my classes at George Mason University.  In addition, I felt I couldn’t list many of the non-fiction books that I merely skimmed or read in part.  This included several cookbooks, travel books, history books, etc.  I always note which books I particularly enjoyed, and I’m pleased to share a few of the highlights with my fellow reading enthusiasts.  Here they are, in no particular order:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – fiction – a long, fascinating novel with beautifully drawn characters.

Longbourn by Jo Baker – fiction – retells Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of the servants. 

Guests on Earth by Lee Smith – fiction – a novel set in a North Carolina mental instutition; one of the characters is Zelda Fitzgerald.

My Promised Land by Ari Shavit – non-fiction – an Israeli perspective on Israel – both controversial and eye-opening.

Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart – memoir – wildly entertaining and touching memoir by the writer who immigrated from Russia to the U.S. as a young child. 

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris – fiction – based on historical incidents related to the Dreyfus case and the investigation into a cover-up involving top officials in the French government and military. 

Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan – fiction – based on the true relationship between an American woman and the writer Robert Lewis Stevenson. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin – fiction – a somewhat quirky novel about a quirky bookstore owner, sure to appeal to lovers of literature. 

Lovers at the Chameleon Club by Francine Prose – fiction – set in Paris before and during World War II, based on some actual historical characters and events.

My Notorious Life by Kate Manning – fiction – historical setting, based on true events involving the struggle for women’s reproductive rights in the 1800s. 

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Klein – fiction – a compelling story of two women covering several decades.

What is Visible by Kimberly Elkins – fiction – based on the life of the first deaf-blind woman who was learned to communicate, before Helen Keller. 

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriques – fiction – focuses on the lives of today’s immigrants as they struggle to fit into American society. 

The Medici Boy by John L’Heureux – fiction – set in Renaissance Italy, this novel follows an apprentice in the workshop of the sculptor Donatello.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – fiction – a moving account of World War II in France by a young blind girl.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – fiction – life for a group of women in a contemporary Australian suburb.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters – fiction – suspenseful novel set in post-WW I London.

I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira – fiction – based on the relationship between the American painter Mary Cassatt and the French artist Degas. 

Happy reading!

Approaching Year's End

December 28, 2014 – Approaching Year’s End

It’s hard to believe that it’s the end of December.  We’ve had several recent days where the temperatures reached 60 degrees – and it’s officially winter!  Now, I’m not complaining.  I’ve enjoyed being able to spend more time out of doors.  I can get my exercise by walking through the neighborhood, or even by taking a long walk in DC, which is how I spent the day after Christmas. 

On the morning of December 26, the sun was shining brightly and the air was mild when my friend Cheri and I hopped on the Metro.  It was a perfect day for an urban hike. Right away, we noticed the absence of cars on the roads and the paucity of passengers on the trains.  Our first stop on our agenda was the Sackler Museum of Asian Art, a gem of a museum that is often overlooked by the hordes of tourists who throng the more imposing Smithsonian structures on the National Mall.  As a result, we were able to view two very interesting new exhibits without having to battle crowds.  

The Smithsonian Castle, decorated for the holidays with birch trunks

The first exhibit we saw, called The Traveller’s Eye, presented over 100 works from the museum’s collection that were created over a 500-year period.  They ranged from Chinese scrolls to Japanese woodblock prints to contemporary photographs from the Indian subcontinent.  Through these works, we gained an insight into both commercial and tourist travel across Asia over the centuries.  

A Japanese print from the exhibit, The Traveller's Eye

The second exhibit, Unearthing Arabia, offered a fascinating window into early civilization in the southern Arabian Peninsula.  It focused on the archaeological expedition of a team organized and led by Wendell Phillips.  In the early 1950s, Phillips and his crew unearthed the ruins of an ancient capital of the Qataban kingdom in Timna, located along the Biblical spice route in modern-day Yemen.  Unfortunately, the volatile and dangerous political situation in Yemen forced the group to abandon their work prematurely.  It wasn’t until the late 1990s that a team returned to the area to carry on the work of Phillips, who had died in the interim.  It was especially interesting to see the carvings of South Arabian writing on many of the sculptures.  South Arabian had 29 letters but no vowels, much like Hebrew.  The South Arabian script (where a character represents a syllable) was abandoned on the Arabian Peninsula with the advent of Islam, but survives to this day in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia. 

Outside once again, we finally saw crowds along the Mall – a huge line dominated by families with children, waiting to get through the security entrance for the Air and Space Museum.  We continued on in the direction of the Capitol, stopping at the National Botanical Gardens to see the holiday exhibit.  We skipped the snaking line (more families with more restless children) waiting to see the model trains and headed straight into the moist tropical heat of the main hall.  The airy space was decked out in a refreshing palette of hot pink (poinsettias with tiny leaves) and cool silver and blue (ribbons and sparkly balls).  We stayed just long enough to snap a few photos.  

Part of the holiday exhibit at the National Botanical Gardens

Since our goal was to combine museum-going with exercise, we kept walking over Capitol Hill and then down Pennsylvania Avenue to Eastern Market, a walk of close to 2 miles from the Sackler.  The Hill was pretty deserted, and it turned out that Eastern Market was closed for the holiday.  There were certainly no tourists in sight.  But the restaurants near the market were open, and we treated ourselves to delicious galettes de sarrasin (buckwheat crepes) filled with salmon, cheese and veggies at Montmartre, a charming French restaurant on Seventh Street SE. 

When I got home, I was so energized from being out in the fresh air that I sat down at the computer and tackled a job that I’d been avoiding for weeks, i.e. writing our annual letter.  The task had taken on a sense of urgency because Elliott, tired of my procrastinating, had shown me a 3-page draft that he’d laboriously penciled.  The problem with his letter was that it dealt exclusively with his medical issues, in great detail.  I managed to write up a more positive and balanced overview of our year and sent it out before the day was over.  It felt wonderful to check that off the To Do list.   

The good weather and my energy level lasted a couple of more days.  We set out to run some errands on Saturday morning, and found both Costco and Wegman’s relatively deserted.  Obviously, a lot of local residents were out of town for the holidays, which made shopping an unexpected pleasure.  In the afternoon, Elliott and I went off once again in search of a push broom, and finally, after several unsuccessful attempts, located a suitable specimen at a small family-run hardware store in Falls Church.  As you can see in the photo, he is delighted with his purchase. 

We spent a very productive day at home on Sunday.  With Marshall’s help, we moved the flat file and drafting table from the garage into the rec room.  I’m very excited to have a comfortable, spacious studio downstairs where Matt and I can work on our fused glass.  In the photo above, you’ll notice two paintings propped up on the brick ledge.  The one on the right is my painting of an interior scene in our home in France.  The painting on the left is a still life by Elliott Thompson, painted when he was living in Paris back in the 1950s.  

Mon atelier (my studio)