Curiosity 40: Everything but the kitchen sink

Another birthday, another year older. This marks the beginning of the last year of my seventh decade. I don't feel old. But I guess I am... 

I don't feel old, but I've certainly watched some history play out. Today, on my (resuscitated) daily long walk, I listened to Ezra Klein in conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous, and one thing they talked about was the various ways we all process the current war in Gaza—as in, we all experience Israel differently, depending, in part, on when we started paying attention. (Whether or not we are Jewish was not part of the discussion, though of course it's right in there.) There are those (such as President Biden, and me) who witnessed—even if from a vast distance—the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars of 1967 and 1973, at a time when Israel did not yet have heavy defenses in place, was vulnerable; in the period that followed, Israel began to secure its safety militarily but still hoped to broker peace with its neighbors; and now, we've got a hard-right Israeli government where, obviously, anything goes to squash Hamas. The Palestinians. Whatever. (The podcast discussion put it in a more nuanced fashion, but that's the gist that I came away with.) Depending on when you started paying attention, you'll have a very different perspective on the vulnerability—or bestiality—of Israel. By which I mean, the government. Which is not the same thing as "the Jews," the old scapegoat. Though they do get conflated...

I've watched as gun violence in this country has grown. I've seen women's rights get ripped away. Racist ugliness has stomped back in with a sneer. I've watched the rich get richer, the poor get ever more neglected. Today, the corporations seem to have more say than us citizens. Democracy—a jewel, a treasure, or so I was taught—is in danger of being cast aside.

It is very, very clear to me that half of this country expects something quite different in life than I do. I am not looking forward to this next year of politicking, and then to the November 2024 vote. I really do fear that the nation I grew up in, and believed in, could disappear. 

And it's happening the world over. And maybe all this is nothing new: the wretchedness is ongoing.

But as I like to say (not entirely unseriously): I'll be dead soon. And time will keep marching on.

But for today, I'm still here. And it was my birthday. I had a nice long chat with my roommate from sophomore year at UC Berkeley, Jenny. I enjoyed all the sweet Facebook wishes. (It's the one day of the year I really appreciate social media.) David gave me some socks, along with salted caramels and rhubarb jam. (He knows me well. The best of the socks: hedgehogs with Amanita muscaria!!!) I took myself out for a couple of walks and reached 15,000 steps. I read, and won 1st place in a Two Dots contest. And we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Passion Fish, and I had sea scallops, yum. 

However, the one thing I was really hoping for—a working kitchen sink—will still have to wait. Steve the plumber did come, and he got one bathroom fully functional. And the washing machine seems to work. Slowly by slowly (it's been ten days now) we're returning to the first world, waterwise. 

I've never looked forward to washing dishes so much.

And I am praying (in my way) for the takedown of Hamas to end, and soon.