Tonight was the longest partial moon eclipse in over 500 years; at least, that’s what I read the day before. Chicago Tribune was saying that it would be very easy to observe, and since it was three-and-a-half hours long, I had chances to see some of it.
The eclipse was supposed to end at 4-45 AM, so I made a point to get up at 3-45, and at 4 AM, I was out on the street. First, I thought I would see it from my balcony, but this didn’t work. However, when I came down to the street, I saw it right away!
It was enchanting, and although I could not capture the actual thing on my camera, I am very glad that I woke up an hour earlier than usual. The sight was worth it!
I wanted to write “the final” Christmas reminder but decided against it :). In any case, I am starting everything earlier this year, because the speed with which the mail is moving is unpredictable.
One thing which I recently mastered (and I could not believe it was so fast and easy) was a berry cake from one of my Finnish friends. I always loved the cheese-based topping on most of the Finnish pies, and now I know how to make it 🙂
Also, at the very end of October, at one-before-last farmer’s market, I spotted rhubarb, which was a miracle. the vendor explained that while they were planting the last greens in the greenhouse, they thought – why not? So I bought a lot, and made a rhubarb-strawberry pie, as I baked several times in early summer.
Also, I made tiramisu several times, because now I know that it’s not really time-consuming, and always turns out great.
Finally, I tried one more recipe: this chocolate pudding. Once again, it was amazingly simple and heavenly delicious.
Now, for the next month, I am going switch entirely to Christmas cookies!
The last couple of days were all about PostgreSQL, not just work but mostly my community activities. A couple of weeks earlier, I volunteered to participate in selecting the talks for yet another in-person conference, which will be held in San Jose in January. One of my talks for this conference is approved, so I am going there. The organizers asked me which of my talks I would prefer to present for that conference. That was great because I didn’t want to present the same talk at multiple conferences.
Tomorrow, I am hosting a Chicago PostgreSQL User Group meetup, and I am trying to do hybrid again. This time, six people registered to participate in person, seven including me. I think that in reality, there will be three people plus me, and it will progress because last time it was just me plus one more person.
Another thing I realized is that the holiday season is approaching for real, so this weekend, I need to start sending out international cards, and I need to start baking cookies. Also, I need to review my presentation for the New York conference. Although I’ve already presented it at least three times, I still need to review the slides and ensure they are not outdated.
On Friday, several emails were sent back and forth between the property management and the building residents: no hot water. You might not believe it, but I had a feeling of relief. In fact, when I first saw this house, and the agent was taking me through all the parts of the building, I saw these giant water heaters in the basement and thought to myself: does it mean that the hot water is not my problem anymore?
Indeed, it is not! The condominium handled all repairs, and by 1 PM, the hot water was back. And I thought for a minute that if this happened in my old house, I wouldn’t know about it until I came home from work Friday night, and then I wouldn’t be able to shower in the morning, and all my weekend plans would be screwed, because I will be looking for emergency service and would pay something unpredictable for it.
What a night! I can’t even say it was like in the “old days” – it was better than ever! Or maybe I forgot. Or maybe I just haven’t been to a Broadway class show for a while.
My neighbor and I had a night out in the Loop on Thursday. We started from a dinner at the Italian Village where I hadn’t been for more than two years. These days, they have a very strict reservation policy: they allow 1 hour 45 min for dining, and they charge you for canceled reservations (you need to put a valid credit card when you make the reservation). But that worked for us, ensuring that there was no crowd at the entrance, the tables were filled, and everybody had enough time to dine. It was nothing extravagant, but it was a very nice and festive dinner with their homemade pasta, wine, and a seasonal dessert.
Then, we headed to the Nederlander Theater. They have a very strict COVID protocol, and they really watch the patrons following it – and this allows them not to have any capacity restrictions. .Â
The show was fantastic! It was a pre-Broadway run of “Paradise Square,” and everything about it Twas brilliant: the story, the music, the voices, the choreography!  Two and a half hours of celebration of people’s talent and creativity!
The story takes place during the Civil War in New York, at the time when President Lincoln instituted the first Federal Draft, followed by the Draft Riot. More educational resources can be found on the production website (I think that I am not the only one who knew nothing about the Draft Riot, and about the Five Points neighborhood. At first, I didn’t realize that the actors present the real interracial couples of the 19th century; I thought that the cast was race-blind. But as the story unfolded, I realized that it was indeed about Irish/Black couples.
Unfortunately, I could not find any pictures, even from rehearsals, but I hope they will add some images to the production website at some point.
The only bad part was that I was at home after 11 PM and went to bed about midnight. And then, on Friday, Igor and I went to see the “Bug” in the Steppenwolf theater. That show started at 8 PM, and once again, we had to wait for the train, and I was home after midnight, and two nights in a row with about 4.5 hours of sleep was not a good idea.
The “Bug” is a play written by Tracy Letts, and it’s a very difficult thing to watch. Unlike most people, I didn’t see the movie and judging by the description on the website I didn’t realize how depressing it was going to be. It’s not that I am avoiding depressing plays, but with that one, I can’t even see what anybody in the world could do to prevent that tragic end…
Boris made several home improvements while he was here. I already showed the lights in the dining room. Another thing was that we finally stained the unfinished IKEA cabinets. Almost in spite of our efforts, they look presentable!
On Sunday, when mom and I were on the CTA on the way to the concert, a mentally unstable person walked into a car. He sat down and started to yell something ineligible. I was more concerned that he was not wearing a mask than anything else.
Mom didn’t say anything until later (on the way back, there were two young women with the music turned very loud, and we walked to another car). At that time, she asked why this man “was yelling so loudly.” I told her that he was mentally unstable, but as it often happens now, she didn’t listen and didn’t try to understand what I was saying. Instead, she continued: a white man would never do that! What are they trying to demonstrate? Are they trying to prove that they can do anything they want now, that they are not slaves anymore?
When I was walking home, I thought about how I could talk to her and explain how racist her conversation was, and I did some prep in my head. But the next time I was over at her place, she was in one of these moods when she started from one statement and literally did not hear when I tried to stop her and make a contra argument. And then it was one of these circles when she jumps from one repetitive passage to another, and I know all of them and all possible sequences, and I have no choice other than to sit and listen.
That racist stuff really bothers me, even as I understand, that she can’t make new mental constructions anymore. Even if I would try to reason with her to the effect of whether she thinks about herself as “white” as her most important characteristic, it does not feel like she can make new connections. Even if we talk about issues other than race, no matter how many times I explain to her that things she considers impolite are perfectly polite in the modern world, Russia and America alike. She just replies: but that’s how I feel! I have a right to feel a certain way, the way I was raised!
That was just to document the current state of things. I do not know how fast things will be developing from here. No conclusion.
I mentioned this young mother from the shelter before. T. was the one who told me one night when I was about to leave: Ms. Henrietta, do you know that you need to be here every night? And I told her that I knew, and if I had seven lives, my one life would be in the shelter every night.
And then there was another time when she was very harsh with her 3-year-old daughter, and I wanted to interfere but felt strongly that we were not close enough yet for me to interfere. The only suggestion I made was to help a little girl stop crying by putting damp clothes on her face.
Later that evening, T. came over to me and asked when I would come next time and what we would cook. She wanted to try to make borshch, and I told her that we would need to make two soups because not everybody likes beets, and she said she was up to the challenge.
We walked to the volunteer coordinator and asked him what day I could come, and he said – November 2. I asked her: will you survive until November 2? and she nodded.
Out volunteer coordinator took a short vacation right before November 2, and on November 1, his flight got canceled. He messaged me in the morning that we would need to cancel and asked whether I could come Wednesday or Thursday. I had something on both days, and I told him I would come next week.
That day was yesterday. I came in, put my backpack down, and asked the staff whether the produce was in the kitchen. He replied: I have bad news for you: one is that we have no cabbage. I started saying that they should have told me and I could pick it up and it should not be last-minute shopping, and well, we will make borshch another time, I just promised T… He continued: and another bad news is that T. is not here anymore.
It was not that I was shocked. I said: that’s really bad news, not like I am surprised, but… what happened? He replied: she was discharged for acting violently.
I know that our program’s success rate is low if you judge not by the number of youth placed into jobs and got their housing, so for T., it might not work anyway. Still, I feel that I was so close to being able to help her, and I didn’t.
***
I came home very late and went to check for mail. I saw a Thanksgiving card from the Night Ministry in my mailbox – the one they send every year for all staff, donors, and volunteers. I took the card out and opened it quickly to read a message from the Vice President – I knew she would add a couple of her personal words as she always does. To my surprise, I read: Hettie, what a beautiful picture of you! Then, I turned the card the other way and saw that I was indeed featured on this year’s Thanksgiving card! Â
This year, I am starting my Christmas campaign earlier, because the shipping speed is going to be unpredictable.
Like every year, like every Christmas – let me know if you want a Christmas card from me and/or Christmas cookies! If you are in Chicago – please come and help me to bake, and most importantly – decorate! Everything will start soon!!!
Hettie's Reflections 