The only way to be on time with American Airlines is to take the first morning flight on Sunday! I am saying it for the second time within the past two months! Also, that was the only way to get to the airport from my house in 35 minutes!
Hotel Alt in Montreal:
The conference didn’t even start yet, and I already had so many interesting conversations, and learned about so many additional events which will happen during this week! I regret that I didn’t check all of them out earlier and didn’t sign up for some of the activities. My excuse is that the last couple of months were all bloody fights, and making sure the conference would be a great event, regardless of these fights. I hope that next year will be better, though! At least now I know what to expect and will look for the opportunities.
I want to record this as a separate post because my mom suddenly remembered that something like that happened at some point and started to tell everyone. I do not remember the episode itself because the conversation happened without me :), but I remember who my mom described it to me many years ago. What she told me back then makes sense, while what she is saying now does not make any sense at all.
I should start with mentioning that my paternal grandmother’s side of the family were polyglots. Living in the pale of settlement, they had to speak four languages to get around, plus Hebrew, just because you should know, plus foreign languages taught in the gymnasium, plus some Greek and Latin. So it was only natural that when I started to talk (which, as I already mentioned, was very early – I recited first nursery rhymes at the age of 14 months), my great-grandmother started to introduce some Yiddish, her first language. She started casually saying to me, “And in Yiddish, this is called so and so.” When my mom overheard that, she said: “Gustava Markovna (my great grandma’s Russified name), let her learn how to speak Russian first!” For which my great grandma replied: “I never expected you to be such an antisemit!” For which my mom got very upset and ran out of the room, and my great ant Fania followed her and tried to console her saying that “nobody meant anything.” My great grandmother never apologized because she was not a type of a person who ever apologies, but the question of Yiddish was never raised again. (And it has nothing to do with my mom teaching me English later)
My historical posts are being published in random order. Please refer to the page Hettie’s timeline to find where exactly each post belongs and what was before and after.
Three years ago, I experienced this effect in full: for two consecutive days, I walked and talked with two friends, both shorter than I was. Something in this situation throws my spine out of balance, and my left side pains return. I didn’t have it that bad for quite a while, although I had less severe cases sometimes when I walked with my mom, and I forgot about it.
Two weeks ago, my pains returned out of nowhere, and it took me a while to figure out that the root cause was the same – for two days, I was engaged in long walks and conversations with a friend who is shorter than me (it’s not easy to be shorter than me, that’s why it does not happen often!)
By now, I know what I need to do to fix the problem, so I asked my doctor to renew my high-dose ibuprofen prescription and went to physical therapy, but I am wondering whether I will ever be able to talk to people who are shorter than me without pain 🙂
Everything in this house is too high for me, including the shelves, and sometimes, when I try to put things on the shelves, something falls off. This time, it was a glass from the lower shelf. I didn’t have time to catch it, and I was expecting the burst of small glass pieces when it would hit the granite countertop. Instead, something else happened.
I didn’t hear the glass breaking, but suddenly, I saw the whole countertop covered with tea! When the glass was falling down, it hit a teapot spout on its way down, and sliced it off! I should have taken a picture, because it was a remarkably clear cut, but I didn’t, so you have to trust me!
Here is a replacement; as usual, nicer than the old one 🙂
As I said yesterday, Chicagoans didn’t realize right away what had just happened, and the news hosts were running pre-planned programming, but today, the streams of excitement flooded the city! In the news, in the conversation at the workplace, and all the jokes I anticipated, and the ones I would never think about! And of course, the most important battle: is Pope Leo the Sox fan or the Cubs fan?!
On a local front: on Wednesday, I rehabilitated my cooking skills at the ODS. Last time I was there (at the beginning of April), I tried to cook the Boudin Balls, which I had no idea about! How they should look, how they should taste – nothing! Yes, I said – ask the residents what they want, but now I know better – “want” should be a subset of what I “can.”
After my attempt was declared an experience rather than a success, we decided that next time we should make a baked salmon, but then I had to cancel my volunteer shift because I had to go to Helsinki, and I was only able to come this Wednesday.
Baked salmon was a smashing success, and homemade mashed potatoes too, but they are always a success. One of the residents asked me to put aside some boiled potatoes before I mash the rest because “he didn’t like how mashed potatoes are soggy.” I put several pieces aside, but told him: just you wait! In a little bit, he was telling everyone that I proved him wrong 🙂
I am glad that I had a couple of people who actually participated in the process, and even suggested the spices, and that I could share the love :). And I forgot to take pictures again!
I can’t get over it – it feels unreal! I wouldn’t believe it if somebody had told me yesterday. It’s like a continuation of the joke that “Everything started in Chicago!” I like telling this joke to the guests, but … still unbelievable! I hope that’s for good! And I am sure Chicago will make the most out of it 🙂
It was not the first day over 70F this season, but one of the first (and also, I missed a couple when I was out of town). I didn’t have a chance to get out of the office during the day because I had no time between meetings, but the weather was so nice that I made a point to go for a walk before I boarded the train back home.
When I reached the Tapp (and found that the Tiny Cafe was not open yet, so there was no ice cream), I sat down on the granite and looked at the River. No phone, no listening to an audiobook. Instead, I was taking in the noise of the Happy Hour crowd, this unique Chicago summer buzz, and looking at the summertime over-the-river sfumato:).
Sometimes, you need a day when you do not have to hurry somewhere after work!
We had a subscription for a series of three family matinees at the CSO, and due to the scheduling conflicts, we had to miss two of them. May 3 was not easier, but we all made an effort, even though Anna had to drive to the Loop and drop Nadia just in front of the Orchestra Hall, and had to leave immediately after the post-concert activities.
I was disappointed with a very low attendance, and I can’t even attribute it to anything except for general not-so-great people’s mood. it’s a pity because the concert was absolutely wonderful. Thomas WIlkings was absolutely magical – the way he spoke with the kids from the stage, how he introduced each piece, how he talked about building a community… As a CSO for Kids Ambassador, I (with the rest of the family) was invited to lunch in the Grainger Ballroom. that was a little bit overkill, because only two other families joined us, but as I said, the concert attendance was not great, so that was expected. I still think it’s a great idea to pre-order lunch for before or after the concert, and I hope that things will be better organized for the next season.
Then, there were the usual between-the-concerts activities, including “Mini Maestros” and the “instrument petting zoo,” which both Nadia and Kira thoroughly enjoyed. A new activity was creating some music with the large sticky notes:
The musicians actually played these two measures :).
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On Sunday, I took my mom to another concert conducted by our Music Director Designate Klaus Makela (Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 and Dvorak’s 7th Symphony). That’s the second time I listen to him conducting; I didn’t hear him before his was appointed the CSO music director, so now I am just starting to get a “taste” of him. Both works are beautiful, and Brahms sounded very unusual, though in a good way.
Makela is so different from both Muti and Borenboim, the two Musical Directors I’ve experienced at the CSO that it will probably take me a while to take his style in.
I was hoping for two of my big unknowns to resolve, but none happened.
Boris went to the visa interview, but they didn’t make a decision. Instead, the officer told him that “he will receive instructions about next steps by email.” And I don’t understand what in the world it could mean, because they also told him that he does not need to come to the consulate again. I am super worried and nervous, and don’t know what to do next.
My big not-for-profit battle is not over yet. For several months, I have avoided writing about it, hoping that “it will be all over” and I will be able to give a short summary and move on. And things are still happening, and I am still unsure whether “it’s over” or not.
I know that it all cyphered, but I do not know how else to express the fact that I am still very nervious and up in the air.
Hettie's Reflections 