A huge part of crafting a successful holiday was that I took a week off from work following Thanksgiving. In addition to all the boring house stuff I did, I was able to prepare for Hanukkah. The first thing of note is that I did more decorating than I have in years past. Part of that was due to the boys getting old enough to enjoy decorating and being festive for the holidays, so I had enthusiastic helpers and didn’t feel like I’m just doing it all for myself.

While I had a babysitter watching the boys I put up some blue and white lights outside, and then the boys helped me put more lights up on the banister on the stairway. We found some window decals at CVS and the boys also spent a little time doing Hanukkah coloring and other art that we put on the walls.

I love model trains, and so do the boys, so each year I set up a “Hanukkah train” and in the middle of the loop we put all the presents. One evening I set up the table with a blue table cloth and the boys and I assembled the Union Pacific train I bought a few years ago for this purpose. I probably set it all up too early because the presents were a tremendous source of temptation and frustration for the boys as we led up to Hanukkah, but I was trying to build up the excitement!

Speaking of presents, I ended up making a document to track what presents the boys were getting for Hanukkah and where they were in the process (ordered, shipped, boxed, wrapped) so I wouldn’t lose track, and to make sure we had enough presents of similar value and excitement for both Adam and Aaron each night. I was also thrilled to find some beautiful Hanukkah wrapping paper at TJ Maxx (along with a Hanukkah cats pillow and blanket), so I didn’t have to just rely upon generic winter-themed wrapping paper. Hanukkah penguins! Hanukkah cookies! Menorahs!

The boys had fun with all the present unwrapping, at ages 3 and nearly 5, it was the first year both of them could really enjoy it properly. Reflecting upon my experience growing up with Christmas, it was fun to do 8 nights of presents. Each night and the following day they focus on one or two gifts they got instead of the excitement exploding in just one morning. It’s a really nice tradition.

We also managed to get some Hanukkah Gelt this year, which I also found at CVS and the boys eagerly devoured each night. Maybe next year we’ll be able to properly play with the dreidel for some instead of just launching it across the room, hah!

One day I ventured out to pick up some jelly doughnuts, which I hope were a reasonable enough stand-in for proper sufganiyah. But no homemade latkes this year. I enjoyed eating them the one year I managed to make them, but the work that goes into them was beyond my ability this year. Maybe I’ll try again if I get some little machine that shreds the potato and onion instead of having to do it manually.

As beautiful as the holiday was and the joy we all gained from it, there was the shadow of the war in Israel looming over it all, and a rise in anti-semitism, this time coming from the left side of the political spectrum. A menorah was vandalized in Oakland, and reports of violence have popped up across the country. Having not been born Jewish, learning most of I know about Judaism in the past 12 years or so, I guess I didn’t quite understand how much anti-Jewish sentiment can simmer for decades before boiling over. I’ve shared before that when MJ and I got married, I didn’t give another thought to raising a Jewish family. We live in a modern society! Jewish people are Americans! Everything is fine! These days I do worry about the world we’re leaving for our boys, and only hope that things calm down and they can continue to thrive in a safe place that’s full of opportunity for people of all faiths.

So it was extra special to see that the menorah in Castro Valley, which in years past had been nearly hidden in a small park down the boulevard, was in the center of town this year. Our local Chabad organization also did a whole event on the 5th night there with a lot of festivities (I didn’t know it was happening, otherwise we would have gone!).

And I took my time to admire the big menorah that graces Union Square in San Francisco when we made our way to the city over the weekend.

Happy holidays, my friends. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have an enjoyable time and a happy new year.

In preparation for Hanukkah, I once again got our Hanukkah train set up and presents wrapped, so Adam could grab them each night.

I did a refresh on our Hanukkah garland and replaced the lights, so our stairway display was fluffy and fresh-looking this year! The punch card wreath on my office door also got a little bit of Hanukkah flair.

We enjoyed a Hanukkah dinner on the third night, once again picking up our brisket, latkes, veggies, challah, and sufganiyot (donuts!) from Wise Sons in San Francisco. Even with everything pre-cooked, it does take work to heat up and serve everything with the little ones running around, but it was still a great short-cut, and I didn’t have to worry about anything coming out badly!

With Adam being nearly three years old, it was also nice to really observe the holiday with him. He was thrilled about getting to light candles each night, and the presents were a nice touch too. He even helped his dad with lighting his train menorah candles.

Night seven fell on Saturday, and I somehow felt inspired to try and make latkes. MJ mixed the dry ingredients and wrangled the kids while I shredded potatoes and onions with a hand shredder. Once the kids went to bed we got to frying, and it turned out pretty well! As someone who “doesn’t cook” I was quite pleased, and it gave us fresh latkes to enjoy with the leftover brisket and veggies.

Finally, I got a Hanukkah-themed beer box! It meant having a beer each night, which was probably a bit much, so I’m happy to dry out this week, but it was fun as a novelty this year.

It was a fun year for Hanukkah, but also gave me a taste of how the holidays are going to be moving forward. Both of our kids have birthdays this time of year, so I’ve also been planning birthdays! It’s definitely a very busy time of year, with lots of treats.

Then the smoke started to roll in on August 18th. Our cars and outdoor furnishings quickly developed a thin layer of ash and we had to stay indoors.

Admittedly, we’re getting off easy so far this year. I rarely smell the smoke, and the PM 2.5 AQI levels for wildfire smoke pollutants are regularly between 50-100. Still not what I want to expose the either the baby or the toddler to very much, but it’s not the directly unhealthy or dangerous range we dealt with last year. Still, we’re staying indoors a lot more, and that’s been tough. Adam doesn’t like being cooped up, and I’ve realized just how important all those walks I was taking with them are to my fitness and health. The air has started to clear this week, but there are still fires and if they flare up again and the winds shift, I will need to make sure I’m getting in some exercise again. Hello again, treadmill!

I wrote about getting my amateur radio license and my movie marathon, and honestly that’s all I’ve packed my free time with. Most recently I started watching the 1980s series Automan and then listening to the Continuum Drag podcast as they make their way through the series too. The podcast has definitely made watching the series a lot more fun and social.

I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to keep the kids engaged as we’re stuck indoors, and I’ve been delighted to see how quickly baby Aaron is growing and hitting milestones. In our cooped up period these past few weeks, he’s become quite the crawler! And he stands while holding things now!

I’m probably not fully succeeding in meeting all the needs of a mischievous toddler (honestly, who can?), which is how I ended up going through our trash can on a Tuesday morning. The night before we noticed that one of the baby monitors was missing. I figured Adam had just stashed it somewhere, but after essentially turning the house upside down on Monday night, I had to accept that he probably threw it away because he thought it would be funny. Thankfully, I found it in the trash before the trash truck came. It was gross, but after taking it apart, carefully cleaning it, and letting it dry, it seems to work fine.

Adam and I also are continuing to do art, but the other week we added baking into the mix (see what I did there?). First it was by making challah, and most recently honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. He’s only two, so obviously it’s me doing most of the work, but it’s been fun to include him as we measure and mix together the ingredients.

We also did some holiday-inspired art!

As for the holidays themselves, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were once again observed via live stream. It looks like a few people made it to the synagogue, masked and vaccinated, but hundreds of us joined virtually. It’s sad to not see everyone in person for a second year, but just like last year, it did make things a lot easier. A baby and a toddler don’t make leaving the house easy, especially for extended periods. Staying safe at home certainly was convenient.

We also took the afternoon on both days to visit parks. On Rosh Hashanah our au pair and I went over to the playground, where we bumped into the local Chabad chapter, and I got to socially-distanced chat with a Jewish mother in their community. On Yom Kippur MJ joined us and we all went out to Lake Chabot Park to soak in the sun and let Adam kick a soccer ball around in the grass.

With the clear skies, we’ve also spent the last couple of weekends going to yard and garage sales again. Mostly it’s because it gives us a safe destination for walks (helps me stay motivated!) but also because the kids do seem to like to see Things when we go out. Stuff-wise, I rarely buy anything, but we did snag a refrigerator toy last weekend that both the boys are really enjoying.

Work has been incredibly busy. We put on our flagship event for IBM Z last week, so August through September is a mad scramble to finalize the schedule, make sure the speakers are happy and have what they need, and handle all kinds of surprising logistics (even for a virtual event!). A non-trivial number of evenings I end up working after the kids go to sleep just to make sure everyone has what they need. Mix in taking a day off for Rosh Hashanah and another for Yom Kippur I really had my work cut out for me. We nailed it though, I was really happy with my track and the event did very well. The virtual Open Mainframe Summit is next, which I’ve been handling IBM’s presence for, and was taking up considerable amounts of time as I got the booth materials together and make sure we hit all the key deadlines. That’s coming up next week.

Today I got to enjoy another beer festival! This time Beers without Beards which had a beautiful assortment of beers, including Two Lights from Allagash, which I’ve wanted to try since it came out. Realistically, it’s tricky to fully take in these virtual beer festivals because I have a couple of little humans to care for during the day, but having the live stream on while we went about our day has been a nice change of pace. I really enjoyed the segment from Allagash, and it was delightful to hear about some of the history of our beloved Russian River Pliny the Elder. As for actually drinking, I can work my way through the beer collection in the evenings over the next few weeks. I’m enjoying the Two Lights right now, which is pretty great for a lager!

Pandemic-wise, I’ve hinted throughout this post how we’re still staying close to home. It really did weigh heavy on my heart to stay home during the holidays again, and MJ just canceled his plans to go to his cousin’s wedding in early October. I’m lonely, and I miss everyone. I am eager to see approval come through for vaccinations for the kids, because that is when I think we’ll be in a more reasonable place as we continue to evaluate our safety. In the meantime, we’re all doing the best we can over here.

One thing I’ve quickly realized with having a second was how intense the learning curve was the first time around. We didn’t remember everything, but we did fall into a pattern quickly with this one, and were less worried about everything. We have an established plan for feeding, we know how to change diapers, and we generally feel more comfortable with this delicate, new little human than we did with the first. It’s still exhausting like no other exhaustion, especially when he goes through nights of waking up every hour, but there’s less stress this time. I also am more in tune with my own moods this time, in particular I know that a little sleep will go a long way when I start feeling sad, and I know when to ask for help. Usually I just need a break and a nap, and that snaps me out of whatever slump I find myself in.

We also quickly learned how different children can be immediately. For instance, Adam would get out of all swaddles we tried to craft with receiving blankets, and generally rebelled against heat, even now he prefers lower temperatures. Aaron is happy to remain swaddled, and reacts very negatively to the cold. I suddenly realize why there are so many products on the market for everything from soothing and sleeping to feeding. Parenting advice really has to be taken with a grain of salt, since what works well with one newborn may completely fail with another. So that learning curve I mentioned? Turns out we did still need to learn some new things with this one!

It’s not been all baby though. With all of us home, a few house things have gotten done. The big one is solar finally going online! Our solar project began back in September, so we were waiting on a series of inspections that needed to happen before we could actually switch it on. I’m excited that it’s finally done because it’s a cool new system with the Powerwalls, but I’m really excited to see out electricity bills drop, which were getting to be quite excessive during the hottest periods of the year.

We also went into San Francisco for my first time this year. In spite of being regular visitors since we moved away, I never made it prior to the pandemic in 2020 due to traveling elsewhere a lot. Then the pandemic restrictions have kept me close to home in the east bay for the rest of the year. This time was an important visit though, to see our Rabbi and Mohel for Aaron’s bris and baby naming. Due to restrictions, we couldn’t have guests from outside our household, and had to do it in a doctor’s office instead of at the synagogue, but we were able to do a video conference and actually have more family in attendance than we normally would have been able to! Silver linings. As an aside, I had some reservations about writing about this here. Both religious gatherings of any type outside of the household and the bris itself are controversial topics. As a Jewish family, the decision to do a bris is one made millenniums ago. The gathering which included the Rabbi in person (the Mohel was required) was a risk we took, because we felt it was important to Aaron’s path. After doing such a big event with family flying in and a whole social gathering with food at the synagogue, it broke our hearts to do something so much smaller for our second son, so we wanted to do all we could to make this event as special as we could, even in light of the pandemic.

And then there was Hanukkah! I prepared everything before going into the hospital, which ended up being the right move, even if it did make me extra tired at the tail end of the pregnancy. As I mentioned in a previous post, a pile of wrapped presents were placed inside the rails of our model train. Beyond that, a few decorations were scattered around the house, and while we were in the hospital our au pair and Adam took care of putting up some lights and Hanukkah garland that I ran out of energy to put up. Finally, I ordered some Hanukkah pajamas for the boys, so we could take some photos of Aaron’s first Hanukkah and Adam’s second.

Food-wise, we were quite over-stocked! Relgious-wise, Hanukkah is not an important Jewish holiday. However, it’s proximity to Christmas and the delightful celebration centered around delicious foods and eight nights of candles and gifts for children make it a popular one in the US. We ended up ordering a Hanukkah meal with brisket and latkes from a Jewish deli in San Francisco, and also getting some fancy doughnuts from a diner in town. Finally, a family friend dropped off an assortment of delicious cookies!

In the midst of Hanukkah celebrations, we also celebrated Caligula’s 17th birthday on December 13th. We’re slowly integrating his new kidney disease diet, but not as quickly as I’d like just due to exhaustion. He seems to be doing well though, he quickly adjusted to the new baby at home, and most days he spends mid-day upstairs in the family room with all of us lounging in the sun and getting familiar with his growing human tribe.

I began this post by mentioning my own postpartum recovery. I took my first walk outside last Friday, and while there was still pain, it was very nice to go out for something other than a doctor’s appointment. On Saturday we ventured out to the outdoor farmer’s market for the first time since before the little one arrived. In general, I’m finding each day to be a little easier, and I’m able to do a few more chores around the house. I still need to avoid picking up Adam, since he’s over the weight limit I’m allowed for a couple more weeks, but there’s plenty to do house-wise without any toddler carrying! I wish I could say I was enjoying having a break from a bunch of the chores, but it’s actually been somewhat stressful as things pile up and I know these tasks await me when I’m feeling better. Still, I am doing my best to take it slow with this recovery so I get to the end more quickly and with as little pain as possible in the meantime.

Traditions are important. It was one thing that was impressed upon me when I decided to go down the Jewish path with MJ in our marriage and to raise our children Jewish. Whether it was repeating the same meal during Passover every year with the same Exodus story or reflecting upon the past year during the High Holidays, as someone new to these traditions they made an impact on me. Now, perhaps someone who has experienced them their whole life may not see it, but the fact that repetition and tradition are so woven throughout much of Judaism and other religions is something that caused me to pay attention to it.

So what do we do when that tradition is disrupted? It’s hard, but we’re adaptable. In fact, I learned this year that changes to the underlying tradition can sometimes make things more meaningful and memorable.

With all of the major, family gathering Jewish holidays already behind us for 2020 and all celebrated during the pandemic, and with Christmas around the corner, I wanted to share thoughts and experiences my Jewish family has had this year.

Many congregations have closed their doors since March, including ours. Everything we’ve done has been virtual, and our first big holiday occurred in April as we celebrated Passover. Passover consists of a ritual meal called a Seder, during which you read portions of Exodus to focus upon Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Many families do two Seders, one with their family at home, and a second night community Seder with their broader community. MJ and I have typically just done the community Seder, with the exception of when we’re in Philadelphia for Passover and we do a first night family Seder.

This year we did both for the first time!

We ordered food from Wise Sons, a Jewish deli in San Francisco. They provided all the pieces for the ritual Seder plate, and we also did catering from them of traditional foods for the real meal following the Seder. We read from new Haggadahs, shipped to us from PJ Library, and muddled our way through the traditions. Doing this on our own was a real learning experience and one I will truly treasure. Our past reluctance to do it ourselves mostly stemmed from not wanting to make a fuss for just the two of us, but now that we were finally nudged into doing this family Seder ourselves, we’re much more likely to do it moving forward as our family grows.

The second night was up in the air. How can you do a “community Seder” without physical contact with your community? We went in an entirely new direction for this. Our synagogue hosted a virtual Seder, but with the whole world open to us, why not try something new? Instead, we were invited to do one led by a fellow Philadelphia transplant to the Bay Area who was hosting a Zoom-based Seder with his friends from across the country. A Seder over Zoom would have been unthinkable in years past, and we weren’t sure how it would go, but it was the responsible thing to do and we found it to be quite enjoyable! We were able to experience the meal with different people, some of whom weren’t Jewish, and from a different Jewish perspective (led by a conservative, rather than reform, which we are).

Passover 2020 was unusual, but memorable and special in so many ways. We missed seeing on congregation, but fellowship was possible, we were all safe, and we kept our communities safe.

September marked the arrival of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays, the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar. Commemorating the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement, respectively, these are traditionally held in the synagogue with services beginning in the evening, people adjourning home for the night, and returning the next morning for a day of services and holiday-themed events. Yom Kippur itself is a fasting holiday, which concludes with a large community meal to break the fast.

With how important these holidays are, it may seem unthinkable to not gather together for them. I admit, it was tough being away from everyone, especially since we hadn’t gathered with the congregation in some time. In some ways the High Holidays didn’t make as much of an impact this year because we couldn’t be together. In other ways, they were more meaningful. Sacrifice for the good of the community are core tenants of most religions, and Judaism is no different. By forgoing the in-person gathering for the safety of the congregation and our community around us, were were making a sacrifice very appropriate to the spirit of the faith, and that holds tremendous meaning when you pause to frame it that way. Going without a big gathering this year means that most of us will be there to celebrate next year, and many years to come.

Our congregation did several Zoom-based events, and then pre-recorded services, which were then released on YouTube. We were able to watch the evening and morning services from home, which was actually quite nice with the tough pregnancy and with a toddler running around. The services were nicely done, but not too nice as to make us feel like we were watching a polished production. It was meaningful and special in its own way.

Being distant from our congregation also led me to experiment a bit. Since we’d always been at the synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and enjoying all the baked treats and goodies to celebrate the new year, I’d never had anything at home. Last year in Philadelphia we picked up some honey cake, but that was about it, all celebrations were outside the house. This year, without access to the congregation’s array of foods, I decided to take the time to make honey cake. It turned out great, and now we have a recipe to use in the future to enjoy part of Rosh Hashanah at home with a new tradition.

Another thing many religious organizations have been doing is special fundraising drives to address the needs of the more vulnerable community members. Giving has always been a big part of Jewish traditions, but the need is more obvious this year as we’ve heart-breakingly watched those without safety nets be left behind and put into truly dire positions. As this year winds down, more turmoil faces those who are most vulnerable to this pandemic as even more of those safety nets are disappearing, both health-wise and employment-wise. It’s truly a time to pause and be grateful that we have jobs and homes, and it epitomizes what I always thought was key to the Christmas season, even if I no longer celebrate the holiday itself.

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since I wrote my Shelter in Place entry. The passage of time seemed to speed up in April, after March felt so long. I think it’s because of how much changed in March. In the beginning of the month everything was normal, we were even still traveling! News came quickly as the closures piled up. April, and now into May, we’ve had a lot of sameness. The shelter in place orders haven’t changed here in the bay area in two months. Thankfully MJ and I are still able to work normal schedules from home during the week, as our au pair cares for little Adam. The weekends are home-bound, but we have little home improvement projects here and there. We eat at home, work at home, sleep at home. We go out just to pick up food and groceries, or to essential doctor visits.

Pretty much all events I was planning to attend this year have been canceled or moved virtual. This meant that instead of celebrating Passover with our congregation in San Francisco like we’ve done these past few years, we did our first one at our own home! We picked up a Seder kit from Wise Sons in San Francisco, complete with brisket and other side dishes, and got out MJ’s vintage seder plate. We did it a little early in the evening so Adam could enjoy the festivities with us.

For the second night, we joined a community Seder over Zoom with some of MJ’s friends and acquaintances. Done at the proper time, Adam joined us for the beginning and then we enjoyed this much longer Seder and meal late into the evening. I’m glad that virtual Seders were approved as a form of celebration this year, in spite of the situation, it was really meaningful to participate with people from across the country.

With in-person events being canceled at work, I’ve had to get more creative with my job. I’m participating in a lot of events that have gone virtual, but I realized that “taking a photo of the speaker” doesn’t really translate well into virtual events, so I’ve had to figure out alternative ways to share my experience. At a recent Open Mainframe Project event I brought my own audience, so each photo of my speaker featured a different crew of critters. It was silly, but it was fun and memorable. And especially for the speakers, my hope is that it helped with the interactive feel of the event, something I know very well having done a few presentations myself now while staring into the webcam and hoping people were listening on the other end.

On April 15th we got to the “MJ needs a haircut” part of shelter in place. With some electric clippers in hand, we headed out to the back yard and I did my worst. Or best. Either way, it actually turned out fine! Though I suspect we’ll have at least one more at home haircut to complete before this is all over.

We’ve continued playing games in the evenings, most recently adding Exploding Kittens and Blackjack to our pile of games. We’ve migrated from our dining room table to the actual card table that we have downstairs in the living room. Being home all the time means we seem to be using almost the entire house every day, which is nice.

Through all of this I also realized it’s easy to get very sedentary, especially these past few weeks as I’ve battled a sinus infection. So I’ve started taking walks every day that the weather allows, and with it being spring in northern California, that is most days! Other days I commit to time on the treadmill. It’s already making an improvement to my evening mood.

The sinus infection has been an unfortunate turn of events. It started in mid-April, and I just finished a round of antibiotics this past Thursday. Timing was not great. The sinus infection gave me a terrible cough and sore throat during the worst of it, which I’d have to declare when I went to see my doctor for an unrelated matter. I knew they wouldn’t let me in with these symptoms, so I was sent to a COVID-19 drive-up testing facility in Fremont to get tested. The test is not as bad as it looks, but when you have a raging sinus infection that is already making your sinuses hurt, it ends up being an incredibly unpleasant experience. The swab was taken at noon on Friday, and I had the results back by 9AM Saturday morning. So I was all clear for my appointment on Monday!

I haven’t been the only one not feeling well, Caligula has been losing weight and sleeping a lot. He’s been in and out of the vet, and we’ve done over a dozen tests to see what’s wrong and he’s now on some medication and we switched from dry to wet food after his eating nearly ceased. At sixteen years old, we know he’s only got so much time left, but we want to do everything we can to make sure his frailness and increased fondness for sleeping is not due to some kind of preventable disease. So far we haven’t found anything, so we’re just doing our best to make sure he’s happy and fed.

Finally, we’ve been trying to carve out some time to work on a few projects at home. The family room is in pretty decent shape, we moved the chair from Adam’s bedroom into there, so adults have a place to sit while Adam plays. Most of the room is devoted to his toys. The last big thing in that room is getting the flat screen TV in a safer position. It’s OK for his age now, but at some point soon we’ll have a tipping risk, so it either needs to be secured to the table it’s on, or mounted on the wall.

We’re also making major progress on getting the bedroom closet doors installed! We did my office first, completed the master bedroom last weekend, and hope to do the other bedroom this weekend. The nursery will have to wait, as those closet doors are behind the door to the room, and the door to the room would currently collide with them. My hope this weekend is that we can get the hardware installed on the doors too, so we can open the doors without having to reach to the top of them! They do look good so far, which I’m grateful for, it’s been an expensive, long project.

Our county is preparing to slowly start opening more businesses for curbside pickup. I’m happy about this change, as I know small businesses are suffering with the closure, and I hope they’ll be able to staff their shops and get enough business to keep going. We’ll definitely be cautiously patronizing all of the ones we can. I mean, I haven’t gotten new comic books in two months! It’s a small step, but does get us on the path. As I mentioned in that last post, I don’t feel safe in the path we’re on to reopening, but we’ve built a society where we can’t actually stay cooped up forever, and the tests we need to have in place simply haven’t materialized. Hoping for the best, and we’ll continue to be careful.

This first day my plan was to meet up with my friend Nigel Babu, who I met in the Ubuntu community. Our real life paths first met at an Ubuntu Developer Summit in Budapest, and then again a couple years ago when he came to my home of San Francisco for a conference. It was really nice to finally meet in his home territory. He picked me up at my hotel, and we took a drive over the Bandra–Worli Sea Link, a beautiful bridge that links the hotel where I am staying with south Mumbai. Once over the bridge, we stopped briefly to check out the views of the sea, but the rain drove us back into the car pretty quickly. It was then south to the Marine Drive, or Queen’s Necklace. That’s where I got my rainy day picture taken, before we stopped for some snacks and Masala chai at a nearby hotel cafe.

Our journey continued south, where we first walked to the Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, the 2nd oldest in the city. I had been clued into the existence of this synagogue by a friend of mine who had visited a few years before, and the description of the place in my tourist book cemented my desire to go. The whole building is turquoise, and that bright color extends to the inside of the building. It was a quiet day there and we were the only visitors, so they welcomed us inside and allowed some picture taking.

The stained class inside was beautiful, but the damp climate definitely was taking a toll on the building. One of the more interesting things to see in this Sephardic synagogue was a marble slab on the wall near the ark that had the 10 commandments, not in Hebrew or a local language, but in English. They had a little gift shop and I picked up a small Haggadah branded with their location as a keepsake of my visit.

More photos from the synagogue here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157671835673625

From there we walked down to the Gateway of India, where we got an all important selfie.

Visiting there also offered a nice look over at the lovely Taj Mahal hotel (not to be confused with the Taj Mahal in Agra). As a tourist attraction, it was worth seeing, but there’s not much to actually do by the gateway, so we quickly were off to our next stop, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India.

As my first full day in India, it was nice to visit this museum. I like museums, it gave Nigel and I some time to chat, but also gave me a wonderful view into the local culture from a locally curated collection. Most of the museum was casually air conditioned, so walking through the galleries was not challenging, though I did enjoy the select galleries that had strong air conditioning. The galleries had an interesting mix of very old Indian artifacts, statues, weaving, weapons, as well as some paintings, furniture and more from the colonial periods. I enjoyed the relationship between these galleries in a building that itself was from the colonial period.

Ganesha statue at CSMVS

I bought a photo pass, so lots of photos from the museum are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157668844045884

By this time evening was creeping up and we had dinner plans. We stopped for some hot chocolate and then got exceptionally lost as we looked for the local friends we were meeting for dinner. We did make it eventually, and had a lovely, if late, seafood dinner at Gajalee. The adventurous day, heat and humidity, and jet lag were eating at my appetite, I tried everything but it wasn’t a big meal for me. Good company though, I got to meet Mehul Ved from Ubuntu India for the first time!

The conference then took over most of the rest of my week, but I was able to sneak out to the Taraporewala Aquarium between amidst the rain storms on Friday. The aquarium was redone in 2015, but it still couldn’t really compare to the world class aquariums I’ve grown accustomed to, both in size and cleanliness. I’m pretty sure most tanks in aquariums are cleaned around the clock to keep them looking spiffy. Still, the building is beautiful and I did enjoy seeing a sea turtle and the sea horses.

The entire week was also accented by amazing food, most of which was unnoticeably and unintentionally (for me) vegetarian. Most mornings I began my day with Masala Dosa with Sambar, except for the last when I went with Poori Bhaji, along with watermelon juice and a cup or two of strong coffee. I got some fruit flavored ice cream (jackfruit and watermelon) and the conference introduced me to the near-candy dessert, Jalebi.

Perhaps the crowning meal of my trip was at a vegetarian Thali place (largest picture below), where we were served endless little cups of food, which when accompanied by various flatbreads was a deceptively large amount of food. Given my love for animals, I rely upon cognitive dissonance to keep me a meat eater, since vegetarianism is still a challenge to pull off in the US and have the satisfying diet I want (a salad is not an acceptable vegetarian option). If I were living here and had the array of amazing food that’s vegetarian it would be a no-brainer. The only challenge for me here was the spice, which my stomach is not at all accustom to. Even ordering everything extremely mild, my antacid bottle was never far away, and I might actually go for some bland foods upon returning home.

Saturday I hired a guide through the hotel concierge and saw a whole collection of other places, but that’s for another post. More uncategorized photos from my adventures including ones the following weekend that I haven’t written about yet here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/albums/72157671033977871/

The organ has always been a big deal for me. Even though I’m not religious, I do have warm feelings and memories surrounding the stunning, old cathedrals that have organs and I’ve made an effort to visit more from Dublin to San Juan. As such, having an amazing one in the synagogue we attend made me feel at home and I’ve really enjoyed the music there.

For the class we had Jonathan Dimmock, regular player of the organ at the synagogue (and at cathedrals and more around the world) there to tell us all about it and play for us. The first thing we learned is what the organ is. It’s a symphonic organ made by the Los Angeles Organ Company, reorganized from the Murray M. Harris Organ Co. so they call it a Murray Harris.

It was also interesting to learn that in the Reform Judaism movement that the installation of organs in synagogues was something that started in the Western United States and moved east, making this one in San Francisco one of the first in a synagogue and a magnificent example of this history. It was also the first in a house of worship in San Francisco to have a three-rank echo division, which is located in the dome and created ethereal and “far away” sounds, which he demonstrated.

It was really interesting to hear about his experience around the world playing on different organs and how they all have their own character. He explained that one of the things of note with this organ was due to its age and purpose (worship accompaniment), it is one of the warmest, softest organs he’s ever worked with, as it had to account for services where there were no microphones.

Now I’ve seen organs up close before, so I was delighted by the opportunity during this class to learn more about the internals and to see inside. There are several pipes that are visible and decorated, but the organ has over 2000 pipes total! And we had the opportunity to walk behind the facade to actually look up at some of the other pipes.

Below the pipe room, was the guts of what powers the whole thing, a surprisingly loud machine with a belt that powered the wind going up to the pipes. I had to walk from the room to the sanctuary a couple of times to reconcile how loud it was in the room with how silent it is where congregants sit.

In all, it was a great learning experience.

This was the last class to wrap up Sharing the Beauty, I wrote about all previous ones too:

• History, art, and architecture of Sherith Israel class
• Religious symbols and worship environment of Sherith Israel class
• Architecture Class
• Stained Glass Class

More photos from the organ class are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157642824330104/

I didn’t know anything about stained glass, so the first thing we got to learn was the two main types of glass that are featured throughout the building: opalescent glass and painted glass. The painted glass was often in the 20th century Gothic revival style, with more stiff looking characters and simple colors and styles. The glass is stained in the traditional “pot metal” method where different types of metal are added to create different colors, copper for green, gold for red, cobalt for blue. I’m a fan.

The majority of the windows were of opalescent glass, an American innovation from the late 1800s pioneered by Tiffany and others. It requires multiple layers of glass that are colored with bone ash and other materials to make them a bit more flowing and dynamic than the flat colored painted windows. On these windows enamel was then used to paint features like faces, which allows for precise details but fades more quickly.

I have never gotten really close to stained glass windows before, so this was an opportunity to do so and see how thick and layered they tend to be, with intentional textures that you can feel on some of the windows, particularly the opalescent ones, to lend to the design. We also learned the basics of how a window is made, starting with either a pre-designed pattern or a design created for the window by the artist (both types are in the building) and then following the pattern in a full size printout/drawing that they cut and match the glass to match.

We also learned how expensive these windows were, and still are. Restoration for the massive Moses window on the west side of the building will cost almost $400,000 and has to be done every 100 years or so as the lead in the window starts to become brittle, risking the structural integrity of the window.

This was one of my favorite classes so far. I’m really looking forward to the class about the organ with Jonathan Dimmock coming up on March 23rd.

I have uploaded photos I took during the class here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157641770774454/

Previous posts:

• Sharing the Beauty: History, art, and architecture of Sherith Israel class
• Sharing the Beauty: Religious symbols and worship environment of Sherith Israel class

Classes resumed on Sunday morning with local architect Arnie Lerner who gave us a tour of the interior of the synagogue from the perspective of architecture.

The outside of the building itself is masonry, made of brick covered with sand stone and a steel structure. In interior has a significant amount of painted plaster covering the walls, including up inside the dome. As we learned in a previous class the style of architecture is Beaux-Arts.

Most interesting to me was some of the changes over time and what had been restored. The massive rose window that can be seen from outside, and several of the stained glass windows, have been restored. I had never been up to see the rose window from the inside before, so this was a nice opportunity to take some pictures.

We also learned that the series of front doors had actually been replaced with steel doors sometime in the mid 20th century, with the wooden doors being kept in the partial basement. During a restoration several years ago the doors were brought out of storage and restored, which I’m sure was a vast improvement!

The building also recently had illuminated exit signs and emergency evacuation lighting installed a couple years ago in order to improve safety in the building.

In spite of the suriving the 1906 earthquake (and being one of the few major buildings in the city that did), the building is also undergoing a major seismic right now, were they’ve been working to further strengthen the building. Arnie brought along a core that had been drilled during the process of “core drilling” that is being used. He even brought along a piece of the core so we could get an idea of how big of a space they had to drill to insert the reinforcing rods.

“Core drilling: a type of vertical reinforcement of masonry walls that relies on drilling a continuous vertical core that is filled with steel reinforcing rods and grouting to resist in-plane shear and out-of-plane bending.” via The Seismic Retrofit of Historic Buildings

From there we then did a long walk around the building, going through the main sanctuary and up the stairs to where the organ is, where we were able to hear a bit more about the building interior.

I also had a nice opportunity to take some close up pictures of the stunning Moses at Yosemite window:

Amusingly, some have said that Moses looks like John Muir, which they say could actually be possible given his influence at the turn of the century when the windows were being produced.

Unfortunately due to the heavy rain we weren’t able to do a tour of the outside, so instead we took time to go up inside the dome, where I had been before but this was my first time during the day.

I have uploaded photos I took during the class here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157640737135955/

We have the rest of the month off, but I’m looking forward to the 2 classes coming up in March:

• 3/2 Stained Glass – Ian Berke
• 3/23 Organ – Jonathan Dimmock