Tiny Simon at 9 months

 I know that we can't call him Tiny Simon much longer.

But here he is 9 monhs old and doing great.  He gets sitting up and and I hear there's a lot of  scoting around.  Go Simon!

Secret map

 Here's a secret.  Some time last year, I was taking Geography of the City.  This is at University of Washington in Seattle.  At one point the professor put some different exampled of street layouts, grid, near a factory.  And one was like this one.  Labeled suburban development.  I don't think this prof had been in Sacramento before.  It wasn't this one exactly but it showed the same.  Don't try to read the names.  I look at the projected map.  I haven't lived in this development since 1964.  But I had looked at it lately as traveled down for our 50th but held in our 52nd year.  I had been impressed with Castec Drive.  Kind a large semi-circle in the middle.  Hey, this one has a semi circle.  Waida minute, this edges of the semi crcle could connect to the street La Sierra Drive that ran through the whole development.  And those streets at the bottom.  That could be Los Molinas.

What?  I was looking at Arden Park in suburban Sacramento.  Where I lived until I was 12.  I know a lot of the names of the streets.  I could put an 'x' and my parents house.  But I don't know how.

What were the chances?

Chocolates for Matt S

 

Happy birthday to my son in law Matt.  I know he likes chocolates and these are the good stuff.  Bought form the Chocolate Man shop down at LFP Town Centre.  The 1/2 lb box.  Tried not to select fruit flavored.  Hey, those are my favorite.

Discovered that they have a Seconds basket of ones that didn't come out perfect.  For 1/2 price or less.  Definitely have to check that out any time I go down there.

In positive news, I went swimming today at the local pool.  First time since surgery.  Plus I droved the car myself (also a first!)

In Halloween news, most all of the kids in the neighborhood and the parents all came together.  Suzie and Megan brought Scoutie over.  Like her mom, she did not get that you knock on the door and when they answer, you don't waltz in.  Suzie, at this age, would bellow "Gimme Candy!!!"  Nobody since.

My postcards

 

I mailed my 200 postcards last week.  It was hard to get them done post op but I did get them done.  Dennis helped and my friend Julia wrote 50 of them  They were to Arizona and upstate New York.  I know there were others who did more.  I hope they help!  I'm sure we're going to find a pile around somewhere we forgot to mail....

Bonfire under the Sukkah

A less well-known Jewish holliday, Sukikot, part of the high holiday cycle known as Feast of the Booths.  You build an open air structure (with an open stick roof) and you eat celebrate and maybe live in it for a week.  It's decorated with fruits and the vegetables of the harvest.  My sister's synagogue had a bonfire and singing in the sukkah.  She said it was pretty chilly!

 Hello Azure fans.  Kinda' quiet on the posts lately.  Had knee replacement surgery 4 1/2 weeks lately and it's slowed me down.  I've been living on the downstairs which does work pretty well.  I will get moved up pretty soon.

I don't know I featured this picture last spring.  This was my Hearth Archives group from temple standing in front of our installation.  I went to Kol Nidre service and it's still there. It was supposed to be a six week study group and it ended up for almost a year.

Temple Israel Boston

 One thing that I wanted to do in Massachusetts was to visit Temple Israel Cemetery.  My grandparents and my grandmother's family are buried there.  There was a very helpful person at Temple Israel, told me that Edward Cohen (my great-grandfather) had purchased a plot with 12 spots in 1945.  Of course he would.  He has six children.  He himself is buried in a similar monument a little bit down.

I found my grandparent's stone and lots of great aunts and uncles though I did know that much about them

We placed rocks on the stones, as always, to show that we were there..They had a graveside there in the mid 1990s when my grandmother passed.  But my father forbade myself, my brother and sister from going.  I could never figure that out.

But now me, my husband and my sister have visited.

Hey Simon

To see this, you have to click on the facebook link below

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1094687268684171

Hey Simon!  He's 7 months old, really trying to crawl.  Pretty good for a guy who spent his first week in a level 4 NICU.  We'll take it.

Somehow it goes next to a long border collie video, I dunno.

He's pretty dang cute.

Again the Lederer Cousin Gathering

 

A few more pictures of the Lederer Family Gathering taken by my cousin Flash Rosenberg.

The top one is again Team Clara in the sanctuary with the Lederer torah.

The bottom one was a toast at the end where we all toasted together for the great times that day and our ability to all be a family.  One can be better.

Will we all be together again?  Who knows? I haven't seen Team Clara (actually a name I made up) for many years.  Not so long this time, eh?  And pretty good looking, no?

I have not been around here as I had knee replacement surgery.