Morn, After, Eve

1. I think I know.

Bought lots of chicken last night. Raw. Sliced and diced and spiced it all. Put it in oven, took it out to cool. Same with tons of broccoli and brussels sprouts. This was at about 8:30 PM. At 6:30 AM discovered it all still on the counter.

I think I know.

The chicken I really almost definitely need to throw out. The veggies probably got lots of bacteria on them, and I could maybe eat them and be okay - but who wants to once the bacteria image is evoked?

Thoughts?

I remember a line that struck me in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time." The autistic narrator wonders why people don't get his thing about thinking it will be a bad day if he sees a certain number of cars passing by, or if he sees the color brown. These same people will feel in a bad mood, like a pall has been cast on their day if it's raining hard - or if they discover they left their cooked food for the week out all night.

Wishing everyone a day of positive thoughts, interpretations, and attitudes.

2. I recently heard someone speak about Shlomo Hamelech's comment that it's better to go to a house of mourning than to a place of celebration. This person shared that they took it upon themselves to go out of their way to go to all the mourning related events that they could because they need that reality check.

Those words resonated for me. Not driving makes getting around challenging when it comes to being there for mourners, just as not driving makes life more challenging when it comes to moving forward daily in life on social and work fronts. But I need the reminder that however uncomfortable it is to get around in this world, I am blessed to be here. And even if it's awkward how someone offered to take me to a shiva visit today and then went yesterday, and I may have to cab it, I still need to go - for them and for me.


3. I'm in a sharing mood.

I'm very tired. When I'm very tired I find it hard to stay awake. Wherever I am, whatever's going on. It doesn't help that I don't sleep enough at night. It doesn't help that I don't do caffeine.

Several years ago I fell and fractured my foot. I was at the funeral of a friend's father. It was Shiva'Asar BeTamuz, a fast day, it was very hot, I hadn't slept much, and I had worked hard to help with he shoveling. I was leaning against a car, and while I'm not sure what to call it (fainting?) I think I fell asleep for a second and crashed hard onto the floor.

The story I cited above comes to mind because I find myself fighting that kind of sudden sleep. Can I find more sleep time tonight? Should I start caffeine. Are there other things I should do and/or be concerned about in the interest of being less on the verge of sleep at any moment?

One of the ideas of the shofar is to wake us up. Perhaps one month a year is not enough. Maybe we need to be kept awake on a regular basis.

In "A Good man Is Hard To Find" a ruthless robber murders a family who accidentally find him in hiding when they lose their way driving to a picnic. Before the hard to bear grandmother is killed she gives a passionate speech full of words of faith in G-d. And the criminal (known in the news as The Misfit) says something like, "She'd have been a mighty fine woman if she had someone threaten to kill her every day of her life."

We'd all be a lot more a wake if we found a way to hear the sound of G-d's great shofar every day of our lives.