Kosher Computing
A bit of computing, a healthy helping of humor, a dash of insight, and a thorough blending of all topics of interest.
Monday, March 11, 2024
The Fastest Shaker
Monday, December 4, 2023
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Confronting Mortality
"Sentence of Death" by John Collier ©1908 Photo courtesy of the Wellcome Collection
It's now been nearly two years since my mother of blessed memory passed away. It has been a constant reminder that my time on this planet is limited and will be of a yet to be determined length. I am now in a position to enjoy my life and choose freely what it is that I truly want to do.
Monday, September 19, 2022
On Becoming an Orphan
For 67 years I knew the constant love and dedication of the woman who bore me. I depended upon her for my sustenance as an infant and for my protection as a toddler. During my tender years, she shielded me and protected me from the hurt that others might have brought upon me and she defended me when my actions required a benevolent hand.
As I matured, she did what she thought best for me, sometimes it was really what was best for her. But no matter, she was always my lynchpin. Even when she was problematic, she was my problem and I dealt with it. After my father passed away, we became inseparable. It was what many might consider a controlling relationship, but as the years went by, it became obvious that I was needed to help her through life's major and minor travails.
We dined together most nights for more than 25 years, not because she wanted my company, but because she needed a chauffeur and someone to fend for her. She was not capable of ordering for herself, so I did it for the two of us. She was not capable of ordering correctly and steadfastly refused to eat more than half of what was brought to her.
In the past, I would allow her to pass the leftover food to me and it helped me with not having to decide what to eat for lunch the next day. But after Hurricane Katrina and my diaspora from New Orleans for almost two years, I began to keep kosher at my home. Everything she ate out was not allowed inside my home. She would still pack the other half of her meal and would now leave it for whoever was at her home the next day. She never ate leftovers.
In the larger scheme of things, dealing with leftovers or having to eat out every night are not big deals. I dealt with it and kept a brave face as I enabled her. My sister, who lived in Cleveland, began to be more involved with her after her New Year's Eve stroke in 2019. It was not a particularly well-timed medical incident as she was transported against medical orders to a hospital best equipped for gunshot and knife victims and not suited to helping stroke victims. Her doctor did not have admitting or medical privileges there either. She was in the hands of Medical School students for the most part, many of whom were on holiday duty with a scant staff.
Once she came home, her options were very limited. My sister decided she would not live long in a skilled nursing facility, due to her nature. She opted for in-home hospice care instead. Her demeanor became much more agitated and confused. My very presence would cause her blood pressure to rise by several points for no reason. It was very troubling, but I remained aloof. I was there for her if she needed me, even though we no longer ate out any longer.
The last 19 months of her life were a slow and steady decline, punctuated by at least one other stroke. Had Hurricane Ida not deprived her of electricity and air conditioning, she might have survived a few more months and made it to her 90th birthday.
But now she is gone and I am bereft. The pain of her departure from this world still persists to this day, the first anniversary of her passing. Watching the funeral and commitment ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II today recalls within me just how terribly much I miss her.
May her memory be forever a blessing.
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
SIMANIM
Why do we eat apples and honey? It’s an answer you all need to hear. Like the honey, the apples are sweet To ensure for us all a sweet year.
But that's not all of the foodsThat we eat at the head of the year.While simanim are ritually eaten,Their meaning is not always clear.
So, let us start with Rosh HashanahIf that is what you would wish.Rosh is the word meaning "head."That's the reason for the head of a fish.
Symbolically, we often eat dates.T'marim is the word in Hebrew.The letters suggest the word "end"
Of bad things that make us feel blue.
Even the challah we eat at our mealsIs round, not oval, for a reason.It reminds us that a year, like a circle,Continues from season to season.
Now pomegranates, that is a mouthful.The rabbis say each of those seedsIs an opportunity to do mitzvahs –What we all know as doing good deeds.
in Yiddish the word meren means two thingsIt means increase, but it also means carrots.So we eat carrots in the hope that this new yearWill see increase in our worth and our merits.
The last item on the menu is your selectionThe pri chadash or "new fruit" you must choose.That completes the cycle of new foodsThat are sampled at new year's by Jews.
©2021 Alan Smason
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Condiments
Condiments
I asked the man for mayonnaise
He gave me mustard instead.
I told him I prefer white, not yellow
To sit upon my bread.
To see him look at me in disgust
As he handed me that jar
Made me wonder what it was I did;
Had I really gone too far?
But, no, I was in my rights to say:
“I do not like that spread.
And as for ketchup, I confess
I just don’t like that red.”
“Some would grab a packet or two
Of spicy barbeque;
But brown is ugly and not right.
I see it. Why can’t you?”
“Relish on a sandwich with a shade like green
Is not understandable.
And orange is a color I won’t allow
To pass my mandible.”
“That Thai satay is much too brown
And srahacha is just too pink
Salsa is crimson; it’s out too.
That’s just the way I think.”
“’You are what you eat,’ as the pundits say,
Which is why I won’t eat black.
The colors of the rainbow may appeal to you,
But they’re not what I will snack.”
“So out with chutney and out with honey
They will never be on my diet.
Just give me my white mayonnaise
Or I will not be quiet.”
The man with the mustard heard my thoughts,
But I was shocked by what he said.
“I don’t hate those condiments half as much
As the color of your bread.”
©2020 Alan Smason