We had an interesting day, Saturday, November 6, 2004. First, it was an outing that followed a trip two days before down to RF&B where we recorded a text on physical manipulation in recreation across a spectrum of public, military and self-selected sports and other activities. We followed this with a visit to a Podiatrist who is now necessary for my nether nails due to the unbendable condition of my new knees. It was a long day and was followed by Friday where the best part was our Aquasize exercise in the hot pool in Parkway Hospital. But, Saturday is special.
On Saturday morning we go to Torah Study and had a delicious breakfast provided by Yrma and Jose. Rabbi Litwack conduced a lesson that concerned Sarah’s death and the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah from “Ephron the Hittite” in what is now Hebron, controlled by “Palestinians”. I’ll come back to why we should “Honor the Hittite” after I report what happened after we left that study class. That will have to be in another essay.
We attended services that centered on a Bar Mitzvah of a young man whose mother is Thai and whose father with white hair made an emotional speech. Despite my wearing my aids, I could not enjoy its full flavor. The Bar Mitzvah read the lines in the Torah Scroll beautifully in a clear loud voice unlike most of the immature kids who are called to be the leader on their day in Temple. We were seated in the rear of the Temple because we wanted to leave early to go to see and hear “Hoagie”, in Coconut Grove. In the row in front of us was a member of the Bar Mitzvah class who was seated by himself with a long pillow supporting his back. What was so impressive was that this boy could not mingle with his class up front where their group was delivered by our friend Carole who was the usher this day. One by one they came back and sat in the row just in front of this boy who, I think, has a degenerative bone disease in his back. They came to him to be near him and include him in their group while he manifestly cannot share their activities.
As I said, we left early and drove down to Coconut Grove to encounter a street barricade set up by the police within sight of the parking lot next to the theater. We had to drive around in circles until Carol, with her sense of such things, said drive around the concrete trucks and we’ll deal with the workers and police who were trying to turn cars away. We got to within 100 feet of the entrance of the parking lot when the police stopped us. But we begged and they said go ahead and we actually were in the lot in a good spot to leave at the end of the show. That show was a great mélange of songs by Hoagie Carmichael performed and explained by a great cast. We ate an omelet lunch in a French restaurant. On our way home we bought a chicken in Costco and had dinner at home. It was a great day. Many things happened and they were all good.