Equinox sunrise/sunset, 12th floor hallway, Sept 19, 2020

 Nadine and I live on the top floor of an apartment building that is not exactly a rectangle in floor plan, but each floor does have one main long central hallway. At either end of the hallway, there is a steel fire door to the balcony outside, and each door has a small window in it.

In our building, this hallway is on an east/west axis.  Thus, on the equinoxes (twice per year), at sunrise when the sun rises directly in the east, and again at sunset when the sun sets directly in the west, the rays of the sun stream thru one of these windows, and shine all the way down to the other end of the hallway

Here are two time-lapse videos, made on my iPhone with the Frameography app, that show these occurrences yesterday.  (Today is actually the autumnal equinox, but yesterday was close enough, and both sunrise and sunset were clear, and the smoke in the air is mostly gone).  In each case, the camera starts out at the east end of the hallway, looking towards the door at the west end.   Your will also get very fleeting glimpses of some of our neighbors and their pets.

Each video is about one minute in length, and represents about 80 minutes of elapsed time.  Please excuse the rather crude photography on my part, but I think you will get the picture.

Sunrise, Sept 19, 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFzyVJNJxc4

Sunset, Sept 19, 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLAtQZg-nQ

As we struggle with all of our human fears and problems, of which we have so many at this time, the Earth continues to circle around its Sun, and rotates on its tilted axis, giving us these seasons and equinoxes and solstices, unchanging...and unconcerned. 

Coleman 

Coronavirus: Los Angeles #20

It feels like we are settling in for a long haul.  An epidemiologist on the radio says that the vaccine and "return to normal" may be at the end of 2021.  This current mode of existence may have to be endured for another year or more.  Not complaining though: we have it much better off than most Americans, most people around the world.  

Our weekly routines have changed drastically.  I used to have to be out of the apartment by 8AM or earlier four days a week, for volunteering at the SOVA food pantry, or for classes.  Now all of that is gone.  The food pantry branch where I volunteered had very close contact between the clients and the staff and the volunteers.  And most of the volunteers were over 65. So far, it is still closed with no forecast as to when it will open back up.  And I probably will not return there even when it does.  And so, my old Civic, which used to "get out" at least four days a week, is now sitting in its parked space for weeks at a time.  As are many other cars in our neighborhood.  My one remaining Torah study class is now on Zoom, and while it's not the same as in person, it is still a high point in my week.  

One regular weekly event now is grocery shopping.  Thursday mornings.  Senior hours at Whole Foods from 7AM to 8AM.  Old customers moving at a leisurely pace, and young “shoppers” hustling thru the aisles.  All well organized.  Then over to Trader Joes senior hours from 8AM to 9AM. We are home with the weekly load by 9AM.

So many small details of daily life have changed.  Too old to try to change our reading habits, we still get the LATimes and the NYTimes in print editions, delivered to our apartment by 6:30 every morning.  On days where there was a threat of rain (or perhaps on the rare day when it actually did rain), they each used to come in a separate wrapper; blue for the NYTimes, clear for the LATimes.  Now they are so small they come in the same wrapper.

Likewise, our mail deliveries are much smaller than "Before".  Fewer catalogues, fewer of everything in the mail.  And slower.  For our annual license renewal on the CRV, I mailed the form and the check to the DMV on August 20; it was due on September 2.  As of September 16, the DMV has yet to cash the check. Now I am thinking that we will be billed an extra $40 or $50 for submitting our renewal late?  We'll see.

Some things seem frozen in time.  Billboards in our neighborhood are still advertising movies that came out early this year.  Likewise on the marque of the multiplex at the Grove.

Yet, some things in the neighborhood are moving forward, as before.  Particularly construction projects.  A 25-story new residence building on Curson, between 6th and Wilshire is just finishing up.  Another one is going up at Wilshire and La Jolla.  Three new subway stations are in work (and have been for over a year), at Wilshire and La Brea, and at Wilshire and Fairfax, and at Wilshire and La Cienaga.  The demolition of the three original (c. 1960's) LACMA buildings is underway, to make way for a new LACMA that will span across Wilshire Boulevard.  And the new film academy is underway, as they convert the old May Co. building at Wilshire and Fairfax (where my first wife and I bought our first bed frame and mattress).

We miss LACMA.  I am not in a hurry to visit art museums.  My tastes in visual arts are few: photo exhibits, Hockney landscapes, Hopper paintings.  But we so much enjoyed the free weekly concerts at LACMA: chamber music inside on Sunday nights at 6PM, Latin jazz on summer afternoons outside.  We miss these a lot.  Nixed by the double whammy of the construction project and the coronavirus.

Some things are coming back to life, after a coronavirus hibernation.  The county library is back in business, sort of.  No going in and just browsing.  But, you can order books on the website, and when they arrive at your local branch, your get notified and you can pick them up at a table set up in the entry way.  The book is handed to you in a paper bag with your name written on the outside.  For me, this is a blessing.  I have come to love the library and the services it provides.

It strikes me that this pandemic is the first national event in my lifetime that has impacted almost all Americans, regardless on our station in life, since World War II.  I was almost 6 when WWII started, and 9 when it ended.  Sure, there have been many other momentous events since then: Korean War, Vietnam, Watergate, 9/11, the 2008 financial meltdown and recession.  But, honestly, these had little direct impact on my everyday life; I was aware of them, but my life did not change much because of them.  Now it has.

Stay safe and sane.

For our Jewish friends, Shanah Tovah: the New Year starts on Friday night.  

May it bring some hope and security and relief for the future of all peoples everywhere.

Coleman

Coronavirus: Los Angeles #19 : Reflections on Elections

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (No reason needed; and you won’t be the first or second or third to do so.)

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Election night, 2000: 

I was driving home from work, about 6PM CA time, listening to the returns on NPR.  The announcer said it appeared that Gore had won Florida.  From what I had heard up to that time, that meant that Gore would most likely be the next president. I felt relief and optimistic.

I arrived home about 20 minutes later, and we turned on the returns, probably on PBS.  Shortly, they announced that their call of "Florida for Gore" was being rescinded; that it appeared much closer than before.  Thus began weeks of agonizing over the election results, the courts, the lawyers, and deploring our constitutional vestige called the Electoral College.  Aided by the US Supreme Court, W became the next president.

Fast forward 16 years. If the next anecdote sounds familiar, it's because I have told it before.  

Election night, 2016:  

Nadine and I invited two other couples to come down to our apartment to watch the election returns.  Of course, we all expected Hilary to win.  One of the men has done a lot of political work in the past, and was quite familiar with things election, including the Electoral College.  As the night wore on, and the returns looked less promising, at one point he announced: "Well, that's it.  Trump will be the next president." He understood before the rest of us, and before it was "called" on the TV station, that Trump had enough electoral college votes.  I was stunned.  We all were.  The impossible had happened.  

Recently, Rabbi Lebovitz was teaching about the miracles reportedly performed by the prophet Elisha.  He said one definition of a miracle might be when something very good, that was previously thought to be impossible, actually happens.  What do you call it when something very bad, that was previously thought to be impossible, actually happens?  An "unmiracle"? A trauma?

After the shock phase, before the inauguration, pundits consoled us that Trump's ignorance and narcissism would be "contained" by Republican wise men (and by his daughter Ivanka) and our country would survive.  I wanted to believe this, and to a certain extent bought it.

Election RunUp, 2020: 

Now, after these two recent elections where the “winner” did not get the most popular votes.  Now, after almost four years, we fully understand how traumatic this event was. Impossibly bad things can happen.  Polls can be misleading.  "Wise men" and family members have done little to contain Trump.  Sean Hannity has his ear.

And this.  Bad as Trump is, he is not the worst of it.  How could it be that so many Americans came to vote for an obvious con man, and many will do so again, knowing much better now what and who he is?  This is very discouraging to me.

I have no confidence about the integrity of the upcoming election, based also on the dirty tricks already happening: USPS services being downgraded, voting places being limited, Russian social media meddling, etc.

For most of you, I know I am preaching to the choir, but: Especially if you did not vote in the past, whatever your reasons were then.  Please register and vote. But especially if you are young, poor, or non-white; our politicians need to hear from you.  (Thought about including women in this list, but have read that voting participation is higher among women than among men in this country).

Thanks for reading.

Stay safe and masked up and sane.  The next two months may be worse than the last six months…or the last four years.

Coleman

and now, for a little humor on YouTube, “Vote Him Away":

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkU1ob_lHCw

Coronavirus: LA #18

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first or second or third to do so.)

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Los Angeles is experiencing a record heat wave.  The radio said it's the worst heat wave in the last 10 to 20 years.  Of course, we should expect it to be hot. After all, this is southern California in August, so what else but hot weather?  Still, this seems unusual.  But consistent from day to day...see the screenshot below from my iPhone on Tuesday, August 18.

The heat saps me of energy. Some days, I don't feel like doing anything at all.  One day recently, took two naps.  We try to take two walks a day, one early in the morning, and one late in the afternoon, when if we choose our route carefully, we can walk mostly in the shade of buildings.  The sycamore trees, of which there are many in Park La Brea, are struggling, many leaves already shriveled and falling to the ground

We have had our two room air conditioners on thru much of the daytime.  Since we only have three rooms (not counting baths), we are fairly well covered.  Still, the A/Cs are struggling to keep up (or should I say keep down).   The background hum of all the A/Cs in our building is continuous.  California has recently experienced rolling blackouts, due to lack of sufficient electric energy; per usual, authorities are pointing fingers at each other regarding who is to blame.  No blackouts yet where we live.

Thank goodness, our pool reopened about a month ago. (The gym reopened also, but was then closed down again two weeks later.  Even if the gym reopens, I won't be going anytime in the foreseeable future; it's an indoor space.)  I can walk "laps" in the lap pool, where the water is up to my armpits, and still keep my mask on.  Limited one person per each of the five lanes.  Water feels great.  I have been doing this exercise for about eight years now.  At first, it seemed boring and I was counting the laps until I could stop; but now it has become a meditative interlude in my day.

I recently have been going to the pool just before 3PM.  The pool is closed from 2 to 3 for cleaning.  So, just before 3, there is a small group waiting to get in.   Going at this time, I can be sure of getting a lane.  At other times of the day, all lanes may be in use, which means a wait, usually just a few minutes.

There is a regular group of  swimmers that show up after 3PM on many days.  One is M, an older lady who really likes men; says she adored her father.  The yenta of the pool, she schmoozes up everyone, but especially the guys, and sometimes dishes the dirt.  When I chatted with M in the next lane a few days ago (masks on), I realized that, aside from Nadine, she was the only other person I had actually spoken with that day.

A dragonfly is usually there every afternoon, flitting above the surface of the pool, mostly at the west end, which is somewhat in shadows after 3PM.  Recently, one was a beautiful reddish-orange irridescent color, circling and circling over the water. 

There are other species at the pool as well, specifically canines.  Saw my second one there days ago.  This is not surprising in LA. Dogs are everywhere: grocery store, restaurants, movies theaters (when they were open), offices, Nordstroms, Pete's Coffee, our (former) synagogue, etc.  

Saturday, at breakfast outside of Toast, a woman showed up with her great Dane, and proceeded to drag a large mattress out of her BMW and put it on the sidewalk, where the dog dutifully laid down while she ate.  All of this done while keeping 6 feet of separation between parties, temp checks before seating, and masks up when the server approaches.

Finally, with the heat, fireseason has come again to California.  This is now a regular annual event.  No current danger where Nadine and I live, in the city.  But many fierce fires in the state, with a big cluster up north where an unusual outbreak of lightning storms triggered many fires.  We have relatives and friends up there.  Some have had to pack up the car, and be prepared to leave home.  Others have had to evacuate, and now await to hear whether their home has survived.

That’s it for now.

Stay as safe and sane and cool as you can.

Coleman

LA 10-day weather forecast, August 18

August 21 satellite photo of smoke plumes in No Calif, from our son Phil:

Coronavirus: LA #17:Final Cut

 As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first to do so.)

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First, apologies to my readers.  The edition #17 that I sent out on August 17 was my mistake.  My trigger index finger on the mouse hit “Send” instead of “Save”.

And thanks to those who pointed out some arithmetic issues, which I hope are corrected below.

My last email of this series was in the middle of June.  After that, I seemed to run out of energy and inspiration, and so just stopped.

Now I am back.  Can’t guarantee for how long.  But here goes.

In late June, Nadine and I decided to move. When we first discussed the possibility, I was very negative: “Do you know how HARD that will be?”

“Yes” she said, “it will be hard, but we’ll get thru it and it will be over”.

It was MUCH harder than either of us thought it would be.  The last time we moved, in 2012, I was 76.  Now I am 84, and found out I am not the same man as eight years ago.

Later, I was informed, by my LCSW wife and others, that “moving" ranks right up there with other major causes of trauma, including death of family member, divorce, physical pain, natural disasters (think pandemic), and parental abandonment.  I can’t say our move ranked up with any of these, but it was difficult.  But  it’s over and we are back to our “normal” COVID life.

So, you might be asking, why did you guys do it?

Because of the slowdown in the economy, apartment rental rates in this part of LA have declined significantly.  But to get a lower rate, we had to opt out of our old lease, and move to another apartment in Park La Brea.

We are now enjoying a lower rent, and a much quieter environment, especially at night after dinner time, when it’s TV or bedtime for us.  Also, a different view; our old place was on the 3rd floor, at tree-top level.  Our new location is on the 12th floor, looking southwest.

But the move essentially wiped out about six weeks of any other activity in our lives.  

With no garage, by the day we moved, you could hardly find a space to sit down or walk around in our apartment, it was so full of packed boxes with most of our belongings.

Another feature of moving is that it forces you to go thru all your “stuff” and decide what to take with you, and what to get rid of.  This is both physically and psychologically taxing.  And many trips to the Goodwill donation center, after we found one in Hollywood that was open.  At least someone may benefit from our no-longer-wanted items.

One of the things on my chest of drawers is a round box where I put my loose change at the end of each day.  I had put all of the contents into a bag to take to the coin counter machine at CVS.  I estimate from prior experience that it was worth perhaps $30.  I put this bag into the trunk of my car, waiting for the day I would go to CVS for something else also.  But, I think it ended up going with one of the donation piles to Goodwill, so hopefully someone in need got a nice bonus when they opened the bag.  Change is definitely in short supply; went to GroundWorks this AM for coffees, and the 75 cents of change was all in dimes and nickels.

Stay safe, wear your mask, keep your distance….and your sanity (which may be harder to hold onto).

Coleman

Typically, Nadine will buy a bunch of flowers each week for our dining room table.  We noticed that last week’s bouquet lasted quite well, and is sucking up water like crazy.  The word “bouquet" triggered this old song in my old mind (Eddy Arnold, 1948). Hope you like it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qECR90Qpa8

Isn’t it funny how these old melodies and words are still back in there somewhere, just waiting for the right trigger to pop up.

Football and Religion at Nichols

Recently, I saw a YouTube interview with an ex-NFL player who talked about the roll of religion in the locker room, both in college and in professional football.  This triggered my memory of the following episode.

I was raised with little religious training or practice.  My mother was a sometimes, any-denomination-will-do Protestant.  My father, the result of a Catholic/Protestant union, was opposed to any and all organized religion.

I entered Nichols School,  a small private boys high school, in Buffalo NY, in the fall of 1951 as a sophomore.  There were then about fifty boys in each class.  Almost all students were required to participate in sports in the afternoon, after classes.

I had played football before in junior high, but was not especially fond of it.  I think my father expected it of me.  I was not particularly interested in the violence, and was somewhat scared of being hurt.  (At Nichols in those days, in the fall, the other option was soccer, which I had never even seen before.)    But I went along with the school's program (and my parents' investment in my getting a good college-prep education. )   I was a stout (or "chubby") kid, and not very fast, so I was assigned to guard position.  In those days, the starters played both offense and defense.

My sophomore year the head coach was Mr Muha.  For my junior and senior years, it was George Stevens, the Princeton quarterback teamed with All-American Dick Kazmeier.

Before each game, the team would gather in a tight group, all hands towards the center.  It seems the more religious kids (or was it just the Catholics?) would recite a prayer, the ending of which is, I now think,  "....pray for us now....and at the hour of our death." 

But what I heard at the start of my first varsity game, as a new boy and in  my first few weeks at Nichols, was "Pray for us now at the hour of our death".  My reaction was "Oh my God, these guys are taking this way too seriously!"

Email re Racism in America

This email has NOTHING to do with coronavirus. 

It DOES have to do with the current furor and commentary about racism in the United States.

First, I/we have come across two items that shed some illumination on the subject for me.

One is the book “White Fragility; Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo.  It’s #2 this week on the NYTimes Best Sellers NonFiction list, which notes “Historical and cultural analysis on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-cultural dialogue”. The author is white, and she gives myriad examples of how white Americans are often unconscious of the culture of racism that surrounds us. The book is also available in audio format, 6 hours long.  I recommend it.

The other is a podcast by Sam Harris, "Making Sense with Sam Harris #207 - Can We Pull Back From The Brink? (June 12, 2020)".  Our son Dan is the one who put us onto this podcast, which is almost two hours long, but worth it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmgxtcbc4iU

Nadine and I had the pleasure of seeing Sam Harris debate David Wolpe many years ago re god and religion. Both very knowledgeable thinkers, it was like watching a great tennis match.  In the podcast, Harris delves into many facets of the situation with facts and opinions that may startle you (meant to, he says).

I don’t agree with all of the statements and conclusions of these two persons (DiAngelo, Harris), but I found them both interesting, and certainly worthwhile grist for thought about racism in our country and what we can do about it.

Lastly, I have been thinking about what I could do to contribute in a positive way to this situation.  I found a website called “Black Votes Matter”

https://www.blackvotersmatterfund.org

The purpose of this fund is to encourage more black citizens to vote.  And you can even pick the state where you want your donation to be put to work.  I debated Georgia vs Florida, but finally picked Florida, because of what happened there in the 2000 election (abetted by SCOTUS)

and this seemed to fit the bill for me. Support black Americans now, encourage more voters in general, and maybe swing Florida, which has been on the brink for decades, blue.

I have very mixed feelings about America's current situation, and our future:

On the pessimistic side, I believe that cultural patterns are very slow to change, and racism against many groups, but especially native Americans and black Americans has an old and deep 400+ year history here.

On the positive side, when I see some many Americans demonstrating in an on-going way, and so many young people (even teens) and including so many that are white, I feel hopeful.

Coleman "