Another Warm Day

. . . and another flood watch forecast for tonight. Last night got progressively warmer (rather than cooler) and I awoke to about 54°, which has risen a few to the current continuing high of 58°. And, thunderstorms on approach this evening have unfortunately turned into some blustery winds this afternoon and one to two inches of rain late tonight. Not sure about the flooding aspect.

In other news, I've finally located a computer and configuration with which I can once again play (and share) Tetripz, a drug-influence-simulating Tetris game I discovered several years ago. It's the most challenging version of Tetris I've ever played and I've pulled together a good handful of interested players.

Ben "Apple Crisp" Rosenthal

This weekend I spent more time in the kitchen than probably all season before. We did a wedding and had a blast! Saturday evening, after Shabbat, I helped Michal prepare the meal for Sunday afternoon's festivities. First, I constructed the portobello towers that would be the vegetarian entrée. Then, I masterfully demonstrated my awesome Tetris skills and endurance by dishing mostly-still-frozen apple slices into 180 individual dishes, to be topped with crumbly topping, for the apple crisp dessert.

On Sunday, I worked on the wedding as needed all day (9 am to 7 pm), which included the two latter hours helping speed Tonia and company through the dish washing. Sure, we used a commercial dishwasher with a 45-second cycle, but for two hours!!! It was quite a hectic afternoon in there, but we made it through.

Afterward, we headed to the yurt for a wild party with some significant intoxication to go around . . . except me, of course. I was already high, anyway, on the previous 24 hours. This was my first opportunity to really work for Michal and we shared pleasure in the full experience, to the point that my nickname is now Apple Crisp. I'll be sure to put that on my résumé.

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving?

Tonight I enjoyed perhaps my first completely vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner, at Nili and Yosh's round house. No kidding. And best of all, no tofurkey. Yosh cheffed a delicious meal including shepherd's pie, acorn squash stuffed with organic apples from our local orchard, and more goodies. Plus, Nili baked fresh breads served with a variety of spreads. And, of course, there was pumpkin pie for dessert, made with pumpkins from the Sadeh, along with angel food cake and a tri-berry topping.

Good company including the same from last night less Rebecca, Zim, and Gabe, plus a couple of Nili's old friends from college and their kids. I wasn't in the mood to chat much, but it was a fun evening.

A Night Away . . . at Home

Just spent my first full night at the Adamah House, distinctly deciding that I'm too long for this couch when I got up a bit sore. However, I woke to piles of snow outside, snow that continues to fall as I type. Last night, the few of us left of the TevAdamah crew (Rebecca, Zim, Gabe, Sabrina, Linda, and me) cheffed a delicious meal, shared with Gilad, Michal, Jason, and Uman. [Gilad is Freedman's mashgiach (kosher supervisor) and his wife, Michal, is the vegan chef; Jason did Adam over the summer and stayed part of the fall to work on energy projects, including the major biodiesel operation centered in the Adamah garage; and Uman recently departed another Freedman staff position.]

Anyway, there were appetizers and a main course, and plenty of entertainment to follow. Michal showed her wedding pictures and we listed to good music for a while. Later, the six of us watched an episode of Da Ali G Show and followed it up with Harold & Maude, a 1970s film Sabrina really wanted to see again. Most of us fell asleep during the latter; the music was good but the plot was weird.

By midnight when I put the movie on (on my computer, to which I had downloaded it last week), I figured I wouldn't be going home to Brown House. Later on I realized that there really wasn't anything I would have done there differently than staying here. I had my life with me due to Sabrina's viewing desires and good company to go with. So, a fun time all the way through. Not to forget making rolled french toast for anyone who wanted to enjoy it. Yes, rolled, that is, made with dinner rolls, because I couldn't find any other bread to use. Though, now that I think of it, there should be half a loaf of marble rye somewhere, but the rolled idea was cool and funny, so that was good.

Soon, I'll be headed back to campus. Need to do energy rounds, which I skipped yesterday, and start heating up the cabins for the wedding this weekend.

Visions of My Future

Yesterday, Adamah had a segment of its leadership development program for each member to summarize in five minutes his/her future path and/or goals in life. I was offered the opportunity to do the same at dinner. Now, in reflective preparation to be featured in an upcoming PC Weenies cartoon, I've thought further about where I've been so far in life, what might be next, and how it all fits together on my path of life. Here's my summary:

So . . .

At heart I am an environmentalist and also a Mac power user. These aspects of my life are constantly clashing because of all the toxins and heavy metals used to produce my computer of choice. However, for the moment, I accept that Apple is doing its best so far to keep products Earth-friendly and will continue to improve over time. Its environment Web page is pretty comprehensive and attractive.

On the Mac side, I'm an independent consultant with a handful of individual users. With patience and simplicity, I help them become more productive and effective in their computing experiences. My business is called Sustainable Computing.

On the Earth side, I'm currently working for the Teva Learning Center, a Jewish environmental education program for Jewish day school students in the New England and Mid Atlantic regions. My role has been primarily administrative and technical in supporting the staff, whilst watching them suffer on their Windows PCs. No offense, though, to an organization that can't afford more than donated computers at the moment.

Soon, I'll be returning to my home in Takoma Park, Maryland, and my job at the DC Energy Office (District of Columbia Government) where I'm engaged in a range of environmental programs. DCEO is a completely Windows-based office except one: me. I carry my office to work and use my PowerBook there because I just can't be productive on Windows. I don't handle much tech support there, but I'm always noticing how people's workspaces are slowed by the narrow functionality of Outlook, for example.

My overall visions for my life: simplicity through effective communication; care for the Earth based on common sense; from pieces, peace. The latter perhaps a new interpretation of E Pluribus Unum, now that I think about it.

Snow!

Wow, the weeks just keep flying by. I can't seem to keep up with them anymore. Today we had our first snow. And it was a great one. It's mostly slushed and melted by now, but it was a beautiful fall. More forecast tonight, tomorrow night, and Thursday, as temperatures continue to drop. Thirties tomorrow and Thursday will lead to teens at night the latter half of the week. Three cheers for dressing in warm, comfy layers!!!

Last week was the first time I really had a set schedule of work times and activities during the week. I stuck to it most of the way and ended up amounting all the hours Nili and Adam have expected me to. That felt good. Also, having stuff to do all the time made having a schedule more worthwhile. This week, not so much, though, as all of Teva is gone for the holiday week. I'm still here, though, hanging with Adamah and working for Teva and Freedman as usual, just not as regular.

Nili invited me over for Thanksgiving festivities Thursday. She and Yosh have a whole gala planned, it seems, with people from their family and circle of friends, plus Teva bits, and more. That'll be a fun night!

Meanwhile, for the DC Energy Office, the GreenList is going strong and the January 2006 Green Calendar will be out in a couple weeks. Here's hoping people receiving the GreenList actually have time to read and enjoy its content. I admittedly don't always read the entirety of most of the articles I post and summarize, but I'm getting only positive feedback so far about the distribution. Again, let me know if you want it, too.

Unbelievably only three weeks left with I think 13 schools yet to come. Adamah officially ends the week before, but a lot of folks are planning to stay for the winter and some might even return next summer or fall to work on the campus in some other position.

As for me, Ian (Adamah fellow, native to D.C.–Baltimore corridor) has offered to drive me home on Monday, December 19, the day the rest of Teva is scheduled to depart. So, with his pickup, no worries about getting all my stuff home, including everything I've accumulated since I've been here.

Next year? I don't know yet where Teva might fit into my future. I look forward to spending more time with this community. Perhaps I'll look at scheduling and see if the spring season interferes with GreenDC Week plans with DCEO. As Nili has said before, if I can get a grant to pay me to work for her, I can come back. Also, Casey and I have been talking about continuing our "roommateship," which would be really cool. So, we'll see.

Now, need to write a letter before dinner to an author to try to get free copies of a book that is central to Teva's Shomrei Chayyot (guardians of the animals) curriculum.

Another Busy Week . . . But With a Catch

Wow! I'm so stressed out from this week. Mostly my work has been fun and it really continues to be, but there was just so much of it seeming to come from all directions this week. Perhaps some of the stress also came from the hours I spent installing and running Norton SystemWorks on the Teva computers; the concept of having to keep them virus-free and to fix problems that the complexity of Windows coding brings about is stressful in and of itself. Further frustrating is that Microsoft is taking so long to improve a now four year old operating system, which itself is practically still built on the code of a 14 year old operating system. Oh well. Always happy to come home to my office and a system that really works.

The catch following all this, with joy I get to report: Mom's arriving today for a weekend visit and workshop on Sunday as part of Teva's staff development programing. I have to work a while this morning and afternoon, but she should be here around noon and we'll have a couple hours before I have to help Vlastik with his pre-retreat weekend site check. Then, a fun Shabbat with Ilan and his mother planning to come, too, and yet other guests to boot. I'll offer the full report in a couple days.

Best Shabbat of the Season?

Could have been among the top few . . .

It began with a leisurely wakeup, contained a wild game of Ultimate Frisbee at its mid afternoon core, continued with me making french toast for Brown House for dinner, and concluded with a late night party in the K'far (K'far-ty?—perhaps not) hosted by Adamah for all who wanted to come. We jammed and sang and enjoyed the heat of the bonfire and the sweetness of chocolate fondue-dunked strawberries and bananas!

This shabbat was also a major relief after our busiest week. There were both Shomrei Adamah (6th grade Guardians of the Earth) and Shomrei Chayyot (4th grade Guardians of the Animals) programs for four and three days, respectively, plus a two-day Shomrei Adamah introductory program for an Orthodox school whose students have never been to Teva before and didn't leave until after dinner Thursday. This made for a continuum of work and little time to stop and breathe, which I was really happy to do when Friday evening finally came around. Teva enjoyed its first quaint Shabbat in Brown House with no guests, which we notably enjoyed.

Now, we are once again in a "regular" week, normalized to a smallish group (about 60 kids), only 6th grade Shomrei Adamah among them, and the calm, smooth, soothing workflow we probably haven't experienced since the first week. I've spent my weekend and today handling mostly office technical upgrades, cleanup, and organization. Maybe tonight I'll get to watch another episode of CSI:. Thursday night I'll be showing What the Bleep Do We Know?! to our community of "TevAdamah," as we've cleverly named it.

I've been sharing the GreenList with TevAdamah and now many visitors to the DC Energy Office booth at Green Festival are also receiving it. Nili commented last week about how grateful she is as a recipient as each time she sees in the GreenList all the news she's missed during the past week, she's been frustrated because she wishes she had so much time to read it, too. Let me know if you're interested in receiving this compilation of environmental headlines and news summaries I send every Tuesday morning.

Dinner's in half an hour and I have more maintenance to handle between Nili and Adam's computers. Back before long!