So much to report in so little time!  Yesterday I earned my keep at Avdi’s, getting lots done.  I moved some plants to “my” spare bedroom, checked in on the little green babies downstairs that were just starting to sprout, learned how to make challah using the bread machine, switched out a cabinet of miscellaneous old cookware for Avdi’s brand new set, cleaned up the kitchen and dining room, made a Mediterranean chicken dinner, and other jobs.  Jess came over for dinner; later they went out, and I spent the night at Avdi’s.

This morning, we decided to go to CRC.  It was a big weekend there, hosting the artist who designed and created their beautiful mosaic floor, their new Torah cover, and many other works of art.  She’s a Jewish Indian (Bene Israel) from Mumbai who later lived in the NYC area.  She collaborated with her friend Rabbi Susan Talve to create the multicultural mystical mosaic circle, among many other art achievements.  I got to meet both the artist and Rabbi Susan, an honor.

After services, Avdi showed me the St. Louis Art Museum, which was impressive.  In the main lobby is the very striking holocaust sculpture, “Breaking of the Vessels”, by Anselm Kiefer.  It symbolizes Jewish learning, Kabbalah, persecution, and Kristallnacht (1938), with shattered glass extending out from it.  We explored several of the  galleries of world ancient arts, just as an introduction, then grabbed a bite.

And now, back to the infamous habits:

Exercise: lots of it doing chores and going up and down stairs.

Cookery: a healthy Shabbat dinner of Greek-style chicken, salad, and brown/wild rice.

Socializing: I actually met/re-met some people and talked to them.

Meditation: I include this because I found some of the CRC service very meditative (which I wouldn’t normally use to describe my past Jewish experiences, but this is different).

Reading: continued my Maya Angelou reading at Avdi’s.

Writing: for once, lots to write about!

I’ll be off to Avdi’s this morning and overnight, so I’ll get this out of the way.  Today I’m bringing half a dozen misc. plants with me to temporarily live in the spare bedroom where I sleep.  It wouldn’t be a livable habitat without plants.  Also I’m running out of room here!

Moving right along…

Exercise: 10 laps.  Ten circuits equals about a half mile, I think.  That includes two flights of stairs, up and down, so that’s a bonus benefit.

Cookery: Not there yet.  Keeping it light, because I’ll be making a chicken dinner at Avdi’s.

Socialization: Also in my immediate future.

Reading, Writing, blah blah…

I think I should add drinking more water to the list.  I keep forgetting to do that.  Done.

The Bobs sent me some wonderful birthday gifts–a little hydroponics lab to germinate plants, lots of assorted herb seeds, and a St. Louis t-shirt, my first!  Next time I’m home I’ll set up the lab and start growing some more stuff.

Back to our daily routine.  Again, this space is mainly to keep me honest and conscientious.  If anyone else can bear the drudgery of following it, it’s an added incentive for me to stay kosher (as it were).

Speaking of (not very) kosher food, while eating my daily healthy-ish concoction (sautéd beef sausage, broccoli, eggs, and cheese), I read an article about STL Black-owned restaurants to support.  There are so many!  I was reminded how Black cuisines are literally all over the map, deriving from the diaspora they found themselves in by necessity.  Just a sampling: Jamaican, Haitian, Ethiopian, Cajun, Southern/Soul, French, and even vegan.  (Are Black hipsters a thing?)  By comparison, our Jewish diaspora cuisines seem so monolithic, even fossilized, like some Jews.  But that’s just me.

Segue to exercise, which I need after all the food-thoughts.  I did 10 (ten!) whole laps.  Didn’t even break a sweat.

Socializing: I thought I was going to Avdi’s tonight, but it turns out by “Thu.” he meant “Fri.”, so we’ll see.  I think he may need a live scheduling manager, not just an app.  He, unlike myself, has an actual life to keep track of.

The other three habits, meh, as mentioned.  Reading and writing go without saying, already assimilated.  Gardening will probably become the new meditation, which I’ll need in between juvenile meltdowns.  Any ideas?  Feel free to make a suggestion.

…and conveniently, look what I’ve rediscovered!  Paintbrush, updated.  Could be a habit suggestion?

Seventy is still hard to get my mind around, even a year later, but at least it had a nice respectable ring to it.  This month I’ll be entering countdown territory, and not the fireworks kind.  You have no idea, until you find yourself this old, what it’s like to feel invisible, irrelevant, incompetent, and staring down death.  You think I’m exaggerating, but just wait.  When your friends list includes dead people, and you find yourself still here, it’s just a matter of time.  Every morning I’m surprised to wake up, still this old!

That’s why I’m so preoccupied with spending what little time I have left wisely and well.  I wasted so much of my life making bad or mediocre choices and alienating or abandoning loved ones.  I know I can never make up for all the lost time, but I’m trying to live a better, more intentional life now and make a positive difference, however small.  Ironic how people put off doing good toward others until they’re too old or disadvantaged to be in a position to help.  I hate having to depend on the very people who should be able to rely on me by now.

All I can do is resist the tendency to become more sedentary and self-indulgent, as so many oldsters do.  It’s easy to just give in to tiredness or resign yourself to fading out.  After all, nobody really cares what you do at this point; you had your chance.  Now you’re boring, unattractive, and out of touch; already receding into the background like grey camouflage.  Few people can see the real person who still hopes and longs to have mattered.

OK, I’m done with the existential whine.  Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So.  Those pesky, tedious habits.  I guess it’s a way to stay alive and activated, in preparation for stepping up to the plate of impending kid demands.  It’s not that I like being mundane, or boring us all to…the D-word.  In fact, I almost skipped a day, not feeling my best.  But I know how you, my dear 2.5 readership, have come to expect my predictable oldster-blather, so I won’t let you down.

Exercise: I did a few laps.

Cookery: I made a healthy chicken/veg soup.

Medi…wait for it…blah.  So 20th century.

Reading, already a habit.  Still doing it.

Writing: Doing it now.

Socializing: Pending…anyone out there wanna talk?

I spent the night at Avdi’s, who has become a bread making machine.  Every time I go over there, he has a couple of new trial breads.  I can’t say I mind being one of his testers.  (His slow-cooker beef stew was pretty great, too.)  Jess joined us after having worked with Avdi in the office, so the dinner conversation was lively.

I sorted all the seeds into categories, so it’s more organized for each phase of germination.  I separated out all the herb seeds to take home and start growing in my propagation station, which I did today.  When they’re ready, I’ll take them to Avdi’s to start his new herb garden out back.

This morning we went grocery shopping, then checked out Savers thrift and secondhand store, where I got some much-needed kitchen/household implements, and even a couple of warm clothes items, all for super-cheap.  Avdi did the same.

As is usually the case when I’m away from home, my daily habits are, um, modified.  Which is fine, they need to be flexible and adapt to circumstances!  Suffice it to say, they got done in some form or another.  And now I’m recording it, so there you have it.

So, yes, this blahg is mainly pretty blah and boring lately, just live with it!  If and when I make it to Day 30 of the 6 habits (or whatever they’ve morphed into by then), we can move on to other non-scintillating stuff.

I also am aware how self-centered this sounds, being about me and my mostly solitary attempt to establish my new footing in STL.  Once it warms up, I’m getting out more, gardening at Avdi’s, and herding kids, hopefully this foundation I’m laying will serve me well, keep me centered and balanced–and possibly less self-absorbed.

This icy white stuff fell.  Now it’s back to ass-freezingly cold out.  Later I’ll be off to Avdi’s to sleep over.  I’m going to organize all his garden seeds into some semblance of order.  In the meantime, we have, you guessed it, the Daily 6.

Exercise: I think I did about 10 (ten!) laps today.  I lost count, it’s so repetitive.

Cooking: Not there yet, but I’m thinking something Asian stir-fry.  Avdi’s making a yummy slow-cooker beef roast, so I have to leave room!

Meditation: Incense, candle, raga, yady yada…it does set a morning mood and atmosphere, which is good, but beyond that…substituting sleep may not be the equivalent, since mine tends to be disturbed and erratic.  Maybe a philosophy thought to contemplate, to set the tone and incorporate into my day?  Still working on it.

Reading: OK, y’know what, I need a different 6 habits.  Ones that aren’t already habits, duh!  Back to the drawing board.

Writing: double-duh.  Though I’ll definitely keep this one as a habit to cultivate and expand upon.  Maybe even come up with something interesting or challenging to write about!

Socializing: I recognize the value to me of this one, something I need more of in my daily life.  It’s too easy to be an introverted recluse, my default position.  I’m sure the kid immersion will fix that.  But also some additional adult intelligent life forms would be a bonus.

Like I said, an evolving work-in-progress.  Most people my age are devolving or regressing into non-productive inertia, but I fight this tendency with whatever strength I have left.  As soon as I stop resisting it, I’m already dead.  I’m trying to make the limited time I have left count for something.  (I’ll be 71 in February.)

Exercise: yesterday’s exciting outing must have worn me out, so today I made myself do just 5 laps.  I almost didn’t do that, but it’s not a habit if you take a day off.  Pretty soon I’ll be longing for breaks, when gardening starts up for real, and the kids show up.  In fact, maybe days off will become the new exercise!

Cooking is easier; I’ve been coming up with very simple, balanced, enjoyable meals to fix and eat.  Today’s was Italian pasta, sautéd beef sausage, fresh thyme, cheeses, and a homegrown salad (my greens got another haircut).  Yesterday I came up with a very simple, delicious soup featuring veggies and onions sautéd in butter, water and milk brought to a simmer, add chicken bouillon and fresh herbs, then egg noodles, and simmer ’til done.  (I confess I don’t keep kosher, in a rabbinic sense, but I do avoid any pork/shellfish at home.)

Meditation doesn’t seem to be a happening thing for me.  The closest I get is incense, candle, Indian ragas, and indoor gardening!  Today I cleaned up and reseeded some leafy greens and repotted some herbs.  Just sitting doing nothing is hard for me!  I feel like I already do too much of that.  I wonder if I could substitute sleeping for meditation?  Maybe all the nightmares tend to cancel out the therapy?  If meditation is just a form of quiet solitude, then it’s already assimilated into my routine!  Time to get creative.

Reading is automatic, so already habituated…maybe I can add on the nature/science/social issue documentaries I tend to watch daily anyway.  I already read fiction for pleasure at bedtime, and some obligatory NF, but this way I can also include educational videos.  My favorite is Pit Bulls and Parolees–it represents everything I believe in about giving second chances.  Also docs about the science and conservation of endangered species going on behind the scenes at the Bronx Zoo and the Atlanta Aquarium.

Writing–all the other habits seem to hinge on documenting my daily progress (or lack thereof), as well as recording all the productive new experiences I’m gaining, so this is probably my most consequential and meaningful habit.  I should mention sometimes I literally hand-write in a private journal or diary, so no one but me (and rarely, someone I share a passage with) knows for sure.  But for continuity and consistency, this more public platform ensures that others can bear witness to my progress, and that I try my best to articulate adequately.

Socializing just doesn’t always take place under the circumstances, other than messaging someone online.  I simply need to meet more people.  I’m not a natural at it, so I’m looking for ways to make it happen.  My preference would be animals, but even that’s not an option right now.

Here are a couple of rare sightings of me by Avdi, and additional photos from yesterday.

Legen-wait for it-dary:  the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River.

That arch is taller and more massive than you could ever imagine from a distance.  It doesn’t even sway in the wind, which was very windy but yet almost balmy today.  For a while Avdi and I just leaned up against it in the sun and soaked up the vibes.

Next, we walked down the cobblestones to the very edge of the river, and sat there on logs gazing across.  I can now say I actually stuck my hand in the Mississippi River.  (Cold, but not too smelly.)  It’s kind of anticlimactic there, not very “mighty”.  Not like Huck Finn and paddlewheel steamboats, except for the touristy one closed for the winter.  There’s no scenic view across it either, just boring Illinois, a casino,  and some industrial stuff on the other side.  The bridges are impressive, though.  Now I feel like I’m official.

Then we found a local craft brewpub, Urban Chestnut, and tried a couple of beers and ate.  This was located in an unassuming arts district of town.  We got good coffee at a literary café where students filled tables and sofas studying on laptops, surrounded by books and a small art gallery.  The St. Louis Symphony Hall, other performing arts and art museums, the famous Fox Theater, and other cultural venues are nearby.  Yet the area is unpretentious and unimposing, with hardly any traffic (in winter at least).  The architecture in this historic city is diverse and stunning.  It’s a real mix of very old and very new.

I guess you could call me a St. Louisan now.  I’ve literally touched the Arch and the River, and passed the Cards stadium.  I’ve sampled local craft beers in this famous beer town.  I got my STL fix until next time.

Plus I got a lot of bonus exercise points, climbing up and down those Gateway Arch park stairs, and walking around town.  And some more writing and socializing.  Leaning against the legendary, iconic Arch, and sitting on the bank of that ancient, vital river, connecting physically to so much history, was a meditation of sorts.

It’s not skipping a day if I was busy at Avdi’s fulfilling alternate versions of my habits, right?

I slept over Thursday night, and Friday we went grocery shopping, then we began our garden propagation project for this spring–a big STL first for us!  Avdi set up the heat mats and grow lights, and we both made up a flat of peat pots with seed starter mix and watered it in.  Then we picked out all the bell and Mex peppers he wanted to grow, almost a dozen kinds, and planted them, topped them off, and sprayed with water.  He covered the flat with a lid and placed it under timed lights.  It was our first of many more, and we had fun doing it together.

Then Avdi got to work in the office with Jess, and I got to making challah, and later the meal, which was Cajun chicken, red beans (mirepoix, etc.), and rice.  We were unanimous, it all came out very well.  I also did more organizing and cleaning in the kitchen and around the house.

I definitely got my exercise.  Cooking goes without saying–it was a healthy, balanced, fun meal.  Meditation…does Erev Shabbat count?  I think the prop project counts, as well!  Reading–check.  Writing–I’m making up for two days now. (It’s hard to write a blogpost on my phone.)  Socializing–got it with the extended family, and we talked about ways I could meet some new people.

Here is a melting snowperson by K.

Today I’m off to a field trip with Avdi…stay tuned for where we end up!

Only Day 4 of “6 Habits”, but it seems to be going well.  What drives it is the having to write each day, because I have to be able to report on the other five, if nothing else!

Exercise: I did 7 laps today.  Working up to whatever I can handle, divided up if necessary.

Cooking: I have leftover green veggies I sautéd yesterday, so I’ll incorporate them into a balanced meal.

Meditation: This morning I turned on Indian ragas, burned incense, sat on the floor looking at plants for a minute or two, and thought gardeny thoughts.  I realized the closest I used to come to meditation was while gardening or interacting with wildlife, so this spring should help.  I don’t have accessible prairies, wetlands, and forests here, so that’s out.  In fact, growing things and nature don’t seem to be a significant part of people’s lives here, which is so perplexing to me.  For me it’s as essential as water and air.

Reading: I’m thinking I need to add on a different or additional habit here, because reading is what I already do daily.  Like nature, it goes without saying.  It’s second nature!  I don’t suppose anyone out there (of my 2.5 readership) has any suggestions?

Writing: Self-explanatory.  It’s what keeps me honest.  It may be the most pivotal one for me.  Instead of a chore, I have to creatively de-block my mind each day.

Socializing: Tonight and tomorrow I’ll be at Avdi’s, if that counts.  I try to connect with new contacts online, but most people are busy having a life.  I won’t give up until someone bites!  (Hopefully not literally.)