The caring of doing

Our community has been reeling from the tragic loss of a young boy from a very rare cancer. On Friday hundreds, maybe more, turned out to his funeral on a glorious spring day, flocks of migrating storks, pelicans and kites high above escorting him on his final journey. His parents are some of the most dignified and noble people, turning this heartbreaking occasion in to a celebration of a short but beautiful life. So much laughter through the tears.

We came home smelling of rosemary, pine and cypress, common native species planted at cemeteries here to offer comforting, pleasant fragrances. I just wanted to mask those scents though with something strong and life affirming.

I guess cooking itself is a life affirming activity and it was good to be together in the kitchen, even if we were throwing together our Shabbat meal on autopilot. DH made a chulent with kishke from the freezer seasoned with half a jar of tandoori paste he found in the fridge and a copious amount of fresh spring garlic from the garden.

I grabbed some chicken drumsticks from the freezer and turned them in to a riff on doro wat, subbing potato chunks for the boiled eggs as we were out of eggs, inhaling the warm vibrant fragrance of the berbere seasoning mix and the coconut oil based (non-dairy) niter kibbeh blend. Put some aside in the freezer to take to the mourners later in the week.

DH put up a pot of basmati to go with the saucy stew and warmed a pot of vegetable rich turkey neck soup from the freezer with extra to take over to a family who's mother has just had major surgery. Found tinned pumpkin puree and condensed (non-dairy) coconut cream this week, so also threw together a couple of quick pumpkin pies to take round as well.

Even when you feel totally drained Friday is Friday and there are Shabbat meals to prepare and errands to be done. The immediate family the mourners, they are the only ones who step back, take a week out of time to focus on their grief and loss. The rest of the community keeps up the rhythm of life for them, tries to offer consolation just by being there. I don't think that anyone knows how to comfort a family facing such a loss, the doing is there perhaps to give the wider community a way to care when there are no words.

Swallows and swifts

The Twins stood for quite some time motionless among the tall meadows of wild mustard and barley, transfixed by the aerial display above, around and in front of them.

Throngs of scimitar winged swallows and alpine swifts wheeled and darted through the air beneath overcast skies. Were they busy hunting flying insects on the wing or playing an immense game of tag? Or maybe both?

It was a thrilling spectacle of nature that no one else seemed to have noticed: cars, bikes and runners going by on the pavement below this hillside island of nature, the occasional dog walker strolling along a nearby trail, eyes down, oblivious.

The Twins thought it one of the most incredible sights they had ever seen as the stunningly agile birds swooped so close to us we could feel their wings rushing by our faces and a couple of times their tiny clawed feet came close enough to barely brush my head.

The swallows kept close to the tops of the vegetation, the swifts preferred to be slightly higher up, but both were low enough that we could make out the texture of their beautiful plumage, variations of colour, the subtle differences between the shape of the swifts and the swallows, the details of their tiny faces. So intent were they on the aerial chase they didn't seem to mind the three humans standing there in the meadow.

Twin Q was fascinated, studying the avian airshow, loving every time they banked and turned with effortless grace, the way the long tails of the swallows billowed out like streamers.

"Look Imma, I can see the red on the swallows' faces and their little beaks, how bright and shiny their colours are. The swifts have more boring colours but they fly faster."

Twin H was practically melting with joy and love. He adores cute creatures of all kinds and these charming birds had him firmly under their spell. His hands squeezed together in glee he stood there with a silly grin plastered on his face, eyes shining.

"They are so cute Imma, I love their little faces. I'm going to give them names. That one is Snuni (from snunit, Hebrew for swallow), that one is Nuni and that smaller one is just so cute I think I will call him Awww, because I'm just awwing at how cute he is"