Today was “Shabbat Shira” (the Sabbath of Song) because the Torah reading (Beshalach, Exodus 13:17-17:16) includes “The Song of the Sea”, which the Israelites sang after crossing the Sea of Reeds. Most years, the Cantor would give a “Sermon in Song” and the choir would sing as part of the service.

This year, of course, is not like other years – but the choir still sang as part of today’s service. Not as a choir (except for a couple of pre-recorded songs), but one-by-one (sometimes taking turns during a song, often singing an entire song alone). And the Cantor was in the sanctuary, singing (accompanied by a choir member who also plays guitar – he was in another room in the building, but they were able to hear each other without Zoom delays and make music together).

It was a change from the usual Zoom service – it’ll be even better when we can all be in the sanctuary together!

Dinner tonight was another new recipe, Sheet Pan Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Onions. I modified the recipe to use only half the suggested amount of onions – it was still way too much. And next time, we’ll try using boneless, skinless thighs in hopes of reducing the grease level. But it’s worth trying again.

Even though we still need a lot of rain to get back to normal, it was a pleasure to wake to clear skies this morning after the last couple of wet days. We took a couple of walks to celebrate, then I sat down at the computer to catch up on a month’s worth of Quicken.

And as long as I was catching up, I finally got around to officially completing the projects for the speeches I’ve given at Toastmasters this week, which also completed Level 4 of the “Engaging Humor” Path.

Not an exciting day, I admit, but a productive one. Or at least one in which I reduced the piles of things-to-do.

Shabbat Shalom!