We usually visit our chiropractor twice a week – it helps counteract the wear and tear that our trainer inflicts on us. But last night, we got a note saying the office would be closed for at least the first half of this week because he’d been exposed to Covid (his tests have been negative, which is good). We went to the gym this morning and our trainer showed no mercy, so I hope the chiropractor is really back in action on Thursday!

And just now, I got a message from our house cleaner suggesting that she not come tomorrow because her son has Covid – we took the suggestion.

I’m lucky – as far as I know, my most recent infection is virtual. I’ve fallen victim to the Wordle virus, thanks to the New York Times article last week. Fortunately, there’s only one puzzle per day, and it’s easy to finish – so far, I’ve solved each day’s Wordle in three to five tries. It’s a nice way to take a short break.

On a brighter note, the Silicon Valley Storytellers had an enjoyable meeting this evening. One speaker was a visitor from a local club – she gave her Ice Breaker for her second Path and told us about her multiple identities. The other speaker is a tour guide in Japan who’s a club member thanks to Zoom – she told us about interesting things her clients did on trips to Italy. We’re having an Open House on January 24th, and I’ll be one of the speakers – we’re as close as your computer!

FedEx kept us busy this morning – they delivered our replacement Costco order and then called me to tell me they were SURE that the original order was somewhere in San Jose and they’re still trying to find it. We’ll see.

After lunch, we drove down to Santa Cruz to see monarchs and enjoy the weather. We started at the Butterfly Grove at Lighthouse Beach State Park – it took a few minutes before we started seeing butterflies, but there were plenty of them once we found the right place.

We also wanted to see the butterflies at the more famous grove in Natural Bridges State Park, about two miles away. We walked there along West Cliff Drive so we could enjoy the scenery. The first thing we found was a small surfing contest – I think it was for students, but I’m not sure.

The Surfing Museum was nearby; we’d visited it in pre-Covid days and might go back again, but not today.

I like the rock formations along West Cliff Drive.

So do the birds.

And other people.

We had to take at least one selfie, right?

Finally, we reached Natural Bridges State Park and the Monarch Trail. There was a naturalist at the viewing area on the boardwalk; he pointed out some of the bigger groups of monarchs that were still active this late in the day.

Many of the monarchs were settling in for the evening.

We walked back to our car – this time, we only took West Cliff part way, but it was still lovely.

We turned inland about a mile and a quarter from Natural Bridges; even though we were away from the beach, there were still lots of nice flowers to look at in people’s yards.

And then we drove home while it was still light. Not a bad way to spend Sunday!

Torah Study resumed at Shir Hadash today – we will be using A Year with Martin Buber: Wisdom on the Weekly Torah Portion to guide our study for the first half of 2022 (replacing Mussar, which wasn’t terribly popular amongst the group). Today, we were joined by the book’s author, Rabbi Dennis Ross – the discussions were lively, and Rabbi Ross summed things up at the end.

This week’s Torah portion is Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16), and the book and our discussion focused on one phrase in Exodus 12:38: “And there was also a mixed multitude who went up with them.” Was the “mixed multitude” just a random bunch of people following along, or was it a group of people who wanted freedom badly enough to convert to Judaism? And what is a “mixed multitude” today, and how would we view it through Buber’s “I-Thou” lens?

Yesterday, I’d listened to the first episode of Chutzpod!, a new podcast from Joshua Malina and Rabbi Shira Stuntman; it, too, focused on the “mixed multitude” in Parasha Bo, looking at how we can deal with the various beliefs in today’s society.

And Diane had chosen that section of the portion to chant today, too.

Much to think about, but I have no conclusions to offer.

No new developments on the FedEx shipment front, but Costco has shipped the replacement order – by FedEx. And they claim it’ll be delivered tomorrow. I can hope, right?

When I had problems with my Mac Mini last Wednesday, I realized that life would be better if I cleaned up the area around the computer and got the cables under better control. I was too tired to do it that day, though, so I said I’d do it “tomorrow”. I didn’t.

Today, I realized that I had a Best Buy coupon for $25 that was going to expire tomorrow. I’d been thinking about the setup in the office for a while, and I realized that a display riser would be a big help in clearing up the space around the computer. Best Buy had this one for $24.99 – and it was available for immediate pickup. I tried to order it, but the system wouldn’t accept my coupon because the item cost less than the coupon value!

So we drove to Best Buy – I was sure I could find something to buy there along with the riser. I mentioned my problem to the employee who showed me where the display risers were stocked. He mentioned that they sold candy next to the checkout – problem solved! We left the store with the riser and a KitKat bar and no coupon.

It took me a while to sort everything out – among other discoveries, I found a power brick for a USB hub plugged into the wall, but not plugged into its hub. And I found at least one cable that was only plugged in at one end. It’s all cleaned up now, and I have lots more room around the computer. The next step is to order some shorter Ethernet and USB-C cables to replace some overly-long ones I’m using, but that almost certainly won’t happen tomorrow.

My FedEx package didn’t show up today (no surprise). And Costco has run out of the paper towels I ordered, so they cancelled that part of the replacement order. Someday….

Shabbat Shalom!

The day started with the first 2022 meeting of the Silver Tongued Cats – the theme was “Restart”. It didn’t take long for everyone to get back into the rhythm of the meeting, and we ended on time.

The rest of the day passed quietly, unlike last year.

FedEx told me that my Costco package was out for delivery again this morning, and this evening, they said it was “delayed” again. I wasn’t surprised.

And I finally got back to editing photos from November – I finished the photos from our last day in Boston. The end of my 2021 photo work is in sight!