Weather It Is (Winter Storm Watch/Men Learn Slowly)

Good Morning:

Had she her choice, we would be living at the beach (at least in summer).  Had I my choice, we would be living on the Golan (in the winter).  In the meantime, we have to deal with more mundane issues -- like the kitchen.  (More on the weather later.)

Did you know that my son was mad at me for not mentioning that it would rain yesterday? It is not enough to help with his homework, I have to be his weatherman too!

Have you noticed that no matter how early a husband goes up to use the "parents" bathroom, it is never too soon for the wife?

Anyway, for years I have been off and on in the kitchen -- especially on Fridays before Shabbat.  Why?  I like chemistry and I like to eat (I also like good smells).  For years, I have also been an "irritant."  It is not anything that I particularly do, but rather that it is hard to finish and clean up before the wife's turn on Friday to cook.

So, it was with utter amazement I learned a lesson -- 15 years in the making).  It happened one week that I had to switch my cooking time to Thursday, and Friday the sun shone and made the kitchen counters sparkle.  What a day -- a day of relaxation, happiness, and plain thankfulness (for being out of the way).  So, after 15 years, I made Thursday my cooking day.

Then it happened:  when my wife saw me so relaxed on Friday she asked herself why she could not also benefit from cooking on Thursday, and once again the mess became a mess at the wrong "time."  My wife, in contrast, learns things much more quickly than I.

So it was that the renovator came and built us a new kitchen in a small closet downstairs.  As he was leaving, he pointed out that he was glad that we did this early because most folks wait until Peach to put their Passover kitchen in...

This week, I am holding my weather cards close to my weather vest.  I don't want to raise expectations and I don't want my son to be mad at me.  So, I will only say that it may not be Boston, but it may be a winter wonderland come the end of the week. In fact, there has been a lot of model consistency (on the European side) pointing towards a storm entering from the north with plenty of cold air to make it snow, even in Jerusalem.  Otherwise, the US Global Ensemble is moving in the same direction. How much of a winter wonderland?  More on this, hopefully. later this afternoon.

Barry Lynn