Obama and Me

I happened to be in Washington DC the week following the US Presidential election last November. On my way to a conference in Virginia, I had enough free time to spend a few hours walking around the city before continuing on my way.

I should say, at this point, that I have very little interest in politics. I don't follow elections in Canada, let alone the US. Needless to say, I didn't know much about Barack Obama before arriving in Washington that Thursday in November. In fact, I barely knew his name. The friend I was traveling with, on the other hand, had followed Obama's political career ever since hearing his first speech at a Democratic Convention. A Democrat with dual American-Canadian citizenship, she had voted in the election and is a member of "Democrats Abroad."

The weather was unseasonably warm as we wondered around downtown Washington, near the White House and the Mall. People were strolling around with smiles on their faces. A feeling of hope and change charged the air.














Everyone seemed happy.














We enjoyed a relaxing lunch at an outdoor cafe near the White House.

We saw Obama everywhere!














Here Kay is posing with him! (I think the real Barack Obama is a bit taller!)

At the airport after the conference, in the spirit of the Obama-mania that surrounded me, I bought a copy of Dreams From My Father, the first book Barack Obama wrote, after graduating from law school, before entering politics. A biographical memoire, it tells of his childhood, growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, then back in Hawaii again, of his coming to California and New York to study. He also writes about his three years in Chicago working as a Community Organizer - helping poor people help themselves - and about his first trip to Kenya to connect with his African roots by meeting his late father's family.

I found the book absolutely fascinating! I love stories of people who travel and experience different cultures, and this one did not disappoint. His rich descriptions of life in Indonesia, Hawaii, New York, Chicago and Kenya held me entranced. A writer with an ear for dialogue, he captured the unique speaking style of all, whether they were Indonesians, Kenyans, foreign students, or fellow Americans of all ages. I couldn't put the book down - finishing all 480 pages in about a week!

I was left with a lot of respect for this man whose life experience has encompassed white and black America, as well as parts of Asia and Africa. A brilliant writer and thinker from an ordinary middle-class family, he has struggled to understand himself and his place in the world. He is also a caring individual with a heart for helping the poor. Reading the book gave me a glimpse of the person behind the politics. Dreams From My Father is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand this new American president.

Hearing my enthusiasm for Barack Obama's first book, my family gave me his second book, The Audacity of Hope, as a Christmas gift. This one is about politics - the ideas as well as the people behind them. As I said, politics does not interest me - so I haven't made much headway so far. I have not yet been caught up by the story.

I was fortunate to be in Washington at this juncture of history - on a warm sunny day when streets were not crowded, unlike Obama's cold, crowded January Inauguration Day... Blessed, because I sensed the spirit of hope of the nation - and caught a glimpse of who this new American president is.

Marble Cake Recipe

Last Saturday I talked about the importance of having cake to serve to friends and family on the Sabbath.

Friday, the day of preparation for the Sabbath, is when all the food for the Sabbath is prepared in Jewish homes in Israel (and around the world.) So here, on the eve of the Sabbath, is a recipe for my favorite cake, a marble cake. The recipe was given to me by my friend Pearl from Kibbutz Hazorea. I often make it on on the weekend as my Ugat Shabbat [u-GAT sha-BAT] or Sabbath Cake. Even though I'm not Jewish, I still celebrate the weekend with cake!

By the way, this coming weekend is a long weekend in Ontario for the first time. The government has given us a new holiday: Family Day. Another great reason to have cake!


This is my family's absolutely favorite cake! We don't put icing on it - but sometimes serve it with a scoop of ice cream.

Pearl's Marble Cake:
(This is Pearl's original cake recipe. I have added my personal adaptations for making it vegan and "healthier"at the end.)

1. Cream together: 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1 1/2 cups sugar - then add 2 eggs.
2. Prepare 1 cup of sour milk or yogurt (To make milk sour, add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to every cup of milk.)
3. Prepare the dry ingredients: 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 1/4 cups of flour. (I never add salt or vanilla to cakes - if you want to, add 1/4 teaspoon of each)
4. To the creamed together mixture, add a third of the dry ingredients. Mix. Then add half of the milk. Mix. Add another third of the dry ingredients. Mix. Add the rest of the milk. Mix. Finally add the last of the dry ingredients. This is your cake batter. Some people believe that the more you mix a cake, the better it tastes.
5. Pour the batter into a well-oiled bundt pan. Then prepare the chocolate sauce used to marble the cake
6. Chocolate sauce for marble effect: Mix 1/2 cup of Nestles Quick or any other sweetened chocolate drink powder with just enough milk to make it as thick as thick cream. Pour this onto the cake, swirling it into the batter to make a design.
7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit ( 175 degrees Celsius) for about 50 minutes. It really depends on the oven and the kind of pan used. Check the cake by sticking a toothpick into the middle. If no batter sticks to the toothpick, it is ready to come out of the oven.
8. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.
9. Enjoy!

Here's how the cake batter looks before it is marbled.















Here's how the batter looks like after the chocolate marbling .

Vegan Version of this Cake:

• Replace each egg with 1 tablespoon soy flour mixed with 1 tablespoon of water. Use vegan margarine in place of butter, and soy beverage or other milk substitute in place of milk.

"Healthy" Versions - I am constantly trying to make cakes "healthier." (To justify eating more, of course!)

• In the last cake I made (pictured here), I replaced 4 tablespoons of the flour with 2 tablespoons of wheat germ and 2 tablespoons of psyllium.

When I took a workshop on preparing food for Type 2 diabetics, the dietitian said that whenever she baked anything, she always replaced 4 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of wheat germ and 2 tablespoons of psyllium. The texture of the cake was unaffected and it came out of the bundt pan easily.

• Sometimes I use one third white flour, one third whole wheat flour, one third spelt flour (which has more protein and is supposed to be good for Type 2 diabetics.) The cake still tastes good, but does not come out of a bundt pan well, in my experience. It tends to crumble. So if you use other than white flour, perhaps put it in a rectangular pan and serve it out of the pan. It still tastes great!

(Almost) Effortless Organization

When I was a child, cleaning up my room was really easy - all I did was open my closet door and pitch in everything that was lying around in my room - clothes, shoes, toys. Then I'd close the door, confident that the room looked great. I could make my bed and "clean up my room" in under five minutes - which worked really well when my mother said I only could go out and play once my room was cleaned. Look Mom, it's done!

The problem came once a month or so when my mother opened the closet and said. Clean this out too! Then I knew that I'd be there for several hours at least!

Times have not changed that much - it must be the personality I was born with! Only now I don't throw things into my closet. My little study is the catch-all I use when I want to tidy up some corner of the house. If someone is coming over for a visit, I often pile up books, mail or newspaper clippings I want to keep and carry it all to my study desk, with the intention of dealing with it later.Then I close the door. I dread those days when I realize I have to clean the study up too!

One of my problems - I think - is that I am a visual person, so if things are out of sight, I tend to forget about them. In order not to forget about a bill or a check, for example, I have to put it out in clear view.

Another problem is that creating a system for keeping important papers or newspaper clippings takes a lot of time and mental effort. That's why I have a number of file folders called "Interesting Info" in my filing cabinet. It's easier to put a clipping in there than to think about what heading to file it under - so that I'll be able to find it later on!

I recently watched a video lecture on Time Management by Randy Pausch, the university professor who gave a famous "Last Lecture" on Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams when he realized that he was dying of cancer. Although his time management lecture had a lot of really good ideas, like using a speaker phone when you know you are going to be on hold for a while (and having a task like folding laundry to do while you wait), it was obvious to me that I could never replicate his amazing organizational skills. It's just not me. But that doesn't mean I can't pick up a few pointers.

So today, as I try to restore some order to my study, I will resort to a system I used as a child when I had to clean up my closet. I tell myself: Just put 10 things away. That's all. Just 10.

Once I quickly do those 10, I either have a warm, fuzzy sense of accomplishment in the fact that I am seeing visible results from my efforts, or I get so caught up in what I am doing that I keep going, oblivious of the time.

Either way, I make some headway - and then go off to do something I enjoy more.

Is Spring Perhaps Here?

Is it possible that Terry and the groundhog were both wrong on February 2, when they both predicted six more weeks of winter?

That was just nine days ago, and when I stepped outside today, there was definitely a spring feeling in the air! No, I didn't see budding trees or flowers sprouting out of the ground. But the weather was 9 degrees Celsius (that's 48 degrees Fahrenheit) And I did see puddles...















And after three months of winter, that's a sign of encouragement!















The paths were bare of snow.















There was a bare spot under the pine tree.

Now the next landmark will be when the ice clears off the road - and I'll be able to walk around my neighborhood again without fear of falling!















But for now, I'm not risking it!

Synergy

We have many teachers in life, each one unique.

The teacher I am thinking about today came to Ottawa as a young scientist working for the National Research Council. Young and single -and looking for a place to meet young ladies - he attended a service in a downtown church - maybe he would meet some attractive women there. And he did. He soon met the woman who would become his wife. It was love at first sight. But something else happened in the months that followed: he also encountered God in a new way, and felt called to become an Anglican priest, which he also did.

This is how I met him years later - as the priest in my church.

LESSON 1: You never know what random action can change the course of your life!

He shared this biographical information in an early sermon. Another time, he spoke of synergy, a scientific mystery that people have known for centuries but cannot explain - that somehow, two people working together can accomplish more than two individuals working alone.
King Solomon spoke of it hundreds of years ago when he said: Two are better than one, for they have a good reward for their labor.

I think of synergy whenever I feel overwhelmed by a problem - maybe I need someone to help me - or when I look back and wonder how a certain group managed to accomplish what they did. The answer is synergy.

LESSON 2: Don't always try to do it alone - you will accomplish more as a team, even a team of two.

This man was a priest for only a short time in our church. Ill health forced him to retire suddenly, though he did live on for quite a few years. He died a week ago.

When I think of the short time I knew him, out of the many years he lived and worked, both as a priest and scientist, I am sure that there are many others who look back on life lessons they gained from him.

LESSON 3: You never know who your life or your words will impact, or how those impacted by you will go on to influence others. Each one of us - unknowingly - contributes to the lives of more people than we can ever imagine.

The Winter of Our Discontent

It's finally over - the bus strike that held our city in its grip for almost two months - two bitterly cold winter months, at that - has ended.

How did people manage? By hanging in day by day, hoping it would end soon. I think most would have thrown up their hands in despair or marched angrily on city hall had they known it would last this long.

The transit strike impacted almost everyone in the city. Many avoided the downtown core, especially during rush hour. People who depended on buses to get them to and from work had to find alternate ways of commuting, usually car-pooling - or alternate places to live, closer to work. One of my sons spent the past seven weeks sleeping on the sofa of a friend who lives downtown. A second friend from the suburbs also joined them. This strange living arrangement - three friends and two cats in a one-bedroom apartment continued for seven weeks - ending, amazingly, with friendships still intact! Some changed their work hours - beginning at 6 am so that they could leave before rush hour. Others simply walked for miles - or biked in the snow. One 60-year-old woman walked 12 hours a day, to and from work, if she couldn't get a ride. University students who lived off campus couldn't get to their final exams in December or to classes in January. The stories go on and on.

Businesses suffered. At the end of a trying day, few people feel like shopping.

Now that the strike is over, one would think that buses would all be up and running immediately. Wrong! Although several of the main routes resumed February 7 (a week after the strike ended), others have to wait until more buses are on the road again. The problem? Buses that haven't been driven for 7 weeks in the winter don't start easily, let alone run. Frozen batteries on the whole fleet is one of the problems mechanics are dealing with.

This is a small slice of our story, the winter of our discontent. It's a story of anger, frustration, and questions: Why, in this city of almost a million people, is public transportation not considered an essential service? Why was the strike allowed to continue for so long? It's also a story of people quietly doing what they had to do, often helping others as well if they could.

For many, it will be a winter they will never forget.

Time, the Tyrant

My class of new immigrants had been reading an article on farming in Africa, and comparing how farming was similar or different in their countries of origin.

As we were concluding, I turned to the class and asked: Is life harder here in Canada or in your country?

To my surprise, many of them said: Here in Canada.

What do you mean? I responded. We have so many modern conveniences.

Yes, one young Ethopian replied. But here in Canada everybody is in a hurry. In our country, people talk to each other more. In Canada everyone is more stressed.

Are you more stressed? I asked.

Of course, everyone is stressed. I'm always running too! That's the way life is here.

His comment made me think of a friend, a former bank teller.

I used to love my job at the bank, she told me, because I got to meet to so many nice people. But then they sent us for training on how to serve people faster. We even had to practice avoiding eye contact with customers - eye contact encourages people to talk to us, and that slows us down. I had to leave. Productivity has become more important than customer service!

Is that why so many of us are stressed these days?