Let's start with weather - it has been an unseasonably warm fall, which just recently turned to extreme cold when Canada's Polar Vortex decided she would like to come south for the winter. Here was the weather two days ago as I took Ella out (note not only the temperature, but the wind and -29 wind chill!):
The next day, Saturday, it reached 32 and we had snow - about 3 inches - followed by rain into today. Today it reached 58 degrees. 58 degrees! (Hey, Polar Vortex, where'd you go?) Tonight it is supposed to go down to 8 degrees and tomorrow it is to reach 12 degrees. All the snow that melted today and is sitting around as standing water will become a sheet of ice.
All this with the weather has been particularly significant to me because of my involvement with the Congolese refugee family that came to our area back in August. I keep telling the family member that winter is coming and they need to be ready. The local church and our synagogue finally were able to buy winter boots for everyone, and I believe everyone has a coat. Yet on the day mentioned above, Jordan showed up in a heavy sweatshirt! When we have snow one day and 58 degrees the next, it is hard to make "winter" believable!
We had the whole family but one (who had to work) to our house for Thanksgiving, along with our neighbors, Melissa and her son Tobias, and six others of their family and friends. I think our total count was 22, but not positive. The Congolese family, at our request, made their traditional ugali dish (boiled semolina, kind of like a cross between grits and bread) and fried fish, which we all got to try. Our roasted turkey and David's butternut squash were big hits with the family. It has been a real privilege getting to know them all. I have tremendous admiration for the entire family. It is hard to even conceive of the challenges they are tackling daily in leaving a refugee camp in Tanzania where 200,000 people are living (120,000 from Burundi and 80,000 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to come to Maine to a town of 2,500 souls, all of them Caucasian. (Jordan told me today that tomorrow is an important day in his country, the DRC. The current president's second term ends and he had negotiated tomorrow as the day he would leave office. But he doesn't want to step down. Jordan does not think he will. Then people will protest, demonstrate. And the army will attack. And, Jordan tells me, "people will die.")
With this on our minds, we head into the holiday season. Ulner's boatyard has hoisted the Christmas trees to the top of their shrink-wrapped schooner's masts but no Magen David for Chanukah (yet) this year. Here is one of the trees:
We are gearing up for our community Christmas dinner, sponsored by the synagogue and friends. We expect to serve between 120 and 140 people. I've lost count of the number of turkeys. It is a good way to spend the day. (And for many, several days before hand, cooking dishes, picking up food donated by local restaurants, setting up tables, and so on.)
The last time I wrote here, the U.S.'s own presidential election had not yet happened. It is still hard to believe it did happen. Yesterday and today, apparently taking a break from adding another billionaire to his cabinet, P-E Trump (it is difficult for me to write out "president" and "elect" in same sentence with that name) has been "tweeting" warmongering messages with the Chinese. "Give us back our drone you stole." "Oh, you say you'll give it back - then just keep the damn thing." Today I learned that his nominee for Secretary of State is the CEO of an oil company owned jointly with the Russians and headquartered in the Bahamas, but I'm sure that will not prevent him from dealing with Russia putting the interests of the U.S. first, right? I find I can't go on too long about this subject - whether writing about it, reading about it or even thinking about it - that way leads into a long dark tunnel leading toward what appears to be a bleak future.
And then, lest we should forget, there is:
Aleppo. Aleppo. Aleppo.
I heard today that Assad's army bombed buses that were carrying refugees out of Aleppo.
It is hard to think about 2017 may bring to the world. I think about the Congolese family newly living here - what must they think of this country in which they have come to start new lives? At least they had the chance to do that, although they had to wait 20 years in a refugee camp.
Aleppo.
Aleppo.
Aleppo.
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