I Am Large, I Contain Multitudes

Well, I thought my next post would be about our DC trip (July 31 - August 5). You can see pictures here, anyway.

But then 6 days later, northwest Indiana was hit with a derecho (90+ mph winds) plus tornadoes on Tuesday, August 11. I was at work at the time and let me tell you, that hour was one of the scariest of my life.

Over 300,000 utility customers lost power - the largest outage in NIPSCO history - including our home in Merrillville and my work in Griffith, both of which adjoin the city of Gary to the south and southwest. Ours was not restored until Saturday evening, August 22, a full 11.25 days later. Some people here STILL do not have their power back.

The first day and a half were the spookiest. We've had localized outages before, but the whole highway (US 30, the business route that runs just north of our house) being dark for miles was post-apocalyptic horrifying. It was honestly not so bad once there were some stores and restaurants open; we are in the very privileged position of being able to eat out any time we need to. Relatedly, I guess, I was working 10-hour days the whole time from my boss's house (where SHE had power) trying to serve our print customers from offsite locations, so I racked up 8 hours of overtime for the week, go me.

Mercifully, my mom's apartment complex on the other side of Merrillville had power restored by Sunday afternoon the 16th, so Ms. A spent most of the intervening week camped out at Grandma's with power, internet, and people to play cards with. Her first day of 6th grade was supposed to be Wednesday, the 12th; they postponed school to the following Monday, then Tuesday, then to "closed until further notice" until the emergency was past, and finally started this past Tuesday the 25th.

I knew before we went on our trip that August would be over before it began; I just didn't know we would lose two weeks quite like THAT.

PS: Rosh Hashanah is 2 weeks away, which merits its own post, and this Sunday I am vending at the 2nd annual Indiana Jewish Festival in Carmel (just north of Indianapolis, about 2 hours south of here). My prep is wildly behind schedule due to the power outage, so it's just going to be what it will be.

You guys! Last week I got to spend 2 whole days in Boston by myself (I mean with friends, but traveling solo) and it was fabulous. Apologies to the people I didn't get a chance to see, but hopefully there will be more opportunities.

I had really wanted to come to the roozle /sunspiral Beginning-of-Summer party last year and didn't make it out, so by God, this year I made it happen. Scheduling meant that I left early (Saturday evening return flight) in order to get home in time to celebrate Father's Day with the fam. But it was worth busting out the Time Crowbar(TM) to spend a couple hours with the Tribe and remember that that, too, is still my place.*

Even though I'm still highly disoriented by the amount of change that keeps happening since I've been away... overall this trip felt much more like 'dropping in at home" than "haven't been here in ages". I chalk this up to having a majority of self-structured time and some excellent native guides - as well as it being the second trip in a year, with a third on the horizon.

I would be remiss not to mention that this was the exact era of the Tartan Army Invasion, wherein the 2026 FIFA World Cup drew Boston into a whirlwind romance with Scotland that will go down in history (and hopefully mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship). Kilts everywhere! Bagpipes and loud public singing! The Sam Adams Brewery Taproom drained dry!

( food, folks, and fun )

*The things that struck me most about walking around Somerville were:
(a) "Crap, I really do not know my way around here anymore."
(b) How life-affirming it felt to walk around in the beautiful weather and happy queer poly nerdy weirdo intellectual commie pinko joyful environment. Glancing at all the passing faces going "do I know you? No, you just look like someone I ought to know." Just the snippets of conversation that I caught as I passed were enough to make me wildly happy. People going about their lives.
(c) Even as I felt parts of my soul coming awake again with the above, it brought up another old feeling too: that when I did live in that world, another part of my soul was always desperately craving the things that I have now. A house, a partner, a child. I was never altogether complete there without them. So it's nice to visit home and then come back to my home too.

I'll be back with Ms. A in October for Simchat Torah on Tremont St. and related fall adventures with ablock and crew!

( blah blah probably perimenopause )

The upshot since then? I've been making an effort to cut way back on alcohol (from 2 drinks a day to 2 drinks a week), get some morning sunlight, do more stretching, get back to the gym now that Sunday school is over, etc. And so far I feel pretty good. No further abdominal concerns. I dunno.

Oh yeah perimenopause - I am 53 (and a half) and still getting periods at least every couple of months, so it's not over yet. No hot flashes or other hormonal craziness that I have noticed. I am seeing some evidence of frozen shoulder creeping in on the left side, but that's another story.

In November of 2014, when I got my first real job after moving back here from NYC, I bought a 2004 Chevy Aveo (bright red). It was never as beloved as my 2001 Echo (dark green) that I bought in 2006 and sold in 2011, but it was functional and affordable and cute.

In June 2023, three jobs later, the Aveo slipped its timing belt and died while I was on my way to work (fortunately on a side street and not on the highway). I spent an aggravating month at aggressive car shopping, and finally ended up with a 2020 Chevy Trax. At first I was going to go with an older and crappier one, so as to stay within budget, but then my parents both volunteered to step up and contribute, and a newer one showed up at the dealership right at that moment that fit the new budget, so I grabbed it. It's been pretty trouble-free (apart from the lady who rear-ended me half a mile from my house when I was stopped to let some geese cross in front of me in April 2024). But recently the engine light came on and the reader says it's the exhaust (catalytic converter). Gotta get that dealt with, but it's a ginormous pain in the ass. I am so over these repair shops that are only open weekdays 8am-4pm.

At the end of May 2025, I decided we were in a secure enough position to go replace Mr. Y's 2005 Ford Focus before it hit end of life; he had had it from new, and it didn't have anything seriously wrong with it yet, but was generally starting to fall apart. I found a black 2019 Chevy Trailblazer for what looked like a decent price (about the same as my Trax) and condition despite the fairly high mileage. For this, we could technically have paid cash but it would have meant draining most of our reserves, so in these uncertain times, I thought the better part of valor was to take out a loan for half and pay it off as quickly as comfortable. However, then he got an engine light after less than 6 months, and the local shop that he likes told us there's a flaw in the transmission in these models - not severe enough to merit a recall or service bulletin, but nevertheless known. Or should have been known by the dealership when they sold it to us. He's continued to drive it, but just last week, he was regaling me with tales of how the janky transmission needs to be babied along almost every time to get the car into gear. Fortunately once it's in Drive it seems to be fine??

So that's looming over our heads too. On the plus side, if/when we spring to replace the janky transmission, he should be good to go for a while. Given that he had his previous car for a full 20 years, that's not terrible.

Depending on how it goes with that, we're on track to get the thing paid off this year - or were, but now there's the matter of Ms. A needing to start braces this summer, not to mention the newly manufactured oil crisis recession, and aaugh.

Saturday: Woke up around 6:30. Lounged around in bed for too long even though my routine is to get up at 7 and learn my Torah reading for the 10am Shabbat service. Did the official Pesach shopping after shul (since the grocery store in Munster near the synagogue is the most reliable source of KFP). Stopped at the craft store to get the foam sheets I was out of for the tiny books. Went to Whole Foods just because, spent way too long browsing, came out with nothing but a wheel of Brie and some dandelion tea. Got home around 3:30, put the chicken stock in the instant pot, noodled around for a bit, then kiddo (who had successfully cleaned her room and purged her closet without being asked) asked for some snuggle-and-reading time. We lit the "Library" scented candle I got at Target recently ("leather and embers", you're speaking my love language) and got into bed, where it turned out I didn't get up until after 7pm. I just felt... knackered, lonely and tired. Got up eventually, stir-fried some green beans for dinner and we watched the Muppet Show. This is the day that felt like "did absolutely nothing" although that was clearly only true for a few hours in the middle.

Sunday: Slept until almost 7am. Lounged around in bed for a while. Got up at 8:30 and ACTUALLY went to the gym 9-10:30 since there's no Sunday school due to spring break. Spent the next several hours in an ADHD productivity fugue - you know the one - 15 things on my list, and every time I change locations to do one step, get sidetracked on another thing until I have all 15 open tabs in my brain around the house, then slowly close them all out. Changed the sheets, vacuumed, two loads of laundry including folding (!!), shipped several Etsy orders, called my mom, answered some synagogue emails, ate lunch, etc etc, which took until almost 5pm. Took kiddo for a walk on the bike path, then the big grocery shopping run. Got home at 7:30pm and suddenly felt like I'd been beaten with a stick. Mr. Y had made a very nice beef pot pie, I made guacamole and we had a late but chill supper. This is the day that felt like "DID ALL THE THINGS" (even though I never did make the tiny books) and it was pretty great.