What a weekend

Noam's three girls, Ora 6, Libi 4, and Tali 18 months. Below is the letter Ora sent: she is fluent in Hebrew, and since her parents both speak only English at home, she and Libi are fluent in English as well:
From Ora:
Hi Bernice and Merwin,
Thank you of the bond. here are some pictures of us ora libi and tali on the beach. Is the beach in israel the same as the beach near your house? We love you and feel better.
love Ora, Libi, and Tali

How sweet can it get?

Dear Family and Friends,

So much happened over the weekend that it would probably be tedious to recount it all. In spite of hours spent resting in bed, we did a lot. Friday: The Shakespeare lecture was good in its way, but it wasn't what I hoped for. The lecturer was addressing a young audience, perhaps high school students and some college students who knew very little about Shakespeare. The best part was pictures of some of the holdings. A questioner from the floor tried to insert the authorship question, and the lecturer squashed him briskly. Laury, my dear crazy friend, got in a remark about an "eminent Shakespearean” being in the audience. Ha! And cited hamletworks.org. Someone asked about regular Shakespeare lectures in the NY area, and I responded with news of the Columbia Shakespeare Seminar, which got excited questions. So maybe we'll see some new faces.

Laury and I went to Pret-a-Manger, a British restaurant chain, which I like very much. Everything is fresh, organic, packaged for the day only, with leftovers sent to soup kitchens. The staff is young, helpful and eager, so the checkout goes swiftly. This is fast food with a difference. We took our package across the street to Bryant Park, were given a table and chairs by a colleague whom we had seen earlier: he had noticed us arriving in the park, and saved them for us. The days I spend are full of sweet touches like this one; I could but won't fill a blog about the welcome I get in my building, from the staff, the guy in the store off our lobby, and from my neighbor Lena. She, by the way, wants to sublet her apartment for three years. Hers has the same view of Bryant Park that we do, the same proximity to the NYPL, but it is bigger: not only a bedroom but also a bigger kitchen area and a separate dining area. Let me know if you are interested.

Merwin arrived, brisk and happy as usual, and we decided to go to a very nearby hotel restaurant, Salmon River. We had enjoyed it before, but this time I had a salmon burger and it was weirdly spiced to my taste. I wasn't so hungry anyway, and the fries were good. Home to bed. Merwin likes to look at his email and the NYT online, but I consider my weekends in NYC a vacation now that using the library is not feasible. By the way, Laury and I stopped off at the Allan Room, and though my key worked, I no longer had a shelf: my books had been removed. I was saving them only for the SQ essay, in case of need, but I don't think I do need them. Merwin and I renewed our cards at the branch library at the corner of 5th and 40th.

And so to bed, shade up, looking at the brilliant buildings some distance away, lit up and glorious.

My next blog will be about Sat and Sun: can you wait for that!

Love to all,
Bernice