Hiking on the AT – A Passover dinner – In Central Park – Expulsions from the Tennessee General Assembly – Afternoon statistics
I spent the past few days visiting my relatives in New York. The occasion was a dinner for Passover at my cousin’s residence, but several of us spent time together doing other activities as well. I stayed with my cousin, who lives in the Bronx, and for that reason I drove instead of taking the train, as I generally do when I stay with my aunt in Manhattan. Since my cousin lives fairly close to various trailheads along the Appalachian Trail, I stopped at one on Rte. 17A in Bellvale on Wednesday before heading to his place. This had the advantage of providing a hike along the way and also of approaching the Bronx from the north, which is much easier than driving to it via the George Washington Bridge.
The hike was a frustrating one in many ways. Several miles of it were bare rock, not jagged and broken as in the AT in Pennsylvania, but still very wearing in the long run. The sky was dull and overcast, and it was very cool, almost chilly, and damp as well. Even though I was less than 200 miles north of the forest area close to my residence, the season had advanced much less in New York; there were no leaves on the trees and no wildflowers in bloom anywhere. But it did provide extensive views of Greenwood Lake, picturesquely framed by the village of the same name. It is a seven-mile long lake that straddles the border between New York and New Jersey, the very same lake that is featured in several paintings by Jaspar Cropsey.
On Thursday we gathered for the dinner itself. We did not recite the seder. The seder is recited by most Jews on the first day of Passover but less frequently on the second day. There were no children among our gathering, and the seder is a very child-oriented ceremony; it lacks something if no children are present. It was simply a quiet family gathering without any special holiday observance, at which we conversed about our recent activities in the manner that close friends and relatives do when they haven’t met for several months, and of course we feasted. My cousin has been a professional chef and he still teaches cooking classes, so we ate very well indeed.
Then on Friday some of us got together in Manhattan and went along the paths of Central Park for a few hours. Central Park is, ordinarily, not one of my favorite parks. There is a disproportionate amount of paved path to trees and meadows and it is surrounded by skyscrapers that cast their long shadows over the park for most hours of the day. However, my cousin-in-law is very knowledgeable about the park and was able to lead us along several paths I had not seen before. The odd weather of the past few months – the warmer-than-usual February followed by a succession of cold nights in March – had a surprising effect on the wildflowers, which we saw in great profusion and in many varieties not often seen simultaneously. It was odd to see hellebore, bluebells, and rhododendron all in bloom at the same time. This difference in seasonal phases between New York and Washington, incidentally, received dramatic confirmation on my return home, upon crossing the Susquehanna River. Up to that point the tree branches were still bare, while on the south bank of the Susquehanna and beyond the leaves were already unfurling.
After our explorations of the park we stopped at the bar where one of my younger cousins works as a bartender and we ate a light dinner there; after the feast of the preceding day we did not want an elaborate meal that evening. Finally we converged at my aunt’s apartment and again conversed together and spoke of possible plans for future get-togethers.
The drive home on Saturday was uneventful, but even though I was able to use cruise control for most of it I felt fairly drained by the end of it, as I generally do after long drives along interstate highways. Even when the traffic is relatively light one must be constantly vigilant in case a driver ahead on the road does an unexpected maneuver, and at no point is it advisable to relax completely.
As the reactions towards Trump’s indictment have more or less stabilized, another news item has given rise to widespread indignation among some and rapturous applause among others. The Tennessee General Assembly voted to expel three of its members for participating in a protest against gun violence. The protestors did nothing illegal – they did not, for instance, organize an assault upon nearest available Capitol building, as certain protestors did on a similar occasion. It is true that the legislators violated House rules against encouraging demonstrations and bringing a bullhorn and posters to the state House floor. Still, while legislators can be reprimanded, censured, fined, stripped of committee assignments, and expelled for a wide variety of conduct by their fellow-legislators, such a sanction has rarely been applied in the past. The Assembly expelled Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, but did not expel Gloria Johnson. Jones and Pearson are black, while Johnson is a white woman; and most onlookers are not sufficiently credulous to believe that this is mere coincidence. It is not clear that the expulsion will have any long-term effect, other than to diminish the creditability of those who initiated it. The Metro Council of Nashville has already called a special meeting for tomorrow to fill Jones’ seat. Nashville Mayor John Cooper said that he believes that the council will re-elect Jones without hesitation. Similarly, Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery said Thursday night he plans to call a special meeting over Pearson’s expulsion, with the intention of restoring him to his position.
Since I will be out this evening and the hiatus in the journal is already long enough, I am posting this entry during the afternoon. Today’s statistics as of 4:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 684,955,585; # of deaths worldwide: 6,837,710; # of cases U.S.: 106,363,748; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,156,898. Although the rate of COVID infections and mortalities is declining we should not be entirely lulled; during the interval between this entry and the previous one nearly 145,000 Americans contracted the disease and over 1850 died from it.