New York day 1

October 13

Sukkot I

We awoke this morning in the quiet coziness of our quarters in Monte and Mindy's basement, surrounded by our round-the-worldly possessions. Some semblance of order among them was taking shape, but much thought will still be needed before it is all reduced to what will fit into our luggage and what will stay behind and what (if necessary) will be packed into another parcel or parcels and shipped ahead (or by now behind, because if we send it/them from here it/they will arrive in Beer Sheva after we are scheduled to conclude this epic journey).

We went upstairs when we heard human activity above us (hearing Missy the family beagle's padding feet earlier didn't have the same significance). More piles of our possessions cascaded from where we had heaped them beside the dining-room wall, and another cluster of boxes and bulky items occupied a space in the front hall "staging area" nearest the garage where they will leave this place when we do in three days. I opened the refrigerator door and rummaged through the items we had taken out of our van's little refrigerator and had stashed within it. On the kitchen counter were several other consumable items that we hadn't managed to consume by this point. I ate some of these and self-consciously considered how it must seem to our hosts to have our stuff intruding upon their living spaces.

Mindy joined us for a light breakfast; then we rode in her car to Sukkot morning services at the Beth Shalom/Oceanside Jewish Center. This is the last in the series of conservative congregations we will visit during our round-the-world sampling of Jewish houses of worship. The weather we drove through was overcast but a half-hearted drizzle added a subdued sparkle to all it landed upon.

There were several lulavim and etrogim on a table at the back of the sanctuary. I received a nod of approval to take a set from someone watching me eyeing them so I selected one of each and joined Mindy and Razelle already in their seats. As the point in the service arrived when these are prayed over and shaken in six directions, the Rabbi climbed to his podium and warmly gave the clearest and most cleverly insightful explanation I can recall hearing about the proper technique on how to "Shake your Lulav." The enthusiasm of the congregants was infectious. Because we were sitting next to Mindy, someone linked me to Monte and approached to ask if I was his brother. I confirmed this and he offered me the last Aliyah to the Torah. I asked if Razelle could join me in this honor and he was pleased to have us go up jointly. Razelle and I stood before the Torah here and it meant a lot to us to have this honor at the conclusion of our trip across this continent and before our flight to the next.

After services we sat in the huge Sukkah they had built on the lawn beside the parking lot. There was plenty of room for everyone. The only problem was that the folding chair I sat on seemed imminently poised to poke its legs through the drizzle moistened grass the permeable-roofed Sukkah was built over. It was rather cool out in the Sukkah and bunches of concord grapes in bowls on the table seemed to be the perfect choice to pluck and munch on during this holiday season.

Mindy drove us back to her place and we changed out of our synagogue clothes and into casual wear. For me the task at hand was to continue consolidating our stuff. My greatest concern is not whether or not we can fit everything we want to take back home with us into the four bags we are allowed (plus carry on). I am concerned about the weight restrictions. It's not about paying extra for an extra-heavy bag – that's just not allowed by the airlines. It's about having extra boxes that get charged extra baggage fees and balancing these fees against paying the postage rate for sending them. How many extra boxes are we talking about? I had no clue at this point and the task looked overwhelmingly daunting. But that was my department and I was trusted with it while Razelle and Mindy planned how to see Manhattan properly.

Our last days here in the area have been tightly packed with planned visits to and from relatives on both sides of the family. This required some juggling of schedules and logistics to make it happen. Tomorrow I return the van so whatever transpires, transportation will of necessity involve others doing the driving. These visits include meeting Barry and Brenda in Manhattan tomorrow, where they are staying before their cruise of the Canadian Maritimes, and visiting my cousins Sherry and David, who live a short distance away, on Saturday, where we will be joined by Mark and Evelyn who we stayed with in New Jersey on our way up here. The morning of the very day we fly out of Kennedy Airport, Sunday, Razelle's first cousin Nicki will come out to us by train from "the City." Razelle has more cousins very nearby in New Jersey, but because Sukkot lasts two days here in the Diaspora (today and Friday) and is then immediately followed by Shabbat, we aren't able to include visits to them during this trip. They observe these days strictly and traveling to see them wouldn't be acceptable to them (we can't call them either). No amount of juggling the logistics can trump these religious restrictions.

Tomorrow is the day our "Adventure on Wheels" comes to an end. Mindy and Razelle sorted through restaurant options and Monte and I sorted through carpooling options for returning the van. Eventually the restaurant that was settled on, from information on their website and from their proximity to Barry and Brenda's hotel, is a Greek restaurant called "the Fig and Olive" on 52^nd Street in Manhattan. Razelle and I have found that the Greek restaurants we have visited during our travels always reminded us of cuisine back home. We are looking forward to eating there tomorrow.

In the meantime, while I had daylight to work with, I went out to the van and went over every inch of it looking for anything we might have left behind. I brushed up all the crumbs and swept the dust out the door that we'd tracked in during 74 days of calling this van our home. I gave Mindy the grand tour of this "Bordello on Wheels" as Razelle likes to call it, with the mood-lights on behind the mirrors in the ceiling. Mindy was duly impressed. She had asked for photos of the interior of this van so she could consider such a cross-country trip with Monte some day. Well, this was her last opportunity to see it for herself, and now she has. Tomorrow it goes back to New Jersey.

This evening we stopped at an ATM machine and topped up our cash supply in case we needed some for unexpected contingencies in the coming days. Then we treated Monte and Mindy to a meal at the Outback. We have found that of all the food chains we have sampled as we've crisscrossed this continent – and we haven't even made a dent in the choices available to American diners – this is the one we have gravitated to most often.

Back at Monte and Mindy's, Razelle and I made some executive decisions about which items we are going to jettison and leave as gifts to Monte and Mindy or as contributions to the community they live in. Then we called it a night. I fell asleep still sifting through our stuff in my dream-fogged mind ….