Yesterday was a very normal Sunday, and much appreciated. It was so welcomed because we haven’t had a normal Sunday in such a long time. Between vacations and illnesses and simply conflicts, each of our Sundays has been – in its own way – far from normal.

But yesterday, my daughter Hannah and her family (her husband Andrew, her 8 year old daughter Joan, and her just about 3 year old son Izzy) came before lunch and stayed the day.

One of the good things about the day was that we had to turn off our television coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. We obviously didn’t want our grandchildren to be exposed to the cable news outlets we normally have on either in the background or the foreground. So we were without news for most of the day, and that was a minor blessing.

Not only that, but I spent a good part of the day watching the Washington Commanders beat the Atlanta Falcons, 24-16. A good game, with a number of memorable plays (for those who have memories), and the right amount of suspense. Izzy was taking a nap, and the only person in the house who paid any attention to the game with me was Joan, who was more concerned with what the cheerleaders were wearing and with the age old question as to why the referees always wear black and white stripes in all the sports, so that they look like prisoners. But she is a big Washington fan and let out an appropriate cheer every time I told her it was time to do so.

After the game was over, I told her she could watch her favorite cable station, PetTV. I doubt if any of you spend time watching PetTV, but it passes the time away and this afternoon, they had a show about the most popular dog breeds in the year 2017. Maybe you saw the show back then. Other than that, Joan spent her time with a selection of color pencils that she inherited from her great, great Aunt Hazel who died this year at 102. In fact, we had a number of things at the house from Aunt Hazel that we divided among the two kids, including a koala and a kangaroo. Joan also spent quite a bit of time making vehicles from Legos,each with a distinct purpose, and helping me answer a quiz on Halloween films. We were pretty even in our knowledge. I also asked her what she knew about Taylor Swift – turns out she knows a couple of her songs, and doesn’t pay much attention to her, but hears about her from some of the other third graders from time to time. Only from time to time.

Because Izzy took a long nap, he had less time to busy himself, and I am not sure what he was doing, but it involved a lot of cars and trucks, which found themselves driving around and about the house. And of course time jumping up and down on the trampoline outside and running on the treadmill inside. Of course the treadmill wasn’t turned on; the goal seems to be to make noise with your feet.

We will see him next on Friday, when he will be three years old. He wants a Mickey Mouse cake.

Other things on this normal Sunday? I actually had time to read through the entire Sunday Washington Post and New York Times, and do the Times, the Post and the L.A. Times crossword puzzles. I found both papers quite interesting, but could I tell you now what I learned, or what I read? Not a chance. There was a very interesting and said article in the Times about how Ben Gurion University (which I have devoted much time to) is faring during the war – classes closed for a couple of weeks at least, students, employees and faculty members dead or missing, dorms turned into temporary medical facilities. One day this will all be over, but that day is not here yet. And I pity poor Ukraine, fearing that their battle is getting lost with all attention on the Middle East. The Post had an interesting article about the effectiveness (or not) of our border wall – probably one that Republicans should read, but won’t.

A couple of other things – in addition to the news about the war this week, we also had news of the death of a friend – the mother of Hannah’s closest school friend – in Oregon, and the death of the husband of another friend yesterday, the husband of a woman who helped Edie as a mother’s helper when our daughters were very young. On the other hand, I saw that Edie’s cousin’s husband, a rabbi in Seattle, has a Substack blog to which I just subscribed (I don’t know how often he writes the blog, or if it original writing for the blog itself or a transcription of his sermons), and the Leonard Downie, who used to be managing editor (I think that was his title) of the Washington Post, who is my age, has also been writing a daily diary of his year after he turned 80. I don’t know if he publishes it every day – the Post, maybe on-line only, posted excerpts that dealt with his good, but not great, health – a lot of falling and dropping, which he seems to think everyone 80 must do from time to time.

In the evening, all I did was finish Daniel Finkelstein’s book, Two Roads Home, about his grandparents and their Nazi era and Stalin era adventures. They survived by determination and by chance – I’d say 10% determination and 90% chance. But they did. And the book, which I mentioned before, is very interesting.

That’s all, doc.