No, this post has nothing to do with Moby-Dick, except in my own imagination. However, I enjoyed the title, and thought that it would attract attention.
What really happened was that Sam Moss invited me to spend Sunday on Lake George with him and Lazar. I'd never been to Lake George before, or, for that matter, visited Sam in Guilderland, so of course I happily accepted. Because I needed to already be in Albany on Sunday morning, and the earliest Sunday bus from Ithaca to Albany didn't arrive until early afternoon, I took Sarah's advice, and asked to spend Shabbat at the SUNY Albany Chabad House. The Rabbinic couple responded very positively, so I hopped on the Shortline bus on Friday afternoon, arriving in Albany at around 6:00 pm, the trip including a 50-minute layover and transfer in Binghamton. I kept up with William James on the way (it's a long book), but nothing else exceptional happened. Sam picked me up from the bus station, and drove me to 320 Fuller Road, right at the edge of the SUNY Campus. There were a lot of other guests that weekend, and there was only one small crevice still available for me in the house. Based on the description that I had received by e-mail, I really thought that I would be staying in a cupboard under the stairs. In fact, I had both privacy and plenty of room, and was entirely satisfied. Around this time last year, I was staying in a European youth hostel with four or five other men in my room, and had to be concerned about sleeping with my wallet and passport under my pillow, lest they be stolen. This continues to be my standard for living spaces, and the bed in the Chabad house was very comfortable! I gave Rabbi Mendel and his wife Raizy the two boxes of strawberries that I had brought with me from Ithaca, although I didn't really have enough time to explain the gift before Kabbalat Shabbat began. Many of the people who were at minyan were visitors, like me: from Australia, South Africa, Canada, and Oswego, but some also from Albany (note: the Australian cantor pronounced the word "yeshiva" with an "r"). Ordinary, the House is filled with undergrads -- around 200 on Friday nights, according to Rabbi Mendel -- but, as with Cornell, there are far fewer under-thirties during the summer break. However, there were a few. After Ma'ariv, Sam introduced me to a few of his friends, and we sat together for dinner. I stayed up later than anyone else in the house that night, reading.
I woke up on Saturday morning at around 7:00 am to the sound of young children playing and running around. This sounds like a complaint, i.e. that the kids woke me up, but really, I kind of miss being around young children (especially if I'm not personally responsible for their entertainment). The kids belonged to the family from Oswego staying in the main room in the basement, adjacent to my room. I was up early, so I helped Raizy and Rabbi Mendel set up the chairs and tables in the sanctuary, then sat and studied with the Rabbi until Shacharit. The Rabbi also asked me a lot of questions about the Jewish community at Cornell, particularly interested in the logistics and leadership, and how it was largely student-run. I tried to do my best to explain why I think that the CJL works so well. There were about three times as many women as men present: there was a Jewish girls' camp nearby, and all of the campers and counselors attended. During lunch, Rabbi Mendel gave a really excellent devar Torah about intellectual history, explaining how a single Biblical verse (Chavakuk 2:4) had encouraged the formation of three different social movements within Judaism, and explained each of the three through a different Dr. Seuss book. My strawberries were served at this time. Unfortunately, what I had meant to tell the couple was that one of the two boxes that I had brought was for them, and that the other was for the boating trip on Sunday. They set them all out, and at that point, I realized that it would just be better to let everyone enjoy all of the strawberries, without making a fuss. (Really, the strawberries had been for one specific individual on the boating trip, who is exceedingly fond of fresh fruit.) In the afternoon, I mostly read, but also took a long walk around SUNY Albany campus. It made me realize how spoiled I am to have Cornell's beautiful campus. I spent Saturday night in the same place.
On Sunday morning, after I thanked the Rabbinic couple for allowing me to stay with them, Sam and Sarah picked me up. The three of us drove together to Lake George, while receiving a constant flow of information from Lazar and Aaron, reminding us that they were going to arrive at the lake before us. It was incredibly good to see Sarah again; she was on the list of people to whom I thought I had said goodbye for more than a year. It was a lot of fun just to be around her, and she and Sam provided ample entertainment on our drive from Albany to Lake George, commenting, for instance, on the towns we passed through, and the driving etiquette of the vehicles ahead of us. When we arrived at the lake, I practically jumped on Lazar, I was so happy to see him; I was glad to see Aaron, too. These guys live together in New York City, and it must be hilarious to be around them.
The boat rented, the paperwork signed, and the gas tank full, we boarded the motorboat just a few minutes before noon. Lazar actually knows how to pilot a boat remarkably well, and gave us a great ride. The motorboat was surprisingly fast; I clung to the bow for most of the time, and, constantly in the spray, removed my shirt for most of our journey. Throughout, I thought and made numerous jokes about various books involving sea voyages and islands -- Moby-Dick, Homer's Odyssey, The Lord of the Flies, Robinson Crusoe, etc. The view was fantastic: Lake George is surrounded by wooded mountains, the Adirondacks, on all sides, and the water was both clean and (as far as I could tell) free of zebra mussels. Lazar brought us far out into the lake, to a rocky island, and everyone but Lazar jumped into the lake to swim. Aaron had the courage to leap in first, but the lake water turned out to be surprisingly warm -- much warmer than Cayuga Lake at the height of summer. Sarah and I followed, and, with a little bit of coaxing, Sam joined us too in the water. After taking a few cute photos of the four of us sitting on a rocky ledge of the island. Lazar promptly turned the boat around, and sped off in the opposite direction. This was to be expected. Aaron mentioned swimming the perimeter of the island, and this sounded like a great idea to me. I swam off, alternating between the Australian crawl (my fastest stroke) and the breaststroke (my favorite stroke). I didn't see anyone else for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, and eventually made it nearly back to where we had started, when I encountered the other four back in the boat, motoring in my direction. I clambered back in, glad that I had gotten to paddle around as much as I did. Lazar whisked us off to another island, where I tied up the boat at a little wooden dock (the sure sign that the water was deep enough), and we all disembarked to eat lunch. Sarah had made a seven-grain peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me (♥), for which I was very grateful. I didn't mention the lack of strawberries, thinking that it was better not to disappoint, but luckily for the rest of us, Sarah and Sam had brought plenty of food to share. At this time, Lazar remembered that he had me at close quarters, and he, Sam, and Aaron teamed up to keex me. The fun over (also, we were not far from someone's campsite), we boarded again for more zooming around the lake. Everyone at some point took a turn at the helm: Sam is not bad at all, but when Aaron took the wheel, I wondered at why the lake had suddenly become so turbulent -- until I turned around, and saw that he was piloting. I didn't really trust myself, but wanted to give piloting a chance. At least, I didn't dump everyone overboard, although I think that I nearly pulled a muscle in Sarah's side, thanks to my poor steering ability. Sarah was also a beginner, but, let's face it, gave a smoother ride than Aaron or I did. We returned the boat just before the 3:15 pm deadline. I should mention here that I did the fourth of fifth really stupid thing I've done since returning from New York City -- although I brought sunscreen, I forgot to apply it, and didn't think to ask anyone else on the boat. The burn wasn't particularly painful, but I'm legitimately concerned about skin cancer, and would hate to have cut my life short however many years because of this one stupid decision.
At this point, even if we returned immediately to Albany, I would probably have just barely missed the 4:30 pm bus, the last one of the day to leave for Ithaca. So Sam offered to let me stay the night at his house, so that the five of us could continue to spend the rest of the day together -- this was a great offer, and it prevented my schedule from putting an early end to the party. So I gratefully accepted, changed into a dry shirt, and then Sam, Sarah, and I in Sam's car, and Aaron and Lazar in Lazar's drove to Saratoga, right on the route back to Guilderland, where Sam and Sarah both live. I think that I fell asleep in the car (this is a motif of these blog posts), and awakened in downtown Saratoga, which doesn't look much different from a somewhat classier and drug-free version of the Ithaca Commons. We went to Ben and Jerry's together, then walked about a mile and a half to the "Racino," where we hoped to watch some horses race. On the way, we passed through a park where a local theater troupe had just finished putting on a production of Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. The races apparently ended earlier in the morning, but we decided to enter the building, nonetheless. Lazar spent a little while at a number of machines, eventually walking away with about $50.00 from the roulette table, after having put in around $40.00. Aaron also turned what I think was $1.00 into $9.00. Sam and I both benefited from the cold water available (there was a surprisingly good drinking fountain), but didn't put money into any of the machines. There were a lot of jokes about Lazar's gambling problem, that made me think back to the NPR report last week about addicted gamblers, and what casinos do and don't do to discourage these gamers from continuing.
The roulette table left me with two questions. The first was economic: why have such an expensive-looking installation, complete with a screen with a virtual roulette host (dealer? spinner?) rather than simply pay an employee to manage the machine? You'd think that, especially with the cost of maintenance, a human person would be both cheaper, and preferred by customers. The second was social: why did all of the screens depict 30-something-year-old white women in black cocktail dresses as running the roulette wheels? They also all had American accents, even though the machines were made in the U.K.
We walked back to Saratoga, then drove from there to Sam's house in Guilderland. I've never been to Guilderland, and had expected more Hobbit holes, based on the descriptions that I had heard. Sam's parents were very welcoming. I had no appetite, perhaps a side-effect of my sunburn, but everyone else, tired from our long day, devoured the fruit and nuts that the Moss family put out for them. We also were introduced to several of Sam's cats. Sam, Lazar, and Sarah are all cat people, and I was a little bit out of it, physically. Then, Lazar mentioned something about a "museum" to Sam, and Sam asked his father to give us a tour of the museum in the basement, whatever that was. Sam's father needed a few minutes to "turn the lights on," which sounded even curiouser. A few minutes later, Sam's father led us down to the basement.
Sam's father's museum is incredible: it's a collection of all of the curiosities that he's picked up, both abroad and in the United States. He works in state government, and has had many opportunities to pick up these relics. They consisted of Chinese screens, paintings from Haiti and Ecuador, wood-carvings from Singapore, bronze Hindu sculptures, a luscious opium bed, a pair of ornamental clocks, a chess set, and so much more. He could remember where and when (and for how much) he had acquired each and every one. Some of the items had interesting stories -- indicating a pair of brightly-colored paintings of animals in a thick forest setting, Sam's father told me that he had purchased them in Haiti, where, on his stay, he had been invited to attend a vodun party by his cab driver, but had been warned at the last minute by someone else not to accept the invitation, lest he become a human sacrifice. There was also some spillover into the other rooms. The collection is very tasteful, and illuminated by lamps with colored shades that resembled Chinese lanterns. Surprisingly, everything had been acquired relatively cheaply, most of the items for a little over thirty dollars, nothing far above one hundred (the bed was the most costly item). The ensemble makes a wonderful display.
It was quite late in the evening now, and Lazar and Aaron needed to drive back to New York City, so that Nathan Cohen won't be lonely without them. Sarah hitched a ride with them, and I went to sleep after taking a shower. The next morning, Sam drove me back to the Albany bus station, where I took the 10:45 back to Ithaca. My Mother picked me up from the station, in the middle of a rainstorm. Welcome back to Ithaca!
Very many thanks to all of my friends who made this journey as fun as it was. It's really great to get out of Ithaca! For those of you still wondering, there is increasing delay in my plans to leave early for Israel, and I may end up not leaving before the end of August, just in time for my program with Oranim in Ramle-Lod to begin. Also, if anyone who happens to read this know of any kibbutz, yeshiva, or any other program that is open and welcoming to Americans in the month of August, please let me know: I really would like an opportunity to immerse myself in Hebrew, and improve my speaking abilities, before my job officially begins.
~JD
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