2015 THE YEAR IN PICTURES

ASSORTED PHOTOS - 2015 - VIEWS FROM MY WINDOW

WINTER

JANUARY 22, 2015, 4:43 PM
Sunset Time.
(Notice the lack of snow)
The calm before the storm. Boston had a historic, record snowfall last winter.

JANUARY 28, 2015, WINTER T STOP, 9:44am

FEBRUARY 9, 2015
9:47AM, Historic record snowfall; it was like walking through snow tunnels for those brave enough to go out. They were higher than me on both sides.

FEBRUARY 15, 2015
The snow was halfway up the trunk of those trees.

March 17, 2015
Still freezing.


SPRING

March 24, 2015 Brookline Town Hall, Board of Selectmen meeting. Volunteer work for Mass.Sr. Action campaigning for increased insurance coverage for seniors and folks on disability.....

April 20, 2015, Marathon Monday. Helicopters hovered over Beacon Street. Photo taken from my window. Increased security. It's like living in the Jetsons....

April 26, 2015

This is what Spring looks like in Boston in mid-April. Still freezing...but gorgeous color 'Spring Green.' 

 'SPRING SUNSET', April 28, 2015
Still no leaves and still cold.....

May 10, 2015
Michael died. Different world now... 
When Roby died, I saw Bernice throw herself onto the coffin at the end of the service. I never saw anybody do that except in the movies. I had not experienced that depth of grief...until Michael died, unexpectedly at 62. I could feel the severing of our 30+ year relationship, friendship, colleagues like a deep wound - the world went silent and surreal. Life felt like slogging through quicksand.....slow motion.....really there are no words for that loss....

I didn't touch the camera again until July. It was hard to move at all, just putting one foot in front of the other.....Roby 2010, Shirley 2012, Mike, 2015.....the arrival of Spring, budding green leaves after such a harsh winter, historic record snowfall, usually brings excitement and happiness for those of us cooped up with cabin fever; not this year. The world dimmed. A light went out. It's not as bright.
  
SUMMER

JULY 23, 2015, 3:47pm
Nevertheless, it was bright despite my mood. I can't resist the puffy clouds. They don't have clouds like those in California...

APRIL 14, 2015, 9:51am
Approximately the same view without the leaves....winter light. Or as I like to call it, 'relentless grey.'

JULY 28, 2015, 6:58pm

AUGUST  9, 2015
Another loss. I loved The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The news is so horrible, I like my news with humor. Comedy Central took out a full page ad in the New York Times thanking him. Due to Jon Stewart, first-responders on 9/11 finally got their health care benefits that our do nothing Congress refused to fund permanently all these years. He became their advocate and walked the halls of Congress, strong arming legislators who did not want to speak to them until he finally shamed them into it.

AUGUST 10, 2015
An unexpected, surprise. Out of the blue, I got a call from Noemi, an old friend from Berkeley. We haven't been in touch since the last time I saw her. That was over ten years ago. At that time, she called me and said, "I'm in New York visiting family. I would like to go to a game at Fenway Park because they are talking about tearing it down. Can I come and visit and let's go to Fenway, my treat ! "An offer I couldn't refuse. We went to a night game, sat in the bleachers and had a fabulous time ! In the meantime Noemi got married to Jeff.

AUGUST 20, 2015, 7:20pm
Sunset time....

AUGUST 29, 2015, 7:39pm
SUNSET









SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
2:48pm
Brigham + Women's Hospital
45 Francis St., Boston.
Bobbe died in the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, now the Brigham + Women's; clearly, the hospital construction has overtaken those lovely triple deckers with triangle roofs; the new Cardiac building looms above them; leaving the hospital after appointment with Jeff Katz re. my meniscus tear.

Hospital construction never stops. It's the most congested area in Boston. Along with Beth Israel and the Mass. General Hospital where Ted Kennedy went, hospitals seem to have unlimited funding for building, building, and building... our job here in America is not to let the doctors, the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry kill us. Boston has beautiful architecture. You would never know it by this new construction. Those triple deckers are better examples.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
Discovery of old family photo sent by Ken.
Ken, Aunt Ruth, Shirley, Carol, 1998

Discovery of Sandler family photo sent by Bernice. Roby leading the Seder, reading from the Haggadah he wrote. Year unkown.



AUTUMN 

OCTOBER 12, 2015
1:47pm, mid-day, bright sun.
Yours truly. Going for coffee at Starbucks on Beacon Street. Indian summer, very warm day. Standing next to new shop, Trycaviar.com. It's the We Deliver part that's hilarious. I am living in the wrong place. Note the yellow leaves. It was in the 70's but the leaves were turning anyway.

OCTOBER 31, 2015
1:27pm 
Family of bluejays living in the tree right outside my window.

NOVEMBER 29, 2015
9:39AM
Where's Waldo ? Can you find the nest, the home of the Blue Jay family ?

NOVEMBER 26, 2015
4:26pm, Sunset. Shorter days.
Naked trees. All the leaves are gone. A lot of light at that time. Now it's dark, but the days are gradually getting longer. I love the trees on Beacon St. I missed them. They don't have these beautiful deciduous trees in California.

AUGUST 28, 2015
4:44PM
Eighth floor view of same trees in summer.

NOVEMBER 29, 2015
 9:18 AM, View from 8th floor lobby

 DECEMBER 11, 2015
5:50PM
CHANUKAH

DECEMBER 11, 2015
5:51 PM

DECEMBER 12, 2015
9:15pm
8th floor Chanukah party

DECEMBER 12, 2015
10:04pm
Chanukah party
Betty, Kenny, Gary, Clarice + Meadow

DECEMBER 25, 2015
9:22 pm
Meadow, Clarice's dog 

ROBY'S YAHRTZEIT + RED SOX REPORT

11 TEVET/22 DECEMBER
Roby's fifth yahrtzeit,
the Winter Solstice, 
the shortest day,
the first day of Winter..... 
miss him... 
it is good to add more light
at this darkest time...





RED SOX REPORT

The Red Sox ended up in the cellar for 2012, 2014 and 2015. Some folks think our 2013 World Series win was an aberration but I don't. The team played their hearts out for Boston after the Marathon Bombing and unbelievably we won the World Series - I miss Johnny Gomes - somehow he always ends up on a winning team - last year he played for the Royals and they won.

A lot has gone on since the end of last season. A lot ! The team has a new President of Baseball Operations, Dave Drombrowski, a friend of principal owner John Henry. OUT with former GM Ben Cherington. Also, Manager John Farrell was diagnosed with cancer and had to leave at the end of August. Asst. Manager, Tovey Tovullo took over and the Sox played better in September than they did all year. I'm just sayin' , that's what happened.The big question we all had in Beantown is would Dave D. have more power to select players than Ben C. Everybody knows it was John Henry's decision not to re-sign Jon Lester. They made a low ball offer. Bye bye Jon Lester to the Cubs where he is playing for former Red Sox GM Theo Eptstein of Brookline.


CHANGE IN PHILOSOPHY - HOT STOVE

Dave D. acquired free-agent David Price, formerly of Tampa Bay and the the BlueJays for a huge, multi-million dollar, seven (?) year contract. All of Beantown now knows Dave D. is calling the shots and not John Henry. Major good thing. However, during the playoffs, David Price could not win a game. Red Sox Nation says he is a good pitcher, he is now our Ace, and we will worry about that when we get to the playoffs !

CHANUKAH PARTY

SEVENTH NIGHT

We had an eighth floor chanukah party on the 7th night. Rita made a cake and fried artichokes and put out a cheese ball and crackers. I brought the Menorah and my laptop for entertainment. We listened to chanukah songs on YouTube and watched videos.

Betty came from the 11th floor, Kenny, Gary and Clarice and Meadow, her German shepherd.

CHANUKAH 2015/5776

HAPPY CHANUKAH SIXTH NIGHT

THE STORY OF CHANUKAH 
BY ROBERT SANDLER

(An Excerpt....In the Days of Mattathias Maccabeus...)

"The story of Chanukah begins, not with Judah Maccabee, but with another great general, Alexander the Great, of Macedonia. In the fourth century B.C.E., Alexander conquered the world - or as much of it as he could find. His father, Phillip, had previously conquered Greece, which borders on Macedonia. Although Phillip of Macedonia conquered Greece, Greek culture "conquered" him and Alexander - a not infrequent occurrence in human history. It was Greek learning and Greek culture, therefore, that Alexander's armies spread among the various countries that they conquered in the the Middle East - including Judea. (Israel)"
 

Thinking of Roby....his yahrtzeit is coming up....11 TEVET, sundown December 22nd....

In honor of Roby, there will be further discussion of what is going on with his/our beloved Red Sox in the off-season and believe me, there is a LOT going on ! Ah what has changed with the philosophy of the not-beloved businessman/owner of the Sox, John Henry since he shoved our best pitcher Jon Lester out of Fenway ?   stay tuned....

For a cute rendition of Those Were the Nights of Chanukah by the Yeshiva Boys Choir, click here.

RED SOX NOT IN THE CELLAR

All summer long, the Red Sox were in the cellar. The GM Ben Cherington was fired. Juan Nueves, pitching coach was fired. During August and September they are playing the best they have all season. During the past few days, we beat the Yankees three times in Yankee Stadium ! Things are looking up for next season. We just need an Ace pitcher and a better bullpen.

	W	L	PCT	GB
y-Toronto	92	66	.582	-
NY Yankees	86	72	.544	6.0
Boston	78	80	.494	14.0
Baltimore	77	81	.487	15.0
Tampa Bay	77	81	.487	15.0

OLD MEMORIES

I found these photos yesterday while looking for something else. Ken sent them to me in January 2015. On these Jewish holidays my mind goes backwards to old family memories. This picture was taken at a Chinese restaurant in Swampscott. It's very rare to see all these Sandlers together. I think it was around 1998. I think Ken set up a tripod so we could all be in the photo. Ken also sent the photo of Roby.

Ken, Aunt Ruth, Shirley, Carol

Roby, reading the Haggadah he wrote.

ROSH HASHANAH 5776/2015

LE SHANA TOVAH, HAPPY NEW YEAR

MAY ALL BE INSCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF LIFE

FOR A GOOD AND SWEET YEAR....

ל’שנה  תובה

Hindu Mandela

TISHA B'AV - LAMENTATIONS

I went over to Temple Beth Zion yesterday for Shabbat and then later on for the Tisha b'Av service at 9:15. Tisha b' Av is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. The previous three weeks leading up to it are periods of mourning for the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, both in 70 A.D. when it was destroyed by the Romans and 586 B.C. when it was destroyed by the Babylonians. Michael made many, many drawings of the Temple for my synagogue project. I had to go - in Michael's memory. Also for the cumulative losses....in the last five years I have lost Roby, my mother and now Michael. It's a lot.

Temple of Solomon, c.900 B.C., Preliminary Study. Drawing by Michael Robinett. Copyright 2015. Do not Reproduce without permission from Carol Miller.

The book of Lamentations is read in dim light and candle light in the synagogue. It began with a silent meditation. It was so quiet in that room you could hear a pin drop. So many people came to mourn the loss of the Temple over 2,000 years ago.

Arch of Titus in Rome. Depicts the Romans carrying off the gold ritual implements in the Temple. It is still there today. It appears in all art and architectural history books.

RON + PAM PHOTO

 The photograph was taken by Terry who is Pam's sister in law June 8th at the back of her Dad's house in Paradise, Butte County, California of the 2 of us.

I like to read Ron's blog, MAMMALOS about their interesting life in Willits, California where they are living in a cabin on top of a steep hill without power. They are living off the grid and I admire them for it. It's a lot of work but they are breathing pure air - no particulate matter. This photo was posted on his blog.

MICHAEL ROBINETT October 23, 1951 - May 10, 2015

I am a mourner. I got the shock of my life on Sunday, May 17th when I did a google search for Michael Robinett and the first entry was his Obiturary ! We had spoken on the phone the week before. I called him twice and got no answer. I knew he was sick and not feeling well. He told me he went to the doctor for some tests. It showed an anyeurism "from his breastbone to the abdomen." I wondered why he was not in the hospital. After that, he told me he went to his primary care doctor who said, "I will hook you up with a cardiologist." Again I wondered why he was not in a hospital. Next thing I know, he's dead. I will never recover from this. I called his house where he lived with his mother and his brother Curt (while he was building a house in the backyard) and sister-in-law Sharon. (Sharon wrote the beautiful poem below.) His mother answered the phone and I asked her what happened. She said it was Sunday, May 10th, Mother's Day evening. He said he couldn't breathe. She told him to go to the ER. He said no, he could not drive. When his mother got up to check on him she found him on the bathroom floor, passed away. 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

 

Beloved and dear friend Michael:
I am in shock and stunned after discovering this news on sunday ! For over thirty years you were always there, "hi, i'm calling to check up on you; I was sick last week that's why I didn't call." A more caring friend you will never find. Mike came out to Berkeley in June 1998 when I had major surgery. He stayed for three weeks and then drove me back East in a U-Haul truck. I met Mike at The Architects Collaborative in Cambridge when we were both working there in the late '70's. He was going to the BAC. We lived in Cambridge and then went to U.C. Berkeley. Although I only saw him three times since 1998 we stayed in touch through these years. I spoke to him two days before he passed away which turned out to be the last time. Together we visited Robby and Carol when they were in Pasadena. Mark stayed with us in Cambridge when he attended Berklee School of Music. In addition to the prolific amount of work he produced, he found time to collaborate with me on my synagogue project. His measured drawings of the Tabernacle in the Desert and the Temple of Solomon in cubits and feet drew a crowd when I displayed them at the Environmental Design Research Association conference. We were working on the book. He changed my life. I never met anybody like him. He was the most supportive and encouraging friend I ever had. I feel like I lost my best friend. A bright light has gone out. Peace and healing energy to the Robinett family.

~ 

Carol Miller, Guest Book Entry

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

 

Michael, you left this world no sound was heard 

I had not an idea, that life on Earth, would end for you and you would not be here.
You were gone before I knew it; no chance to say goodbye. 

I cannot grasp that you're not here or know the reason why.
Your tragic end, came swift and fast and I could not be here 

to hold your hand and comfort you;

it's much more than I can bear.
I wish I could rewind the clock and know now what I know. 

I could have hugged you one more time before you had to go.

In my heart I hold you close and there you shall remain 

until my time has come on earth when we shall meet again.

I love you so much Michael. 

The last two weeks I spent with you I will never forget. 

Just sitting on the porch in the dark talking for hours. 

I miss you so much and life won't be the same without you here. 

RIP my dear brother in law

~ 

Sharon Robinett,

Pensacola, Florida 

OBITUARY 

Michael was very interested in Hebrew. One day he sent me my name in Hebrew. My Hebrew name is Rachel, pronounced 'rochel' .

I went to Temple Beth Zion today and said Kaddish for Shirley's yahrtzeit and for Michael. I'm reading the Death and Mourning section on the Chabad website and also I am reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. I see there is a lot of overlap between Tibetan Buddhism and Judaism.

SHIRLEY'S YAHRTZEIT

 JUNE 27, 2012 - 8 TAMMUZ, 5772

Three years have gone by.
Blue was her favorite color.

 

SHIRLEY'S BRACE

Shirley loved baseball too

as all the Sandlers did. So even though the Red Sox
are in the cellar, right now they are playing Tampa Bay, 3-3 after 6 innings.

104 American Legion Highway, Dorchester, MA
Memory drawing;