Disruptive

Pesach has been my look forward to Holiday since I could anticipate Seder someplace other than my parents' house.  That probably takes me back to college, when my future in-laws started making room for me at their Seder.  It took very little work as a student.  Meals were provided at Hillel.  Some years, spring break would coincide with Pesach.  I never scrubbed my home, nor did I own, let alone have space for, a second set of dishes until I married.  Cleaning a kitchen nook did not take much effort. Only after I moved into my own house, then raised a family, did Pesach preparation get a bit hairy, as it remains.  Even at my peak physical condition, the boxes with designated dishes, multiple round trips to the basement, and shopping took its toll. The carpet shampooers would come a few days prior to converting the house, so worldly goods needed relocation.  First Seder took place at my mother-in-law's, where she did the preparation until her physical capacity could no longer sustain this.  I had a small second Seder at my house, mostly for my own household.  For a few years, we had a Seder caterer arranged by my in-laws.  And I worked on Yontif through retirement. 

Some tasks always fell to me.  Cleaning the refrigerator, shopping, and preparing most of the meals along with toting boxes.  The kids helped, but not that much.  I always enjoyed meal preparation.  Eventually, the Seder preparation fell to me.  I would design the menu, prepare the food, place it in containers, then transport it to my in-laws.  Once my mother-in-law passed, leaving my sister-in-law as the sole occupant, it made for better efficiency and less stress on me to relocate the First Seder to my dining room, where it takes place now.  

And as empty nesters, I may not give the kids their due credit for their contribution.  

The tasks are mostly the same, but I notice them more as my physical capacity has followed an age trajectory.  I still make menus, prepare food, shop for ingredients, share in the round trip transport of my sister-in-law and wash dishes.  In retirement, some other tasks have made an appearance. I have no excuse to skip shul, which means I am a convenient Torah reader for one of the days.  I cannot just assemble lunch as the house gets cleaned.  It takes an effort to use up what has been accumulated, partly to avoid waste, partly to create room in the refrigerator and freezer.  By the final two days, if done well, food has been depleted.  I rarely eat lunch outside the home, if I eat lunch at all.  Now it seems a necessity to have one meal at a restaurant for each of the three days prior to Seder.  

There are some things that I've not had to do in a while.  My need for dishes, utensils, and appliances has long since passed.  Pesach's frequent overlap with Easter season most years invites stores to discount clothing.  I now only wear dress clothing to synagogue a few times a month, have given much of it away, and really do not need anything of a casual nature either.  On April 10 each year I put the cold weather clothing to storage and t-shirts and shorts to bins in my bedroom.  Some years Pesach is long-sleeve, sometimes short sleeve.  My birthday falls into that season.  Just my wife and me and some phone calls to mark the occasion.  Dinner sometimes modified for Pesach.  

With three days to Seder this year, a late date on the American calendar due to leap year on the Hebrew calendar, I find myself on schedule.  Shopping done except for a few produce items.  Start defrosting meat tomorrow.  Carpets cleaned.  Began moving Chametz utensils and appliances to the basement.  Have enough clothing to get me through the Holiday without doing more laundry in advance.  Mainly cleaning the refrigerator, transporting boxes, washing Pesach dishes as soon as my wife completes the tasks for kitchen conversion, then spend most of Monday afternoon cooking for the Seder.  A disruption of routine, but a purposeful one with a gratifying outcome.