Easter at the ER aside, Nikita had a good April. He read a bunch of German books during his spring break (keeping a timer by him because he got to color a book for every 15 min read), and helped his school win third place at the state team chess tournament. As you can see below, apparently Sveshnikov helped as well.
Nikita also started attending chess club meetings at MIT and Harvard. Playing with the students lead to the funniest question about higher education. Nikita was asking me which were good colleges, which were bad. Then he asked, "Is GAP a good school?"
While Nikita was at chess or the climbing gym, I hung out with Ivan - swinging, playing hide 'n seek, or "reading" books (he memorized Whose Mouse Are You?). While Nikita was at the chess tournament, Ivan chose the ICA over the zoo. And we watched a lot of Charlie Chaplin films. He was really struck by how the main character in "The Kid" wandered the city alone. I was amazed by how the actor grew up to be Uncle Fester.
As for me, Tamar Adler's Everlasting Meal (now in paperback!) inspired me in the kitchen. So, I saved vegetable scraps for making chicken broth, and made a fantastic borscht out of leftover brisket. I also learned that leftover buttercream frosting is fabulous with graham crackers, and that the 2008 CI recipe for meringue cookies could revolutionize my Peeps for Easter.
Speaking of peeps (of a different sort), I also got to meet up with a few people I hadn't seen in a while, like my cousin and a guy with whom I attended high school and college. I actually saw the latter twice, but the second time was for a sad occasion: the funeral of a fellow classmate's daughter. The death was shocking, but I was comforted by seeing the support for the family and hearing Khalil Gabril's poem, "On Children," during the service. The full poem is here, but you can listen to part of it sung by the incomparable Sweet Honey on the Rock:
