I celebrated Seder last night with Ron's family at one of the grandest mansions in Kansas City.  I have to say that when we first arrived I felt just massively out of place in the midst of such wealth.  I don't encounter many situations that ever put me ill at ease, but this place had just that kind of effect on me.   I don't use the word "mansion" lightly.  This place was that.

    But Ron has a very cool family, and they immediately put me at ease again.  This was my fifth Seder with them.  (The house belongs to one of Ron's cousins, and this was the first celebration in this house.)  For a variety of reasons, I found the ceremony this year very moving.  There were lines and phrases in the reading that seemed to jump out at me.  And the meal that followed the ceremony was quite exquisite.  Afterward, when Ron's cousin offered us wine or a cocktail, Ron half-jokingly asked for a chocolate martini.  The cousin's bar is very well stocked, and out came all the fixings.  Before long, it seemed that everybody was drinking chocolate martinis.

    I have to say, also, that I've never seen an electric martini shaker.  Given that a martini should never be shaken more than about 15 seconds, I'm not sure I see the point, but hey -- it's a toy, and toys are toys!