Trophy
I almost always find something I have to pick up along the way. Acorns, rocks, stones, pine cones. And a skeleton? This is from the collection I’m working on, Big Words.
Blessings
It’s rejuvenating to remember the common and uncommon blessings we enjoy each day. It’s expansive to offer recognition to those we embrace in our field of plenty. But we might find an even greater share of peace by offering some recognition to those who often stir our less attractive emotions. Sharing a moment of contemplation in a season ripe for it.
The Vestibule
The Vestibule: life, love and transition through the midlife lens includes these pieces :
- Backlighting
- A View from the Stutthof
- Read Herring
- Saltwater Tap
- Recalibration
- Mortality Smacks
- Computer Dating
- Who Gives a Fuck?
- Chart Notes
- Where’s the Bitch
Manhattan Christmas
Sometimes we assume we know what’s going on. Sometimes we assume everyone knows what’s going on. And you know what they say about “assume?” But somewhere beneath it all it’s possible to find the spirit of Christmas.
What Is Chanukah All About?
I took a little journey through the Chanukahs of my childhood, which were filled with evenings of fiercely competitive dreidel games after the candles were lit, the meal was eaten and the presents (mostly socks and pajamas) were opened. We played for chocolate or nuts. When my Mother got bored she would start to eat her reserve, which was the beginning of the end. For all of you who need a little course in dreidel, there is a Hebrew letter on each side of the dreidel (a top made of wood, plastic, even clay) The player spins the dreidel and if it falls with the Gimmel up, the player wins the whole pot. If the hay is up, player takes half the pot. If the nun is up, player takes nothing and if the shin is up, player puts 2 in. You ante up again and another player has a turn. The letters stand for the phrase nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there. The miracle was that the small amount of oil found for the eternal light in the temple lasted eight days until more could be refined.
A View from the Stutthof
Every time I confront some aspect of the Holocaust, or Shoah, some part of me understands more, and most of me understands less. It waits there for me to wrestle.
Living in the Moment, Part 3.
My mother’s decline into dementia: finding the right place.
Living in the Moment, Part 2.
My mother’s decline into dementia, from The Passaggio. Pills to poultry.
Living in the Moment, Part 1.
My mother’s decline into dementia, from The Passaggio. Memory loss, not forgetfulness.
Rejection
Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy. That’s not just an old adage. It’s time to stop rejecting the stuff inside (and outside) us and to stop internalizing all that other “rejection” we may run across. Rejection is from Big Words. It’s featured in the book About Love; the bittersweet heart,
now available for Holiday Delivery.