Did you know it’s National Ice Cream Month? And what a month! What a substance! So I’m sharing my ice-cream recollections with you. (In Print has the text version of this piece.) You can hear more about my adventures with fresh peach ice cream at Vacation.
All nighters weren’t just a college fad for me. I learned to learn in the quiet of the night. Lot’s of these concepts shift a bit as we grow older. Nobody warned us…or did they?
After the guinea pigs featured in Special Delivery there were more critters–of course. This is the journey through reptiles and that most unbelievable pet–the rat. Can you imagine inviting rats into your house–ON PURPOSE?
Midwife to a guinea pig? Playing Doctor was a breeze as a kid, but suddenly it was a matter of…the finger.
My Father always presides at the Passover Seder in my head. He would remind us that this is our annual opportunity to leave the petty slaveries we create or allow behind us and to be and live our best—a good lesson, whatever your tradition. On Passover we tell the story of the 4 generations of children– the wise, the wicked, the simple and the ignorant–and how to pass along our heritage to each of them. We can usually find a piece of our self in each story.
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.
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.
Memory, gratitude, sadness, and perspective are so often lost in the shuffle of the day, in the need to be strong and unwavering. But every now and again we get a cue to listen, feel and be. The Saltwater Tap drips in The Vestibule.
On the road, surprise is always one of the markers. Budapest is a marvelous city that offers so much, wrapped in a language that got lost in my family two generations before.
Our babies grow up, move away and we try to remember that that’s how we always knew it was supposed to be. In the meantime, we can buy gadgets to console ourselves. And guess what, we can grow up too. I’ve performed Recalibration at open mics and in a number of shows and it always changes–so do I. In The Vestibule it emerges out of Saltwater Tap.
