I first learned this as a young student reading the Hebrew text of the “Ethics of the Fathers”. My loose translation from the Hebrew is “Who is rich? (One who) is happy with their lot.” It is an adage that I have carried with me my whole life and, I think, has served me well. Recently I learned that the adage was also worthy to Benjamin Franklin w …
As the elevator doors opened, I saw the smoke billowing in the distance through the wide windows facing south behind the receptionist’s desk. It was the morning of September 11, 2001.As I take a few moments today to commemorate and contemplate, my thoughts begin with the memory of where I was and those first and following moments, hours and days.
Generally speaking, we like choices and options.And one choice we face almost daily is whether to pay by credit card or cash. (Whether influenced by the ubiquitous added fee or not.)There’s an ice cream shop in Edgartown that is “cash only”. It reminds me of many establishments in a by-gone era.As I was enjoying my ice cream, I spoke to a friend of …
Many, many years ago, as we were packing the car for the return home from Martha’s Vineyard, a fellow guest bid us good wishes. When we complained that we heading for the “Sad” Ferry, he shared his words of wisdom:“If you don’t leave, you can never come back.”We have shared those words with so many others. Wise words meant to console and, at the sa …
We are back for a week on Martha's Vineyard....and, as I was thinking about my blog for this week, I realized that i was re-composing a blog previously written. So here is my blog from about the same time last year: We’re on Martha’s Vineyard and as we drove from the ferry to our destination, I was quickly reminded that there is a lot of traffic on …
When you park into a space - if there’s an option of parking “head-in” or backing in - what do you do ?In our community, there are some parking areas which allow for such choices. I’ve noticed a slight preference for heads-in parking.I wonder what makes people choose one? Is “backing-in” for those who plan ahead? It’s easier to pull into a spot hea …
We have a marble solitaire game on our coffee table. It’s a big handsome wooden board with beautiful glass oversized marbles.It has always been an attraction to visitors, especially our grand children. As each gets older, their interest moves from observing and spinning the marbles to actually taking on the challenge of the game — with the ultimate …
I may not have as many T shirts as Fred, but I have a fair number. I even have a box of T shirts in storage after a recent purge of T shirts.I have “plain” T shirts in a variety of colors and “message” T shirts that recall events, places and causes.I tend to favor plain T shirts that carry no message. Every once in a while, I am moved to wear a mes …
Flo and I grew up in the same neighborhood. Although we didn’t know each other back then, Flo lived a few doors down from a childhood friend of mine.So we decided to go for a drive to visit the old neighborhood.First past the house that I grew up in. Not much of a change since my mother moved over twenty five years ago. The four- way stop signs wer …
A recent article in TimeOut (first forwarded to me by our son who has transplanted to Alexandria, Virginia) reports that Long Island is now one of the sexiest accents in the United States.It got me thinking about accents. I guess we all have accents. I grew up in a multi language home, and although I didn’t realize it, my parents spoke English with …
There’s a crystal shop in Great Barrington. Lots of meditation, wellness and supporting crystals.Thinking that a smooth stone in a pocket would be nice - pink quartz is very calming - we ventured in.Inspecting the abundance of quartz, there was one that stood out . Unlike the others, it was cracked. Its smooth surface was interrupted.It spoke to us …
Thursday, July 3rd … and we’re in Great Barrington (Massachusetts) awaiting the arrival of our children and grandchildren for our third annual July Fourth family reunion.From Washington D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, Brooklyn and Manhattan, they will journey to the Berkshires for a weekend of fun, sushi at Bizen (our cousin’s famous restaurant), and, …
We were just seated in a restaurant at 20th Street and Tenth Avenue.“Hi Flo, hi Ben …. Steve, what are you doing in my neighborhood?” as he moved on to a nearby table.A familiar face but no quick recognition. After a while, we figured it out.Later, as he was leaving, he said, “Let Fred know that there was another “Gotham Sighting”.I hadn’t heard th …
Juneteenth. Realizing the significance of the day - and that it has finally received the appropriate official national recognition it deserves - I search for its meaning to me.Do we take freedom for granted? I pause and consider the significance of realizing that you are free.I am reminded of my mother’s story. After being restricted in the Lodz gh …
Rudyard Kipling, is his famous poem “If” got it right.“If” is the most consequential word in our language, and in our lives.
