As I ponder this last blog for 2018, I think about the blogs that were never written. There were many. Among the bloggers – with appropriate guidance – we stay away from blogging about politics. Oftentimes what strikes me as worthy of a blog is set aside due to our self-imposed restriction. I don't dare refer to it as censorship because it is n …
The idea for this blog came from Fred. In case you missed it, Fred - yes our Fred - suffered from a very bad pre-winter cold. When I recently asked him how he was feeling, he admitted to feeling better, although not completely healed. I responded that he would soon be feeling 100% and, more significantly, that he would soon forget how bad he had …
We were at the airport and I was waiting for Flo. Nearby on both sides of me were two couples —clearly each a husband and wife. And both were caught up in an argument. I moved away from one only to find the other engaged in almost identical banter. The toxicity was painful – beyond uncomfortable. I could feel it permeating my skin and had to get …
Eating jelly donuts is one of the customs that makes Hanukah what it is. My friend related the following story. Bob was seeing some people for the lighting of the first candle. He thought it would be nice to bring donuts. He called and ordered two dozen from the bakery and would pick them up on the way. With a credit card, it was done. A few hou …
Have you ever noticed that people tend to sit at the same seat? This phenomenon was mentioned at a recent Gotham meeting. Members just sat at their “regular” seats. Same perspective of the room and others. No judgment. Simple observation. I thought about this phenomenon for a while and, a few days later, was confronted by it and the discomfort ca …
I am sitting in a restaurant at the corner of Fulton Street and Greene Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I’m about two blocks from where I went to high school many years ago. The neighborhood has changed. Back then you wouldn’t think about a casual walk down Fulton Street. I walked past the stairs to the subway station. Stairs I climbed twice a day …
At first, I thought it was a weird request. We were at an art show and a gallery owner we know, apologized and asked me to retrieve his phone that was charging in his booth which was about fifty feet away. He was pushing a stroller with the young child of his assistant who was attending the booth and explained that if he went back to the booth, th …
We were going to be in Chicago and if we had any extra time we were overdue for a visit to the Art Institute. In anticipation, we took two membership cards from museums that are participants in a nationwide museum reciprocity program. When we arrived at the ticket desk, the young man checked the cards and advised that the Art Institute did not hon …
I had to do something. The pain of the massacre lingered. I couldn’t get my head around it. On Tuesday evening, Flo and I attended the memorial vigil at the JCC in Plainview. Among so many people struggling, as I was, to find meaning. Walking away I was struck by certain powers — The Power of Community, the Power of Music, the Power of Word …
I was recently reminded of a danger that hasn’t crossed my mind in a long time. Remember when we were warned not to use cellphones when we pumped gasoline? The danger that the fumes might ignite. And the other day, I pulled up for gasoline, got out of the car, pulled out my iPhone and opened the app from Exxon/Mobil to activate the pump. (T …
The words on the pen linger in my mind -- “Mightier than the sword.” The words bring back memories of studies in history and civics. The relevance of those words today is undeniable. We are caught in a frenzy of words thrown at us from so many sources -- some reliable, some less so. It is sometimes easy, but often difficult, to discern the differe …
In the whirlwind of the confirmation, the subject of nicknames appears in the periphery. Specifically, the memory of nicknames from our youth. So, I’ll share my story. An attempt to obliterate my nickname of long ago. They called me Benjie. When I went off to college, I was determined to leave my nickname behind forever. I would answer to Ben an …
Last weekend we were in DC to visit our granddaughter and her parents. Something special still stirs in me when I first see the Capitol and the city’s skyline. I thought about the first time I drove from New York to the nation’s capital. I was joining a group a students for a solidarity march. I was supposed to be on the bus but it was overbo …
We love to play Connect 4 and have several versions (including a “Captain’s Game” that replicates the old game played at sea). We’ve had our travel version the longest. It is small, very portable and travels with us everywhere. Over the years, pieces have been lost and we are getting precariously close to not having enough markers to play to the …
Flo often admonishes me to “Stop and smell the roses.” There’s a Chasidic saying, attributed to the 18th century, “Just as the hand, held before the eye, can hide the tallest mountain, so the routine of everyday life can keep us from seeing the vast radiance and the secret wonders that fill the world.” As Flo says “Stop and smell the roses.”
