Inspired...

A few days ago, someone I'm in touch with via Facebook, wrote little snatches of a message to me. Those snatches held some wonderful imagery and information and I told the person that maybe I should write a poem...for that's how much I was inspired.

So I did.


i. MORNING GLORY

The day, featuring a violet-blue sky
has beckoned.
With white designer umbrella clouds
dotting the washed blue,
and playing peek-a-boo
with the sun's brilliant rays.

The glimmering Pacific weaves its magic
as frothy, white caps bounce
up and down
up and down
as the waves dance into shore.

Overhead, the gulls circle,
crying, crying
"Yee-haw, Yee-haw" -- extras in an old Western.

I pick up my pace.
"Huh, Huh, Huh, Huh."
Deep, panting breaths
in time to my footwork.
Left, right, left, right
"Huh, Huh, Huh, Huh."

I feel alive.
Revived by this healthy air,
by the way my lungs are
expanding and contracting
expanding and contracting.

This is my meditation.
This is my balm.

Over sand, warmed by the sun.
Over millions of sparkling granules
my legs carry me away.
Farther and farther
from the daily bump and grind
I call "a life."

ii. AFTERNOON DELIGHT

Stretched out on the chaise,
sketchbook and pencil in hand,
I stare off into the distance,
a slight frown on my lips.
I lift my hand and begin to draw.

Bold lines this way,
Slashes that way,
Shading at the edges.

I put down my pencil
and look at the page.
What was once blank,
pure linen white,
now plays host to
a drawing of a man,
stretched out on a chaise,
sketchbook and pencil in hand,
a wide smile on his face.

What's Green, Very Versatile and Can be Shipped to You?

Just discovered this site: http://www.avocadoofthemonthclub.com/ and thought it was a joke at first. But I checked it out and was somewhat surprised by all its offerings.

Do people really buy into these services? Hmmm...."I need my fix of avocado for February. Can't wait till Fed-Ex delivers my next shipment."

And maybe while you're waiting for that next shipment, you can use up your last avocado in this way:

AVOCADO MILKSHAKE

1 avocado
1/3 quart whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Blend. Drink.

Something to Kvell About

A week ago, on Shabbos morning, my nearly 9-year-old son gave a d'var Torah on the parsha, after davening...the youngest member of our shul to have ever done so. He'd prepared the d'var Torah for his Hebrew class the day before and was willing to repeat it in front of our congregation.

What a pleasure to see! My daughter, who sat beside me, asked, "Eema, are you crying?" I think my eyes just naturally teared up, but I wasn't overtly crying.

"Yasher Koach" was the common refrain to Noam and "Mazel Tov" is what Ron and I heard. What a pleasure.

Later in the day, at seudat shlishit at shul, it was I who gave a d'var Torah. I did one about two years ago about the Ner Tamid. This time my talk was about the Shechina, the Divine Presence.

I am absolutely not one to talk Torah off the cuff; it took me several days to research and prepare my drasha, and in doing so, I felt as if I'd been transported back to my university days, when I was preparing essays for any one of my Jewish courses.

I've thought about the topic of the Shechina for quite a while...my eyes have been drawn to it in the siddur during the Yizkor service, when it talks about "Al kanfei haShechina --On the wings of the Shechina." The wording and imagery always captures my imagination, and that is what triggered this d'var Torah.

It was well-received by my audience, and I look forward to finding another topic in the future that will stir my curiousity enough to do research and will give me some "food for thought."

One of the shul members approached me later with his favorite part of the d'var Torah: "The Kotzker Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, was once asked, "Where is G-d?" And he replied, "Wherever they let him in." And such is the Shechina: the Divine Presence of G-d that dwells among men...in their sanctuaries, in their homes, and in their hearts.

I hope that the Shechina finds its place in your lives...

A Little Error...

...goes a long way.


An ad for the Hampton Inn in Niagara Falls, Ontario, includes this line:

Guests of the Hampton can enjoy complimentary Breakfast Buffet which includes hot items, parking, and HBO movies.

Wow, I've never seen a breakfast buffet that offers HBO movies AND parking.

Now, if they would have only hired me on as their copy editor before posting their information, then...I would not have had a blog post for today. :)

Shed a Little Tear

If any of you out there ever find it difficult to cry for whatever reason, if you hold yourself in check, trying to remain strong, if you say to yourself "I haven't had a good cry in a long time," then this show's for you!

EXTREME MAKEOVER : HOME EDITION is an hour of compassion, creativity, community solidarity and stories of the heart. You watch this show, making sure you have a box of tissues close at hand. Your eyes well up, the tears began to roll down your cheeks, and you noisily blow your nose as you are overcome with emotion. And some twenty minutes into the show, along with those on screen, you chant the mantra: "Move that bus!"

You, too, are overwhelmed by the magnificence of what teamwork can accomplish in a few short days. You, too, are curious by what the interior of a new house will disclose. And you, too, are silenced by the wonderful bonuses thrown into the deal.

I guarantee that, unless you are a piece of wood, you will be moved by this show, and your guarded emotions will reveal themselves.

Saturday Night at the Movies

I often take movies out of the library for the family. Quite often they are foreign films, so in that case, it's usually just my husband and I who watch them.

This past Saturday night, my husband and I watched a double bill: I'd taken from the library "Monsieur Ibrahim" , a wonderful French movie from a few years ago, featuring Omar Sharif, and shortly after it was over, we watched "Bernard and Doris" on HBO.

I wouldn't say that either film was "entertaining"; I prefer to call films such as these "thinking men's movies". The plots, at times were slow...but moved thoughtfully to their ends. And at the end, we discussed the merits of the fine acting and the lives these actors portrayed.

I give these fine films 8 stars/10.