Thinking About Judaism This Fall

The air is beginning to have that hint of fall in it---there's a patch on my sidewalk where I can smell fall leaves (still there from last season on the ground?!). And Drisha is starting up again so in a way it's back to school time. In a few days, I'll be at The Canfield Fair looking at gigantic pumpkins. And I think I'll be bringing my Hebrew flashcards to hone up before I have to face Rabbi Berger after a summer off. Time for some vocab cramming! But I digress---I've been really into the Olympics---watched every night while bartending! And so this article on the Lilith blog caught my eye...

What did Delaware?

I don't know, Alaska! 

Enough of the cheesy geography jokes though today I'm ~virtually~ in Delaware and  I'm in good company today!

I'm on the Run!

I've decided to get back on track so to speak and run in the NYSCASA 5K! It will be my first race since high school so please consider making a donation and helping me reach my goal! My donations page is here!

Making Headlines

My friend Lia woke me up to tell me that I was famous :). I don't know about that, but this article was a great way to begin my day. I remember weeks ago meeting with Randi from the New York Jewish Week at a great coffee shop and feeling more like I was having a conversation than being interviewed. So hats of to her for doing us all justice. And quite beautifully!

I've been doing a great deal of thinking about life---how I arrived at where I am, making connections between past, present, and future (even though the Tolle book says no, only be in the present)...

I gave up quite a bit to be in New York---a very comfortable life in DC where I was teaching, in a wonderful relationship---all things that most people wouldn't trade (sometimes I'm still not sure why I did). I don't know if I want too much, but I do think that I should try for it all. I still can't decide if content is a good or bad thing. Or even if I should call anything good or bad. 

I'm not sure why any of us do anything any more. Usually, it's only a small feeling or voice inside saying move, go, yes, no.  And maybe that's Gd somewhere within. So here I am. And I know, I'm lucky for as much as what is mine right now.

A New Earth

I've been reading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth and while normally I think these self-realization/help books are silly, I'm finding this one to be the exact opposite of what I expected. His book is the reason why these books are written---definitely the essence of the genre. Combine this with being in Maine and having a slower pace---and you realize the body could use a lot less---or a lot more, depending on how you look at it. I've been striving towards simplicity and meaning in that simplicity. And having that balance while living in a city. Yoga is teaching me that everything contains its opposite. You need to root down to elongate. You need to lift up to ground down. In every push, there is a pull, and vice versa. I really like the idea of finding grace every day. 

It's a thunderstorm day here---I did morning yoga in the living room after making a smoothie and catching up on my emails after a weekend at the beach. I'm going to make veggie Italian sausage sandwiches for lunch and then begins the week of bartending. Poems will hopefully be written, rest will hopefully be had, and the joy of day to day will take root. One smoothie, one cup of coffee, and one breath, one line at a time.

Maine Girl

After a few crazy days in New York, it's finally vacation. It was a long, sleepy journey up here, but now we're all back to being our normal selves. Ben's already connected the wireless networks so we have the most technological, but rustic cabin. I've done morning yoga on the rocks by the ocean. Isabelle has cleaned everything in sight and is out picking roadside flowers, and Andrew is full of cabin and Maine history. I've got the Maine Wild Blueberry cookbook and I'm going to make Milk Chocolate Blueberry clusters sometime this week. Ben made Blueberry Sausage Breakfast cake with my vegan sausages---it's a keeper---I'm hoping to scan my favorite recipes so I'll be able to bring home some of the goodies. 

Since I can't partake in the lobster, I've found my own smaller treasure.