Jack's Week

Jack’s Bar Mitzvah was celebrated on August 20.  We were excited as the date approached,  We love Jack and respect the hard work he puts into everything in his life, including sports, school and chores around the house, just as we respect and love Ben, his brother, and our other five grandchildren.  But this was Jack’s week.

Last Friday we attended an informal get-together of friends and family for a light meal then a short service at the Synagogue where Jack read Hebrew and assisted with the service.  The Bar Mitzvah was on Saturday, the next day.  We arrived early for family photographs then took our seats.  Each family member or couple read a passage or took part in the ceremony.  Aloma and I read a poem by Rudyard Kipling.  For the next hour and a half, Jack assisted the Rabbi conduct the service by reading and chanting from the Torah and a prayer book.  He never hesitated nor made a mistake (at least that we could tell).  He had a presence that we were all proud of.

Following the service, a magnificent luncheon was set out for the 180 people who attended the Bar Mitzvah.  After the luncheon, a magician wowed the group and a disc jockey kept the young people (and some adults) busy with activities including a congo line, a Jewish dance and line dancing.  Everyone, young and old, had a wonderful time.

The next day, 23 of us including Peter’s British parents and brothers Roy and Daniel with their families, Jennifer’s Dad and stepmother from Rochester, her aunt, Aloma and I and Jack with three of his buddies headed to Emerald Isle, North Carolina.  Jennifer and Peter rented two large houses close to to the beach, each with a pool.  The weather was beautiful.  While temperatures were in the mid-eighties, a cool breeze kept us comfortable.  We all participated in meal preparation.  It was a terrific week and everyone had fun.

We don’t understand how Jennifer pulled all of this together as she is now working full time.  But she did.

Jack, thanks for inviting us to the Bar Mitzvah and congratulations for a job well done.  Thank you Jennifer and Peter for creating such a wonderful time for everyone at the beach.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Terror

Behind our home is a street hidden by a 30-foot slope, but the street light is visible from our back deck.  During the summer we’ve been entertained by a mockingbird, singing all day and sometimes even at night.  He will sing for an hour then fly ten feet into the air, still singing and return to the street light.  While his singing cycle is now over, he still spends much of his time on the street light, just hanging out.

The other day, I was sitting on the deck and noticed a good-sized hawk sitting on a horizontal bar that holds the street light.  After a few minutes here comes our mockingbird and lands on his favorite perch.  He preens his feathers then looks to his left.  There two feet away sits this huge hawk.

Our mockingbird lets out a screech, opens his wings and falls off of the street light.  He didn’t remember to flap his wings until he was halfway to the ground.  In a few minutes a mockingbird returned, got no closer than ten yards from the hawk and then left.  I don’t know if it was the male (who almost had a nervous breakdown) coming back to see if the hawk was for real or if it was his mate coming to see if his story was true.

I laughed and then laughed even harder when I told the story to Aloma. 

Now I’m laughing again as I write this.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com