My Daughter is a High School Senior!

Oh my goodness, my daughter is a senior in high school.
Is she ready to face the world? She can now cook one thing, do her laundry when absolutely necessary, drive and park in some situations. This is an interesting year as we have to prepare to launch her into the world so she can survive (ideally thrive!) on her own, away from home, in situations where she has to think through situations on the spot.
This year will be filled with lessons for all as we try to prepare her in the best way possible. It will require patience, laughter and probably some prayers, too!

Dandelion Greens

An article today about dandelion greens and their upcoming popularity for salad greens prompted a childhood memory. My father, orphaned at an early age, was sent to live with an aunt's family. This aunt, my Grandma Marion, was really ahead of her time in the 50's as an independent woman. Once she was widowed, she worked at a local newspaper and traveled all around the world (I remember that she went to Spain, in particular, as I have some of the souvenirs she bought on that trip).
Grandma Marion also was known for bluntly saying what was on her mind, regarding my body shape/size, my brother's reading skills and comments on anything else that probably should have been kept to herself.
But she was a food nut before they existed. My father used to have to eat (and complained about it) dandelion greens and baby ferns as vegetables at their dinner. Not sure if she grew them or where they got them, but I remember my father talking about that as clearly as if it were today.
I will try the dandelion greens in our salads soon, in her memory, and I am quite certain I can grow them since they are a weed! We are already fans of another new/old herb, antioxidant-rich pursulane.

Losing My Marbles (figuratively, that is)

Yesterday I started cooking an egg-white omlette and got in the shower, totally forgetting about it. It got crusty, but was still edible. It was NOT an aluminum pan, but perhaps many of my previous pans were?
I also kept hearing a beep from my purse as I was driving off on my errands. Later, I found the portable phone in my purse, beeping, while "searching for base" until it just ran out of battery power. It is old, and doesn't hold a charge too very long, thankfully in this case.
Today, I discovered my alarm clock in my purse, chiming at the top of every hour. I know how it got there as I threw my daughter's lunchbox and Vitamin Water in my bag at a very early hour this morning, before my coffee.
I usually remember to put the buzzer on when I am watering the garden. Sometimes, between the time I turn it on outside, and come inside, I forget.
Yikes, if this is the sign of things to come.....I've got problems! You can certainly call me Ms. Short-term Memory Loss!
P.S. an addendum to this post -- apparently the time on the alarm clock got reset, so it was still dark when it went off at 6:10 am. I was wondering why I was so tired and it was dark, until I looked at the other clocks in the bedroom. Double buffoonery for me! I sure was glad to have that extra hour of sleep.

Somehow, Sometime, Somewhere...

As part of our year of discovery, we attended a speaker at the Phoenix Community Kollel. Rabbi Yissocher Frand spoke about the power of prayer, on the topic of "Does G-d Hear Our Prayers?"
The evening was thought provoking and we have discussed prayer many times since. The summary of his talk was that, if you pray, it is heard, but may not be answered as you wish. But, somehow, sometime, somewhere it will be answered.
If you pray for healing for someone that is ill, they may not get better. But that prayer may benefit someone else in need of healing, so praying is encouraged as you just never know when it will be answered, but it will...
It is kind of like your prayer goes into a giant stewpot and is dished out sometime, somehow, somewhere. I guess it is good because prayer allows us to focus, stop what we are doing and think powerful, positive, appreciative thoughts. You could certainly benefit someone, in some fashion. It also makes you think about what form prayer takes -- is it structured? formal? individualized? I guess it is all of the above and more.

Meteors Streaming By

I love seeing meteors and shooting stars in the dark night sky. It makes me feel closer to G-d and the Universe. Is it that they are so far away, the stark contrasts of light and dark, the unexpected and unknown? I sneak outside in the back yard, face into the desert, and wait for the night magic show.
Tonight I saw one (possibly two). I can hardly imagine the glory of the night sky when out to sea on a ship. For that, I cannot wait.

A Simple View of the World

My daughter looks at things in a very simple, uncomplicated way, and I love her for her ability to do just that. The other night I was trying to brainstorm some solutions to figure out how to drive her to swim practice. I told her to "put her thinking cap on" and come up with some ideas for me.
She responded, "I don't have one of those."
And, even funnier than her response, was the fact that she did NOT ask where she could get one of those hats...
Last night, we were watching an AIG commercial, the one where the guy is doing karaoke and it says you can live 15 years longer if you sing, so plan your money accordingly. She watched the commercial and then stated " I am going to live a very long time." After my husband and I looked at her blankly, not really knowing what prompted her to say that, she added "I sing every day."
That same evening, we were discussing the Panama Canal and our interest in going there after learning the history with her in 8th grade. She asked, "what are you talking about?" After we told her what she had learned, she said, "well, that was 8th grade and I had to get rid of that to make room to learn something else."
If life were only that simple....

Two Flowers for Rosh Hashanah

What better way to acknowledge the beginning of the New Year! I have two of my precious cactus flowers opening for Rosh Hashanah Eve, just as the opening of the gates for the ten day holidays of self-examination, forgiveness and resolution begin. These flowers last only one night -- we are hopefully going to last at least another year, until the gates to Yom Kippur open again.
I pray that my husband and daughter are together for many years. I also pray for peace in the world, an end to global warming to save endangered animals and our planet, comfort to friends facing sadness and loss, and acceptance and respect among my family members.