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Christmas: A Celebration of Giving
Christmas: A Celebration of Giving I used to think giving was something we did out of duty, but I believe, for me now, it comes from love for God and a wish to respond to the needs of the world. It also comes from a wish to express loving kindness, goodness, and gratitude for all that has been given to me. I was fortunate to be raised in a family that embraced generosity. My parents gave faithfully to their church and they were also generous to others in need. My mother visited friends who were sick and wrote hundreds of cards and letters to her family, neighbors, and home-bound friends. Their giving was not out of…
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My Dinner with Wally
When I lived in Greenwich Village, it was easy to spot celebrities. My favorite stars are those of literary fame. When seeing them it is okay to gaze upon them and even to lock eyes if possible, but that is all. I have had many “brushes with fame” as we used to call it. Sharing the ladies room with Sigourney Weaver at NoHo Star and admiring Sam Shepherd after he purchased a large coffee at Joe: the Art of Coffee. No words, but only a quick moment of recognition. But the person that I saw the most often was Wally Shawn. He claim to fame was the movie”My Dinner with…
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The Silent Battle
When I lived in Brooklyn, I used to spend some of my day feeding young cats in Fort Greene Park. (Two of them are now living with me in Asbury Park.) One day I met a young man in the park named Christopher who was “pumping iron” in his wheel chair. His smile was infectious. Half of his leg was gone. Later, he told me his story. When he was 15 years old, he was called to his sister’s aid as she was being attacked by a gang. She got away, but the gang shot him 9 times in the back and leg. Now at 23 years old, this former…
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Journaling
For 40 years I have been keeping journals. They are lined up by my desk. I have slowly gone through some of them and am letting them go. Looking at my journals is like looking into a clothes closet. There are worn clothes that I love. New clothes that hang without creases. And there are those pieces that are uniquely me. My PhD program in English Literature at Brown University was dramatically transformed into a M.A. is a worn pair of blue jeans that no longer fits. I did get a lot out of those years in Providence. Many hours were spent reading and studying the writings of Virginia Woolf. …
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Notes from the Field
One of the benefits of moving to a new region of the country are the new species that you will encounter. The black skimmer is one example. Black skimmers arrive in April and May, and lay their “clutch” throughout the summer. They are endangered where I live in part due to human disturbance as beach goers trample their nests. They do live in colonies from Sandy Hook – north of here – and Cape May -south of here- where there are more dunes. In Asbury Park we have lots of turtles and particularly the female Northern Diamond Back terrapin is in some cases still looking for warm high ground to…
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Chance Meetings
Single means alone and I never thought that was my calling. But I did hope to move in the world in a unique fashion, even if it meant being by myself. I traveled to New York City last week for several appointments and to see art. I always knew that I would end up walking the city, in spite of the heat, to see all the changes close-up . Visits to MoMA and the Met Museum (to see the amazing Japanese Bamboo Collection) were also in my plans. I walked up Park Avenue from the Village and it seemed that every parking lot had become a luxury skyscraper. Sarabeth’s Kitchen caught my…
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Yesterday
Recently I heard the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles and I was moved to tears. The memory of the loss of my beloved grandmother washed over me and I knew exactly the moment in time and the place. Quickly I returned to a time when I was a young girl of 13. I sensed that losing my grandmother would change my life, but I had no way of knowing how long it would take for me to understand it. I remember being in in her apartment after the loss. I liked being near her things. She had been an organist in the Methodist church and she had a small electric organ.…
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Tabitha Grace
Last Fall my darling cat Tabitha became very old almost overnight. Her narrow shoulders sloped downward the way an old person’s would. When she sat down with me on the porch, where we could feel the sea breezes, she would circle around her soft bed and tuck her legs gently under her with perfect delicacy. I could almost feel the arthritic pain. I winced knowing that, I too, would someday be her age and, having been a runner for most of my life, would also feel this pain. She moved so slowly, but with such a strong spirit. On April 28, she left this earth. I was with her at…
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Sicut Cervus
Several years ago I studied voice with Marcia Young, a wonderful soprano from St. Luke-in-the-Field’s Church, in Greenwich Village. She taught me how to find my voice at the back of my head and to support my voice which was not an alto, but rather a mid-range soprano. That was the beginning of this journey back to singing, but I needed lots of training, singing and sight-reading to improve and enjoy singing more fully. There are many benefits from singing. I recently read about a woman who suffers from a genetic skin disorder and she returned to her early love — singing. She says: ” I sang fully conscious of…
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In Rome without a Selfie
Last week I had the pleasure of traveling with a friend to Rome and the Amalfi Coast. It was crowded with many Americans and Europeans, but pleasant and sunny. Technology has provided us with apps to get around and phones to photograph every site and antiquity we see, but we stuck with our maps and our guide books. Everywhere one looks there is the endless “selfie.” As baby boomers, we are accustomed to thinking and defining our world according to the self, but enough about me. I am more interested in the people and the place I am visiting. I was fortunate to travel with a friend who has a great facility…
