Exhileration

I went to services yesterday for about an hour. That's about all my tired back and short attention span will allow. I heard the shofar blow, which is something I always enjoy. It's so tribal --hearing the audible, ancient herald of a new year, surrounded by my peeps. I also got a nice story.

The Rabbi related an article by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post. He used to be a Miami Herald editor, I recall, and is a talented guy. Weingarten, as an aesthetics experiment, placed violin virtuoso Josh Bell at a D.C. subway station, posing as a street musician, and observed. Almost no one stopped, even though Bell was playing really tough passages, and nights before had played a sold out command performance in town.

The Rabbi's message, beyond the obvious, is that we have the Torah, the most vital and essential work on the planet, and we daily ignore it, like the commuters ignored the classical wonder. In other words, "stop and smell the Torah."

Appreciating each day isa message I've NEVER ignored. Like today...

I went walking through my 'hood, and about 3/4 of the way through my journey,the skies opened with a typical late summer tropical downpour. The raindrops felt delicious. As I got soaked, I was exhilerated.

I rounded the corner to my street, and a woman pulled up alongside me, and opened her window. "Need a ride?" She was a vaguely familiar MILF from my 'hood, driving a Jaguar coupe. "No thanks," I said as I patted my ample belly through my sodden clothes, "I'm on my way to a wet T shirt contest." She let out a peal of laughter, and drove away.

Was it Gloria Steinem who observed that if you can get a woman to laugh, you can get her to do anything?

I completed my stroll, in squishy shoes, and made it to my front porch, where I stripped naked and came into the house. Wifey was in the kitchen, and when she saw my nude corpulence, holding my still dry cell phone, she laughed, too.

I always stop and smell SOMETHING.

Feliz ano nuevo judeo.