One two many photos

As I may have mentioned last post, we've been cleaning up from the October snow storm that happened while I was visiting Atlanta.  David used his new chain saw t cut down the big branches.  I used our "lopper" to lop them down to more manageable size and then I piled them in front of the house.  The city is supposed to come by people's homes (were supposed to be here by now, but presumably are extending the time) and pick up yard waste - leaves, branches, etc.  They do that twice a year, fall and spring.  Here's our pile (it is now somewhat reduced because a very ancient looking man came by over the weekend and stashed the wood in the back of a very ancient looking car.  I hope it helps him heat what is probably a very ancient looking home, wherever that is):

 

 

 

 

Ironically - the city came and picked up the debris while I was writing this!

 

Meanwhile I owe photos of the boys since I didn't get to take any while in Atlanta - I didn't take these but this is how they look. First, Halloween - the Green Ninja and Mr. Pizza Slice:

 

 

  Followed by gorgeous Cello:

And Mr. handsome personality, Cachao:

 

 What else?  My new treasurer responsibilities at the synagogue are wearing on me.  I know part of it is that I don't know what I'm doing yet, so it takes me a long time to do what is probably ends up being not a great result.  On top of that, being treasurer puts me on the board of a Jewish organization.  The old saying - Two Jews, Three Opinions - is definitely in play here.  The only thing I dislike more than corporate politics is politics within a Jewish organization.  And yet, I am deeply committed to being a Jew.  It can be painful, frustrating, and in general it is very like what it means to be part of a family, in this instance, a very very extended family.  I don't come from a very extended family, and my own "nuclear" (probably a Freudian usage of that term) family was broken apart before I was conscious.  I'm sure that's part of what sent me on a search that ended with my becoming Jewish more than 31 years ago now. 

 

Something I read in this week's New Yorker short story struck a chord with me.  I'm going to quote a long bit of it.  It is from "The Alaska of Giants and Gods" by Dave Eggers:

 

"She had been born a blank. Her parents were blanks.  All her relatives were blanks, though many were addicts, and she had a cousin who identified as an anarchist.  But otherwise Josie's people were blanks.  They were from nowhere. To be American is to be a blank, and a true American is truly blank. So Josie was truly a great American. 

 

"Still, she'd heard occasional and vague references to Denmark. Once or twice she heard her parents mention some connection to Finland. Her parents knew nothing about these nationalities, these cultures. They cooked no national dishes, they taught Josie no customs, and they had no relatives who cooked national dishes or had customs. They had no clothes, no flags, no banners, no sayings, no ancestral lands or villages or folktales. When she was thirty-two, and had wanted to visit some village, somewhere, where her people had come from, none of her relatives had any idea at all where to go.  One uncle thought he could be helpful.  Everyone in our family speaks English, he said. Maybe you should go to England? ..."

 

I think perhaps that the basis for the success that right-wing jingoist (and racist) propaganda by Republicans and other so-called conservatives have with mostly middle-aged to older white people, especially men, is tied to such persons being "great American ... blanks" who are looking for that tie, that connection, and are being offered it as "American" culture. 

 

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about.  But Sunday morning on our walk, Ella and I went, as usually, to the Apprenticeshop's pier and watched the sun come up,  We stopped across the street afterwards and I took this photo.

 

 

 

Peace.

 

 

 

 

Fall into winter?

I am back from my visit to Atlanta - a good visit,  little longer than usual.  The highlight, of course, was Cachao's 8th birthday which falls on Halloween.  That morning I went with Sam to Cachao's school to watch the Halloween parade.  All the kids dress up in costumes (ostensibly as a character from a book which each child carries) and parade through the school with parents and family there to watch.  Cachao went as a green ninja, but  I couldn't get a clear photo of him - the kids moved so quickly.  I did get a slightly blurry one of a kindergartner dressed as Audrey Hepburn (I wonder what her book was?):

The visit was also good as Corinne is now in Atlanta and I had time with her, as well as time with Sam.  I was able to get to know Cello better, and even saw John.  On Sunday we played whiffleball in John's backyard - John, Sam, Corinne, and Cachao - Cachao can really hit that ball.  Corinne, Cachao and I visited the Eastlake Community Garden to tend Corinne's plots.  Cachao got to feed Egbert, the pig, and various goats, first some tasty specialty cabbage leaves from Corinne's gardens, and then kudzu when the creatures would have eaten Corinne's garden down to the last shoot of green. 

Here's a picture of Cachao at the farm that Corinne took:

Meanwhile, back in Maine, we had our first snow of the season - reminiscent of the big October snowstorm in Connecticut that left 3/4 of the state without power for days on end (for us, 11 days). This year in Maine, as in Connecticut then, there were still many leaves on the trees. While our town only got about 6 inches of snow, there were very high winds and David lost power for about 12 hours or so. Some places lost power for days, so we were lucky I guess. A tree in our back yard fell on our neighbor's garage. Apparently there was no damage to the garage, but the fallen tree now has to be removed (David now has his own chain saw - once the tree is removed, perhaps he'll sign up for chain saw carving classes!)

Our forsythia bush in the front was somewhat abused as well:

 

Well, that's the news from NoRo.  Oh, I hear you ask - what's NoRo?  Apparently there are a couple of artists who are trying to turn their home - which was first a church down the street from us in our neighborhood, then an apartment building, and now a very large home - into an art gallery.  They are trying to art-ify (you know - art-i-fy, to make art-sy) the north end of Rockland, which apparentlyhas had a less savory reputation historically.  Hey, we live in the north end and we like it here.  Anyway, ergo ... North Rockland = NoRo.  So...

 

Peace, Peace, from NoRo to all points of the compass and beyond.