Thanks for the memories...

turkey day 2012...without halloween this year, i find it hard to believe thanksgiving is here...i was in line at fairway a few days ago...lost in thought at check-out...and there they were...so close...the foil-wrapped chocolate turkeys...i was sure that if i gave into temptation and bought one or two with the intention of giving them away...that this would never happen...i would inhale them before i hit the first traffic light...but they did remind me of childhood thanksgivings...i seem to remember the day was always cold and i was in feetie pj's in front of the tv...watching the parade...the aroma spilling out of the kitchen, warm and soothing...excited that my family would be there in a few short hours...a large hug from my aunt sharyn as she happily put a foil-wrapped chocolate turkey in my small hands...the smile plastered on my face knowing chanukah was just around the corner...this year as thanksgiving arrives, with chanukah and christmas closing in, i feel somewhat guilty...we have been blessed in being spared the wrath of hurricane sandy...this is such a difficult time for so many...it is only right that we offer some prayer, however we believe, tomorrow for those who need it and so much more...and yes, this year, i am truly thankful...but i may have to hit fairway...the chocolate turkey is calling...

love in the time of cholera....

love in the time of cholera...i am looking at my copy of the book...a little beat-up looking...we are using this and many soft-covered books to block the sun from beating in through the small "upper windows" in our living room...until our blinds are put in...i am getting used to the look...all those wonderful books giving the collective finger to the new technology..but that, as they say, is another post...the title has me thinking...it certainly is catchier than "love in the time of vitriol"...which seems to be the subtext of life these days...and i am blue today..not because my candidate won, or lost...but because of the diviseness in our country...because it has become so easy in our society to point fingers at everyone...but ourselves...because everyone is the cause...and so few want to really be the solution...because i should have felt something one way or the other when the dye was cast, so to speak...and i did not...because really the only thing i see when i close my eyes is not red, white or blue...it is the grey of ruins...so much of the staten island i knew...and the happiest memories of youth...sundays at seaside...floating out in a violent ocean...i still reach for that optimism at crossroads...still try to reach across the breach of despair...love in the time of cholera...