Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s most famous poem came to mind recently. Laugh, and the world laughs with you, or something like that, cry, and you cry alone. Grief has been bad. It’s been isolating, I think, for all of us. I took Herschel to the vet on Friday. He tried so hard to pretend to be
Amelia and I went on one final backpacking trip this past summer before we moved to Maine. We took our big, loyal, and lovable Great Dane, Herschel, with us to the Pine Grove Furnace section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Starting from the state park, we made our way to a nearby pad-site /
The cougar sighting appears in my forthcoming book, THE KOSHER BACKPACKER, a self-help book on being an observantly Jewish outdoors enthusiast.. In 2002 or 2003, I saw a cougar in the Adirondacks. Max, my black Labrador Retriever, and I were coming down Bennies Brook Slide from Lower Wolf Jaw, and in the middle of the
Tevye and Golde sang: “May the Lord protect and defend you. May He always shield you from shame. May you come to be In Yisroel a shining name.” When it’s just us in the car, Amelia demands Manilow. There’s something disconcerting about a 12-year-old who likes Lorde and Pink and whatever else is contemporary singing
Plutarch, in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, asked if Theseus’ ship, having had all of its component parts replaced across generations, was the same ship as it was when it was first constructed. The same paradox exists within our own lives. All of our cells will be completely replaced on a cycle of
I grew up in the City of Lancaster in Pennsylvania. I went to a city school. I had city friends. People tend to think of Lancaster as a bucolic Amish paradise, but the city itself is old with urban demographics. The neighborhood I grew up in is now predominantly multi-tenant, low income rentals, rather than
Zeno of Elea made a series of arguments against Aristotle’s observations of motion. My favorite of his arguments is the dichotomy paradox, but today, we’re on his arrow paradox. For an arrow to move, said Zeno, it must change positions. Since time is composed of instants, and at each instant, the arrow is not moving,
What a long day in the car! We did our final pack early in the morning on Sunday, and were on the road by 8:15am. With rest stops, food breaks, and gas, we ended up taking 14 hours to arrive, getting in at 9:45pm last night. I had Amelia and Nezzie in my car. Leah
I left before, 22 years ago, for Fort Benning, Georgia. Back then, I had a girlfriend I wanted to get back to. She broke up with me shortly into my enlistment. I’ve moved what feels like a million times. I moved from Kentucky to Alaska, with all my earthly possessions in a puny Hyundai coup.
The boxes are packed and staged for the movers. A decade ago, Leah and I settled on Manheim, Pennsylvania after we married. It was a decent halfway point between her teaching gig in Lebanon County, and my job in Lancaster. Manheim is an old-fashioned, Friday night lights, blue collar Brigadoon, kind of town. It’s charming.
Writer, President of Bangor's Congregation Beth Israel, soldier, programmer, father, musician, Heeb, living in the woods of Maine with three ladies and a dog.
Director of Education for Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, Maine, special educator and former school board member, mother to Amelia and Nezzie.
