Unetaneh Tokef

What shall stay and what shall go?
Boxing up closets and dresses from the 90’s.
Pack, give, donate categorically, here try these.
Lots of good shoes our feet no longer like.
Sweaters and shirts that look awfully tight.
No longer play tennis, hence sneakers galore.
Throw out the excess on this we implore.
Glance quickly on the memories attached to ties and cravats.
Put in the pile marked “we almost forgot.”
No longer question the where, when or why’s.

How many socks do we need to stockpile?
The beige, green and yellows are really quite vile.
No longer go sleeveless so get rid of that look.
Culottes, anything madras, tennis sweaters in the-to be took.
( I know correct tense counters- but it rhymed.)

How many black skirts does a girl really need?
In the give away pile we clearly agreed.
Shirts that sported cuff-links a thing of the past.
Held so many evenings that were really a blast.
We are not shedding memories, just getting rid of the clutter.
I really want those suspenders under his breath, he did mutter.
Pin-stripped blue suits worn on days spent in court.

You know when you know when changing locales feels “just right.”
Don’t hold on to lacoste tee-shirts, they are really too tight.

So back to the pj’s with holes everywhere.
Sorry not keeping, not precious, not dear.
Mark on the boxes “please enjoy our formal gowns.”
Keeping our eyes on the future in the absence of frowns.
How bout the britches, oh the horses we rode.
Savoring the memories, with more to unfold.
Ok then, it’s time close up the box.
Sneak one more peek.
Bell bottoms which were over the top.

Another Opening. Another Show.

Alright next chapter show us what’s on “tap.”

Right-left-right cha cha cha.

This episodes about to “rap.”

Let’s do the hokey pokey.

Double down and bet the store.

We ‘ll turn on the victrola.

And dance across the floor.

Come on twist and hully gully.

A lil samba, a dash of waltz.

Will complete the whole gestalt.

Some lindy hop and jitterbug.

No more dancing just in place.

Hit the ground and sprint ahead.

Let’s put on a brand new face.

Add input to affect a change.

Inertia is not an option.

We’re shaking it up and shifting gears. 

We will add mojo, fine tune Moxie.

Come on boogie woogie bugle boy.

The top man of your craft. 

“Stroll”into this chapter and bring along your draft.

Let’s “tap” into the Bossa Nova.

Rock and Roll and “All that Jazz.”

Bunny hop and two step.

Swing dance with great pizazz.

Step one, dance two. 

Shouts The Chorus, from the line.

Fine tune an Arabesque, stay on Pointe and redefine. 

Add elbow grease to team effort.

Realign your goals in mind.

Offering a leg up, if anyone falls behind. 

So as you chasse across the finish line.

Or Fred Astaire across the ceiling.

We will welcome in this brand new chapter.

Position one as we are kneeling.

Hit it Elton.

“So goodbye yellow brick road.

Where the dogs of society howl.

You can’t plant me in your penthouse.

I’m going back to my plough.”

Stranger No More!

We walked into our building the other day and one of our doormen, whose name happens to be David, called us over to let us know he has been meaning to tell us something. We listened as he proudly shared the wonderful news that his son had recently become a Bar Mitzvah. He told us we could watch the service on You Tube and the theme for the party was all Baseball. We stopped in our tracks, wished him a big Mazel Tov and went upstairs to our apt.
We were thrilled for him and confused as we didn’t know he had children or much else about him. He always greeted us with a smile and we exchanged pleasantries as he handed us our Amazon packages.
A few days have gone by, the new covid variants are spreading significantly and filling our gas tanks is no walk in the park.
Fast forward to yesterday at days end when David called up to let us know our dinner, that we ordered was here. Ah, the Bar Mitzvah. So we ate dinner and sat down to watch David’s son Eric become a Bar Mitzvah. Can’t make the names up for those in the know. We kvelled as Eric read from the Torah, sang along, silently prayed and sent a shout out upon request from the Rabbi to Hashem to help our loved ones with their share of suffering. We listened as David’s wife spoke about their son and we cried for their pride in him.
Moral of stories, bottom lines, grab moments of pleasure, now more than ever come in droves, especially in these precarious days with so much uncertainty.
So we got some paper, wrote a mazel message, put some gelt into an envelope for Eric and went downstairs to have a “Minchin by you Moment.” This time the blessing in disguise came with a shout out in the lobby from a very familiar face, a real “who knew.” Make it a schepp nachas for no longer a stranger kind of day. We are all a community and hashtag stronger together. Make someone else’s day Great!

B.N. Before Netflix-

On some “Grey” days we binged as Mc Dreamy took care of Don Draper
and diagnosed it as just too much day drinking. We were left confused after Sam Seaborn ( Rob Lowe) exited the West Wing, while salivating over Carmela’s “Sunday Sauce.” Yum to those meat-a -balls.

When corned beef and pastrami meet on the corner of Potato Knish and Dr. Brown’s Soda. They bump into the Salami on rye with deli mustard sandwich and all get ready to watch as Mr. Ed whispers to Ozzie and Harriet a cute story about (ok who remembers their neighbor?) Thornyp- Played by Don Defore. Yup! They are meeting over at Donna Reed’s house to watch the Beaver and his brother Wally take on Ken Osmond a.k.a. Eddie Haskell in a game of H-O- R- S-E, in their driveway. After a pot luck dinner with bread pudding for dessert they will sit around the piano and sing out loud with My Little Margie, Aunt Bee who is getting a ride over with Barney and being escorted by Opie. Oh “kay” then. They take out the game of Clue and wait for That Girl ( Marlo Thomas) to be Bewitched by (Elizabeth Montgomery) all the while Ann Sothern, who came with Don Porter is taking the minutes of the day until Eddie Albert shows up with the fur clad, diamond bearing Eva Gabor from their Green Acres Pad. A good time was had by all and in their game of Clue they played until Jim Backus announced “I Married Joan,” and they all agreed that everyone Loved Lucy. The category is Sitcoms in the Sixites. We’ll take Columbo for $1000.00 Please. And I quote – “Just one more thing. There’s something that bothers me. One more question to my Wife. What did you pay for those shoes? Make it a great Thursday!

. Magnify the Moments
Like the cat that ate the canary.
May your days be filled with Wonder.
Adding moments Precious and Cheery.
Two steps forward, one step back.
Charles anointed The King.
Shonda Rhimes lent some pointers.
They didn’t miss a thing.
Camilla smiled proud and strong.
As Queen Elizabeth dictated,
By your side she does belong.
They sipped straight from the covid cup.
Made in China we hope not.
Red plastic cups from Costco.
Would have done the trick.
First day on the job.
Hoping no one shows up sick.
Back to Gold and Diamonds.

Resplendent in all their Glory.
Hear, Hear King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Your Life and Quite the Story.

ATE
Sometimes all it takes is 20 minutes of insane courage for something great to happen.
The 8 ball- eight card fit-eight hands playing at two tables – 8 is enough- Dinner at 8. 18 is chai – . Eight heart stealing Gomberg kid’s . One thing the number 8 symbolizes is the ability to make decisions. With a legacy of parents who got a babysitter and then drove around trying to decide where to go and what to do, we have taken our primordial history and flipped it. Date book in hand, organize the games, get the tickets and not letting ontogeny recapitulate phylogeny. Be decisive right or wrong. Make a decision. The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make decisions-end quote- 😎

The Pythagoreans called the number eight “Ogdoad” and considered it the “little holy number”. Number 8 – make it a Great Sunday!

On Life’s Terms.
When “The suddenly’s” happen with more frequency we take stock of how to best preserve our closeness through memories.
When dear, long standing friends show up we double hug, catch up on the so and so’s and order our vodka with lemons to accompany our shared appetizers.
And so on we went, picking up where we left off, recalling memories that only we remember. Soon our drinks are gone:

“Take care of yourself. . . .”

“We ’ll talk again soon. . . .”

Sometimes I wonder which one of us will be the first to not answer.
Make it a memorable Saturday.

“I See Friends Shaking Hands- saying how do you do.”

When the leaves were orange and the living was easy. What does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth? Why do the people in the front of the picture appear so much bigger than the people toward the back? Out of the mouths, when life was oh so easy.

The days when Ozzie and Harriet made parenting look like a breeze and we were pretty certain Susan Lucci never used J-date or Match. Com to help find yet another husband. 

We re-dialed after our friends line was busy the first time and screeched with excitement, Conrad Birdie style, over our anticipated coed- girl/boy party that evening. We left it up to Wally and Beaver to make  sure there would  be enough Fresca and Potato sticks. They were heavily endowed with the Cleaver organizational skills 

The back ground sound on our portable radio as we primped for the evening  was set to Cousin Bruce’s Saturday Night Rock and Roll Party. We crooned to Build Me Up Buttercup while we sat under a hot dryer with beer can sized rollers in our hair. We were almost ready as we brushed away the fumes from our eyes left by aqua spray. 

The decision to curl our hair rather than iron it straight was a good one, it came out just right. Getting ready was the beginning of the excitement. Our new madras blouse,  alpaca sweater and matching “skort” (remember?) hung prominently in the front of our closet right above our shiny, new cordovan colored weejuns. Bright, new Penny, dated 1969 heads up in place.

A touch of revlon blush and a glimmer of “coffee bean“ lipstick proceeded a spritz of Shalimar and we were on our way. 

With dejavu on our breath we can still euphorically recall how it felt as we unbuttoned the wooden clasps that kept out new Pea Coats in tact.

We proudly walked in, en masse as if we were auditioning for the Miss Pre-Teen of America contest.  

The boys gathered on one side of the room as the girls sifted through the 45’s on the other. At this point there was no bottle to spin in sight. Would the Angels sing tonight as our Soldier Boys danced under the Blue Moon in the Still of the Night? We snapped our fingers in unison to Brian Wilson’s tune-

 “If you should ever leave me. Though life would still go on believe me. The world could show nothing to me. So what good would living do me? G-d only knows what I’d be without you. This just could have been the theme to the impending heartbreaks along our way. 

The evening was a success as we twisted and shouted and moved around as we were invited to the dance floor to do the Loco-Motion.

The specialty years of pre-teening had a wonderful life of its own. We made room for our daydreams filled with Johnny Mathis lyrics and wondered if we would ever sit starry eyed on a rainbow. We hold tightly to our memories of days where we would “climb way up to the top of the stairs and all our cares would just drift right into space.” All the while Jay and the Americans knew as the “lion slept tonight” those were our “Magic Moments.” Have a good Monday. 

And Repeat!

Dear Acid Reflux,
Where were you all our lives?
Tums, Rolaids and Pepto.
Helped our parents stomachs thrive.
Proton uptake inhibitors.
Add an endoscopic search.
Waiting for results, clearly keeps us in the lurch.
We love to eat pastrami, deli mustard piled high.
A half a sandwich later.
How will we survive?
We take our little purple pill.
Go along our merry way.
Hello Acid Reflux are you really here to stay?
A cough and then a tickle.
Is our stomach that high up?
Please hand me the mylanta,
Perhaps a half a cup.
Our stomachs have gotten older.
Our eyes still on the pie.
The days of a la mode, have quickly passed us by.
Let’s try the milk from Almonds.
Lactose intolerant too.
We are so very over, the limitations in our view.
A spritz of just plain seltzer, a ginger ale was quite the cure.
Our dietary habits, we need to re-explore.
Forget the mozzarella-deep fried, sauce on the side.
Our days of grabbing a slice,
Makes our stomach wanna hide.
We love a little bolognese.
Tossed on pasta piled high.
We wake up at 2:30 and hear our stomachs cry.
Now we’re planning dinners.
That are as bland as all get out.
Dear Acid Reflux, shut the door on your way out.

2023 Summer Forecast.

Sunny with a side of Optimism.

“What does believing things will turn out right have to do with making them turn out right?” – Everything it seems. Blame it on the Club. If I tried it with a hybrid- then maybe.

Summertime and the living is easy, fish are jumping and the cotton is high. After A Hard Day’s Night – I want Breakfast at Tiffany’s with a Splendor in the Grass chaser. As I approach the Autumn of my Youth- I ask “What kind of fool am I?” “I want to come home to you and find the things that you do will make me feel alright”ah! Paul . So as we roll out the hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer, the days of soda and pretzels and beer, (well maybe Tito’s), I’d like to go to the”drive- in on Friday nights.” As we see the pyramids along the Nile, standing near “Moon River” we feel grateful to be out of the “heat wave.” Could this be magic, as the lion sleeps tonight in the jungle, the mighty jungle? Who knows, could be it’s only just out of reach down the block, on a beach, under a tree. Tonight? We call on wishful thinking as we put on our yellow polka dot bikini and set our sights on the beach boys. We find ourselves dancing in the streets, eating icicles, popsicles and simply remember our favorite things. Are there lilac trees in the heart of town. Can your hear a lark in any other part of town? Does enchantment pour out of every door no it’s just on the street where you live. Wouldn’t you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? We can sing a song and sail along the silver sky we can fly, we can fly. Girl, I heard you’re getting married, heard you’re getting married this time you’re really sure. So, we’re going to the chapel of love. Love summer weddings. We are the lucky ones, some people never get to do all we got to do, now and forever I will always think of you. It only takes a moment for your eyes to meet and then it only takes a moment to be loved a whole life long. So let’s get those good vibrations, cause G- d only knows at any point, in the still of the night – tomorrow may rain so I’ll follow the sun.

Carole Gompertz Ries many thanks for helping to add to the comfort level. #clubs and…