I dropped a 35 pound plate on my right foot today. I suppose it is better than the 45 pound I had been holding but the dark spot on my foot says it doesn’t care.
It happened during the inauguration of the felon but I wasn’t watching it because I decided to engage in some quick self care at the gym.
The idea was to run over and put in a quick 30 minutes of lifting so that I would have time later to focus on the 8,000 steps I wanted to get in.
I was more upset than hurt and in spite of it I have gotten in 8,514 steps and perhaps a few more to come.
Forty some years of lifting and I have never done anything like this before and hope to never repeat again.
It doesn’t seem like it is broken, but when it happened I wondered if I had really hurt myself. We’ll see what it feels like in the morning.
137 Years In America
One of my great grandfathers came to America in 137 years ago. He died when my grandmother was a little girl so my father never knew him.
I don’t think Dad had many stories about him or if he did I don’t remember them. I can’t say he was familiar with the song above but he had to know his share of Yiddish songs.
Certainly my maternal grandfather knew it, I heard him sing it more than once. If you want to see all of the lyrics and an English translation you can click here.
I don’t have to close my eyes to hear grandpa singing this, his presence comes with the music.
Oy, gevald, ikh ver meshige!
Ikh lib nor brinze, mamalige;
Ikh tants un frey zikh biz der stelye
Ven ikh es a patlazhele
Dzing ma, tay yidldi tam …
Ay, s’iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn!
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Rumeynish vayn.
Nor do I have to ask what he would say about the felon in the Oval Office. I am certain none of my grandparents would be pleased and the great grandparents who came here from the old country certainly didn’t come for the nonsensical, illogical ramblings of a demented altercocker like 47.
They wouldn’t be happy to see a prevaricator leading the country. A fool whose mendacity requires a permanent fact checker be stationed next to him.
But they also wouldn’t stomach blind acceptance of his words or deeds. They’d encourage us to take action and push back.
They’d demand we work with our local, state and federal leadership to challenge that which is abhorrent. Which is what we did last time and what we shall do again.
One Of My Favorites
That is one of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quotes. It is appropriate for multiple situations but feels especially relevant now.
Now is a time in which we are going to be asked to do more than quietly live our lives. A time in which we are going to need to take action to help our fellows stand tall against the push for fascism and bad policy in general.
A time to remember the fight started on November 6 and we need to do whatever we can to put good people into office now and at the midterms.
But I want to shift gears for a moment and focus on how moving Sunday January 19th was because we got three hostages back.
We got three women home who didn’t know how many of us view them as part of our extended family.
Because if we didn’t know Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh on 10/7/2023 we do now. We know the world isn’t going to look out for us. Doesn’t mean we don’t have friends and allies because we do, but still the importance of Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh remains.
For our non Jewish readers or those who are not familiar we are using Israel as a term for world Jewry and no applying it solely to the country.
Watching these young women be reunited with their families is emotional and at the same time uplifting.
We have to get the rest out.
So for another five or six weeks we are stuck having to go through this song and dance with terrorists who will do whatever they can to torture us all.
History has shown we are built for the storm and we will get through this. It is a stiff price releasing terrorists with blood on their hands for our people, but I am in favor of it.
Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh.
On a side note since Hamas chose to give Romi, Emily and Doron gift bags I’d like to suggest we do the same and provide pagers to those terrorists who are being released but that might screw up getting our people home now.
We can always attend to other areas of business later.
Writing The Nights Away
I wrote the words below on this day in January of 2022. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to use them for and still haven’t made a final decision, but they fit the mood of the moment.
If you have ever spent time wishing upon the magic of the moon and begged for it to come closer so that you and he might make eye contact tonight is your night.
That man who lives upon it knows what it means to have a dark side and understands it can only be seen by those who allow wonder and curiosity overcome fear.
Under the warmth of its glow you get a taste of a different sort of faith and a chance to be seen or too see if you so choose.
For those who travel by night as well as day are gifted with a deeper sight and understanding.
Behold the beginning of the change.
I have spent quite a bit of time writing here and elsewhere because big changes are on the horizon.
Writing is a great tool for providing clarity for ourselves on what we think, feel and believe. It is something that has been necessary for me.
So I have written an apology letter, some accountability notes and a couple of pieces where I lay out plans.
Which is to say, I am just getting started on some things and a bruised foot isn’t going to stop me, though it might slow me down slightly.
We’ll see what it looks like in the morning and whether Arnica works its magic.
Buckle up friends, Mr. Toad is at the wheel and the ride might be a little bumpy but we will come out the other side.
I promise.
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