Guy Clark

I've been a big fan of Guy Clark ever since I heard his song, "LA Freeway" on (of all things) NPR.
... Adios to all this concrete.
Gonna get me some dirt road back street
If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught....

Another song of his, "Desperados waitin' for a train," started to resonate as my uncle got older, and now I have a hard time listening to it:

... I played the Red River Valley 
He'd sit in the kitchen and cry 
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'...

I was 25 and my uncle was 69 the first time I went to see him. He was living in a small apartment with my aunt and a large dog named Jacque, had $11,000 in credit card debt, a part-time job as a security guard, and was almost completely deaf, but he was family.

... We were friends, me and this old man 
He's an old school man of the world 
And our lives was like some old Western movie 
Like desperados waitin' for a train...

Ok, so Guy Clark is not grammatically correct, but my uncle and I became good friends. After I got him a computer, I think I got an email every day for 10 years, and when he learned how to play Scrabble online he became a monster. Between visiting Dawn's mom and my uncle, that was our two weeks of vacation every year.
 
... One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty 
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin 
Well to me he was a hero of this country 
So why's he all dressed up like them old men...

Thankfully, my uncle stopped smoking before I met him, and he was much too sophisticated to ever chew tobacco. He never dressed like an old man, although his shoes did become more 'comfortable' as the years progressed. He also had a (reasonably) full head of hair when he died, which gives me some hope. He liked to wear shirts that said things like, "In dog years, I'm dead" but since I gave him the shirt, I couldn't complain.

... The day 'fore he died I went to see him 
I was grown and he was almost gone.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen 
And sang one more verse to that old song...

I loved my uncle more than I could ever express, but I had to live my own life. After I got divorced, he often suggested I come live with him, and I probably would have if he lived anywhere other than the American South. I wanted him to move to California to be closer to my family, but of course he was too old to change. (In the end, I didn't give him a choice, but he didn't stay very long.)

There are many things that remind me of my uncle, not least of which are four pictures I took from his home and hung in mine; a hat and raincoat he gave me when I moved to England; any jazz music (especially Chris Barber); his WWII medals; Scrabble. But the Guy Clark song seems to sum it up perfectly: 16 years of two people, separated by time and distance, like desperados waiting for a train...

Wheat is delicious

That's it, that's all I had to say. Until you stop eating it--or try substituting for it--you don't really appreciate it. I always assumed people started eating it because it was easy to store, not because it tasted good, but it really does. Plus the gluten makes it so incredibly flexible, no wonder why--5,000 years later--it's still a staple crop! Amazing.

Of course none of that means it's actually fit for human consumption, so I am still avoiding it, though I'm not freaking out if it's the only thing available. ("Better wheat than meat" is my motto.)

Now the next step is to start a fasting diet, eating less than 500 calories two days per week and normally on the other five. Having just enjoyed (?) a 25-hour fast over Yom Kippur, I know I can handle it, especially as you're allowed to drink and eat small portions. It's just a question of getting started and sticking to it, two things I've always found challenging.

Day of atonement

Today is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, when you are to 'afflict' yourself by not eating or drinking, bathing or anointing, or wearing leather. More importantly, you are to recognize the wrongs you've created over the past year, and try to make them right. And lastly, many Jews spend the entire day in synagogue, some praying, some just socializing, most just being in the company of people as miserable as themselves. If you can imagine a room full of people who haven't showered or eaten in 24 hours, some would say that was atonement enough.

Looking back over the past 12 months, I have wronged some of the women I've dated, usually by ending the conversation without any explanation. I've often ignored the Sabbath, even though it was one of the most compelling reasons for converting.

But what I'm really sorry for is neglecting my mom, my whole family, and all of my friends. This is what I need to atone for.

Shana tova

Rosh Hashana is always celebrated on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.  Why, then, did it occur on September 28 last year, and September 16 this year?  That's because the Jewish year is a modified lunar calendar, with each month corresponding to a lunar cycle, and every 2-3 years a "leap month" is added to adjust for the solar cycle. 

Now, even back then a clever clog could have calculated when the "leap month" would need to be included, and they could have planned for it, but of course that's not the way they did it.  Instead, they waited until Adar was finished, and then checked the ripeness of barley, fruits of trees, and the equinox.  If two of these were lacking (i,e. it wasn't spring yet) then the month of Adar became a "do over."  I'm not kidding--Adar becomes Adar I (with 30 days) and Adar II (with 29 days)!  That keeps the holidays in approximately the right season.

Now that I've told you all that, I should mention it has nothing to do with Judaism -- it was developed in Mesopotamia, and the Jews inherited it from the Babylonians.

Last October I mentioned Rosh Hashanah was defined in the bible as a day to rest and listen to horn blasts.  Somehow along the way that became defined as the new year for vegetables (as opposed to the new year for kings, animals, or trees) which then became defined as the day to advance the year; in other words, the new year for people (sort of).  Rosh Hashanah literally means, "head of the year" and it wlll be 5773 on Sunday evening.

And like every Jewish holiday, it involves community, prayer, and a meal.  We will eat apple dipped in honey (to symbolize a sweet year), greet each other with "shana tova" (literally, "good year"), and cast our sins into the water (actually, we throw bread into the river, but it's the symbolism that's important). 

And as with every major Jewish holiday, we shall light candles, drink wine, and eat bread before the meal. If that sounds familiar, it's because it is done every Friday night; the weekly shabbat meal is just as important (if not more so) in Jewish life as the once-a-year celebrations.  And I think that's beautiful.

So I wish you all shana tova -- or more specifically, Le'shana Tova Tikoteiv Vetichoteim which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." It is believed that on Rosh Hashanah God starts to compile a "naughty" and "nice" list (where have you heard this before?) but leaves the books open for ten days until Yom Kippur, at which time they (and your fate for the year) are sealed.  It is a time for reflection, for apologizing, and for rectifying the wrongs of the year.

My regrets, as always, are not spending more time with the people I love.

Fireworks

If you don't mind sitting through a 10 minute video, the Thames festival fireworks were quite spectacular: