You Gotta Sing Loud

Well, it's comin' up on Thanksgiving and in my world, no Thanksgiving is complete without a rendition of ALICE'S RESTAURANT. Ziggy and I always sang it in the kitchen...whether it was at the Rodney in Surfside or our house. And I had the great pleasure of introducing him to Arlo when he played in town. You see, I'd known him in another life, the one where I was occasionally waiting tables at Cafe Lena (very badly) and even more occasionally singing (before the face break.) The year we lived in Poughkeepsie, we meant to make the pilgrimage to Stockbridge but didn't get around to it. I remedied that this summer when I was in Connecticut.

I'd like to say that I'm not flooded with memories of Arlo and Jackie (z"l) or dancing in the kitchen with Ziggy while I prepped a turkey. But I am. Thanksgiving here is hard without him.  Instead, I'm masking up and heading to SoCal to soak up some Pacific rays and visit one of my oldest (since the day I was born) friends. I'm so looking forward to a break from the cold weather. 

Shabbat at the Rodney

It kinda reminds me of the old days, when we would all schlep to Flah-rida for the annual Schwaidelson Thanksgiving Beach-a-Ganza. Those were exceptionally fine times as we occupied a row of apartments and shared a progressive Thanksgiving...when we weren't playing Scrabble on the beach or having French Toast Cook-offs. There are so many hysterical stories that go with those trips...like the Senior Son was a souvenir of the first one, and that the Junior Son gave up diapers upon arrival one year so he could get the BIG, BIG, BIG PESENT. (Yes, that is spelled correctly.) And, sweetest of all, beach-shabbat with the fam. 

But that was then and this is now. The war eventually ended, but there are new battles to fight. Even though there wasn't a red wave, there wasn't a blue one either. So, as Arlo says: if you wanna end the war and stuff, you gotta sing loud. 

Tomorrow morning I will head to my happy place...MSP...to board a flight to LAX. I'm hoping for a devilishly handsome man to sit beside in first class and NOT call me Grandma!

Wishing you all a truly happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

The WP's Tip o'the Week

Be thankful for what you have,

share what you can with others,

and never forget

Indigenous Peoples of North America

were here first.