rosh hashannah

Okay, I admit it...my Father is a Jewish man who doesn't celebrate the Jewish Holidays...there, I said it. And furthermore I take advantage of it! I drove up to the Napa Valley this weekend because the biz I am in pretty much shuts down for the holiday and because I missed my Mom. Once again I was taken by the beauty of California. Admittedly the bit of the drive where the cows are kept in giant pens, living in their own mess and awaiting slaughter, is not the cheeriest part of the trip, nor the most pleasing in an olfactory way...but on the most part the 6 and a half hour drive is a pleasant one. I listened to some oldies including Steely Dan's Aja, which always reminds me of afternoons after school in Weston, Connecticut, listening to my older brother's record albums and dreading when anyone would come home..I so loved the feeling of being alone in the house. Being a latch key kid can have it's benefits for a dreamer like me. I would spend hours in my room staring at my blacklight posters (remember those?)or walking in the woods just imagining what Europe was like or what I would be like when I grew up and if I would have children and get married like my Mom or spend my life as a gypsy, chasing jobs and seeing the world...

It's funny the things you think about while driving, by the time I played James Taylor's greatest hits I was WAY back in time..wearing orange terry cloth MC Hammer pants and patent leather high heel pumps..wow, I had almost forgotten the 80's....

I remember being so jealous of missing the 60's and 70's as an adult, being born in 1965 meant that the 80's were my "coming of age" era and what a bummer that was! No fringed vests and wild sex..nope, we had shoulder pads and big hair, Ronald Reagan and the shock and devastation of AIDS, no one young in that era would ever have the invincible youthful feeling that the young who came into their sexuality in the 60's and 70's had...nope, we were condom wearing, frightened puppies. I grew up in a gay community (Laguna Beach) so it was all the more "in your face" and it was for the best I like to think, education saves lives.

The weekend was filled with some lovely Autumn crafts thanks to my artist Mother, Hildegard, and her ever expanding imagination. This trip we collected European Oak tree acorns and their fallen "hats" then glued them back together and strung them on hunter green silk ribbon to then hang from my silver candle stick holders on thanksgiving. We also collected turkey feathers from their property where the wild turkeys try to avoid my parent's two crazy dogs. I'll use those to decorate as well as my Native American pieces (though I'm not sure if that's adding insult to injury). I like Thanksgiving, mostly for the friends and family and food but also because it reminds me of my favorite season, Fall. I miss the change of weather and the turning of the leaves and fresh apple cider, maple syrup and sweater weather of the East coast (I do not miss the humid summers and never ending winters though!). California affords me a climate to be outdoors and honestly, we simply do not spend enough time outside anymore. One should make it a point to get into nature at least a day a week, it truly slows you down, fills you up and makes you realize how insignificant your problems are.

So, even though we did not celebrate in a traditional style, the feelings of re birth, New Year and family endured...