Collections of Thoughts and Poetry

#mahjongg #whyilovemahjongg #creatingcommunity #wordshavewings #mj #mahjonggtiles #covid19 #buildingcommunity This is another piece on what lights up individual's lives; what gives people satisfaction. Vicky Lyon is a Mah Jongg influencer. As one of Vickie's students, I am proud to present this piece on what makes Mah Jongg meaningful and satisfying for Vickie. She truly has created communities everywhere; all connected to this game. She truly is a Mah Jongg influencer! Than

#anniversary #shirlamaalot #wewereasthoughinadream #covid19 #oneyearaftertheshutdown #movingthroughadream It's an anniversary today. Not a happy anniversary but an anniversary which will go down in history. It will be there with the pandemic of 1918 and with other life shattering pandemics over the centuries. Today when attending my weekly talmud class, the teacher mentioned Shir HaMaalot, which is Psalm 126. In this psalm there is a line, a line that we sing before Birkat

#8women #eightwomen #covid19 #wedosurvive #wecreate #covid19 #resilience #wordshavewings Our group of 8 Women continues to meet monthly, comparing notes about our lives during Covid. The project continues to inspire me. The women who are participating, each in their own way, have found ways to be out in the world, to create, to learn, to share, to grow. The women teach us that human nature is intrinsically strong. Life goes on, relationships develop, people continue to c

#post101 #wordshavewings #sayingkaddish #covid19 #pandemic #whathappened #adiary #awaytoremember #thememoryroom #zoomroom Here we are at Post 101 which I am writing on Thanksgiving, a day of gratitude. It's been a life changing nine months since I began writing this blog. So much has changed, but here we are at Thanksgiving, another milestone day of the year, a day about gratitude. I try to express gratitude frequently and to be mindful about what we have. I have been feel

#amemory #dayspast #daysthatwillcomeagain #covid19 #pandemic #backtonormal #remembering A Memory: This memory might be yours or it might be mine. It's a memory we all share in some way and something to look forward to someday soon. I'm putting it down in words here on this blog so someday when we are back doing the things we used to do without even a thought, I will come back to this and not take movement and getting out for granted as I may have in the past. It was about a

#zoom #zoomroom #sayingkaddish #mothersanddaughters #covid19 #morningminyan #mournerskaddish #peopleandstories #storieshelp This week we begin the book of Deuteronomy/Devarim. This year we have read, sometimes in the synagogue and sometimes from a Tanach about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, their long journey through the desert, with a thousand travails, complaints and sometimes violent transitions to the land they were promised. We are beginning the final book of

#story #abillionstories #yourstory #tellyourstory #covid19 #coronavirus #everyonehasastorytotell #iliveinahouse #apartments #homes #stories I live in a house So do you Or an apartment Crowded or small A walk-up or on the 37th floor Down under or Above the clouds You live in Paris or London Beirut or Beer Sheva Calcutta or Nairobi Savannah or Kansas City By a lake or a river By a train station or a corn field In this house is a graduate In this apartment is an old person who l

#gomel #covid19 #sayingkaddish #kaddish #wordshavewings #mothersanddaughters #gomelblessing #reinventing #followinganillness #creativity #rabbis #communityleaders #minyan #creativeapproaches #livingjudaism #reinventingjudaism For those of you who have been generously following this series of little stories, these little slices of life during this time, this week marked a milestone. My husband has recovered from Covid-19 and wished to make the special blessing for people who

#Covid19 #whenIplayalone #apoemforgrandchildren #childrenstory #shortstory #playingalone #lookingoutmywindow #sayingkaddish #mothersanddaughters #wordshavewings #imagination This story is inspired by my grandchildren. When I play alone I imagine castles in the air, with swirling clouds all around. I can pretend to fly on the wings of a bird to the tippity-top, balance there and gaze down at the clouds below. When I play alone sometimes I build a fort between my couch and the

#greenplant #traderjoes #shabbatshalom #wordshavewings #covid19 #buyplants #lifeisbeautiful #breath #fieryredcarriages #shopping #supermarket #organizedchaos #shoppingseniorhours #greenroundleaves #whiteclaypot #emeraldgreen #mothersanddaughters #sayingkaddish Today I bought a green plant. Its leaves are round and shiny Buffed like emerald shined shoes It's in a white clay pot With ridges It looked beautiful on the shelves of Trader Joe's So I bought it For the beauty For th