The Old Country

Prediction Tradition

January 4, 2010

Growing up, our family had an annual tradition on New Year’s Day. My father, my brother and I would gather around the family room table and put down in writing our predictions for the upcoming year. We would then open the envelope that had been sealed “upon pain of death” from the previous year. Our […]

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The Last Roller Coaster Ride

December 23, 2009

As I staggered off the Goliath roller coaster at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Los Angeles this past summer, wobbly and nauseous, I felt a wilting sense of sorrow. I knew at that moment, as my equilibrium began doing jumping jacks in my belly, that this was probably the last time I’d […]

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Going Solo

December 16, 2009

It’s been a month of firsts for our family. We sent our oldest son off to the army in November. Then last night, our 16-year-old daughter Merav headed out to the U.S. on her first airplane trip alone to visit her grandparents over Hanukah. Living in Israel means that flying nearly anywhere out of the […]

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Snippets from America – Part 2

September 30, 2009

Following up on my post from earlier this month, here are a few more snippets from our recent trip to the States. Mordechai and Esther in the desert One of the highlights of our trip was a stay in Yosemite, a stunningly beautiful national park located mid-way between Berkeley (where we started after visiting my […]

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Snippets from America – Part 1

September 15, 2009

We just returned from a nearly three-week vacation in the U.S. We visited family up and down California, hiked in redwoods and spent too many hours on planes and waiting in airports. Here are a few choice snippets from the trip. I’ll be posting a second batch later in the week. Donuts follow me One […]

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Parades and Tolerance, Then and Now

July 9, 2009

My nearly sixteen-year-old daughter Merav attended the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade two weeks ago. She had heard about the event, the controversy it had engendered, and thought it would be interesting to see what all the fuss was about. It’s funny how time tends to curl around and repeat itself. When I was sixteen, I […]

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“Getting Back in Touch” via Facebook – Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

February 19, 2009

Lately, my wife Jody and I have spent a lot of time getting in touch with old friends via Facebook. It started when I received a friend request from Larry. Larry and I were best buddies growing up. But after I moved away, we fell out of touch. I’ve looked for him from time to […]

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Jambo! Our Tanzanian Adventure

September 5, 2008

The thing that will stick with me the most from our recent 12-day safari in Tanzania is the dirt. An ever-present coat of red dust settles over the entire countryside and soaks into everything – the tasteful khaki safari clothes we bought that are not supposed to display such discoloration, the insides of your shoes […]

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Purging a Lifetime of Memories

November 16, 2007

My parents announced recently that they would be moving out of our childhood home of over 40 years into a retirement community in a few months. That meant that the time had finally come for me to go through all the papers and junk that’s accumulated in the closet of my old room since I […]

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The Price of a Night’s Sleep

December 7, 2006

You know the old saying “time is money?” Well, how much would you say time spent sleeping is worth? As I found out on a recent family vacation: exactly $119 plus tax. We were driving down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego, stopping for the night at inexpensive motels. Our first night was in Monterey and […]

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