Here is a photo of Andrew and his friends. (I circled Andrew for you!) And here is a photo of the bikes in the lot. You’ll see Andrew’s is pointed out…..

Andrew is on his way to Rolling Thunder® XVIII “Ride for Freedom.” There are hundreds of blogs today about it. And stories abound.

Maybe I’m so aware of it because of our proximity to Washington, D.C. On the highways yesterday and today, there are so many motorcycles, you can’t help but notice. Thousands are expected to participate.

A noon, there is a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. From there, the motorcycles will rumble toward the national mall for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial.

That’s followed by a musical tribute to veterans at the Lincoln Memorial. Paul Revere and the Raiders, Nancy Sinatra, Bill Medley and Gordon Painter and Homeland are scheduled to perform.

Personally, I think it’s worth fighting the crowds to see Bill Medley. (Who is Gordon Painter? And Homeland? This is a big event. Don’t you think they could have gotten someone a little more exciting?)

Ever notice that you can have a meeting (whether it’s PTA, business, whatever…) and different people are clearly trying to accomplish different things? So someone asks a direct question — can I have some piece of information? Someone responds with “No, I am not comfortable giving that out until I have completed what I need it for.” In other words, “It’s mine. Don’t care if it helps you. It’s here to help me first. Then, when I’m done, I’ll share. Your project is not as important as mine.”

Now, you tell me, have you been to the playground lately? I have. And I think the toddlers are doing a better job of sharing. And working together. I saw a beautiful sand castle yesterday and it was a team effort of 5 kids under 6-years old. They shared buckets – even those nice ones with the turrets on top. And shovels.

Speaking of shovels, in those meetings I referred to in paragraph 1. I am having a difficult time understanding people lately. I feel as if the jargon and good-feeling talk supersedes any substance. What the fuck are these people talking about and why can’t they speak more succinctly?

It’s a good thing that I don’t work in a big office. I’d off myself.

The word kosher has been used to mean legitimate or permissible by people of all faiths for some time. You’ve heard it, right? And many know that the actual meaning refers to Jewish dietary laws. (Though most don’t know those laws.)

I had read recently that vegans and vegetarians were buying up kosher food like wildfire. Note that kosher food can cost up to 100% more than its non-kosher (treyf) counterparts. Because there is a lot of extra labor costs in the oversight of the processing. The appeal is that the food production is supervised so closely that there is virtually no chance that there is meat contamination in the dairy and pareve foods.

But I was fascinated by this article, Kosher in the Mainstream, in the latest issue of Food Processing (please, don’t ask me why I read that!) that discusses lactose-intolerent customers, health aware customers, and even people who think eating kosher makes them more spiritual.

And the growth is huge:

“… the category’s 15-percent annual growth rate and $175 million in 2003 U.S. sales. That year, a survey by Mintel Consumer Intelligence revealed 28 percent of U.S consumers had purchased kosher products. Of that group, 35 percent indicated they did so for “taste” or “flavor,” while only 8 percent reported they kept kosher all year long.”

So the 5,000-some year old practice is finally catching on. That’s some product lifecycle!

I was going to write about the frenetic weekend. It was going to be about how remarkable it was that I appreciated and enjoyed each part of it and how difficult (and surprising) that was considering it was booked solid. Somehow, I was able to BE there for each part. And it was great. I was going to provide more details, of course.

But this morning, my best friend sent me the speech she gave as she moved into the largest volunteer role in history. (maybe not in history, I admit, but definitely in my world!) The speech was beautiful. It talked about transition. Of individuals and as a group. I wish I’d been there to hear the delivery. (But sadly, it’s 1,200 miles away.)

Transition.

Who isn’t in transition in some way?

My friend wrote:

“Transition, as defined by Webster, is passage from one form to another. Linguistically, a transition is a word or phrase connecting one part of a conversation to another.

In music, a transition is a passage connecting two themes or sections.

In sports, transition is the process of changing from defense to offense or offense to defense. “

The thesaurus shows these as synonyms of transition:

alteration, changeover, conversion, development, evolution, flux, growth, metamorphosis, metastasis, passage, passing, progress, progression, realignment, shift, transformation, transit, transmutation, turn, turning point, upheaval

The connotations (and even denotations) are really varied. Some positive (growth), some not so much (metastasis). Some subtle (passage) and some radical (upheaval).

So as my friend transitions into her new role, she prepares for the shift in her life and of those around her. Change can be hard. But it doesn’ t have to be. We can do it the easy way or the hard way. We can go kicking and screaming or find the positive aspects of the change. I don’t know anyone who thinks change is easy. But I surely have people in my life who find the nuggets of joy in everything – whether it’s a shift or it’s upheaval. And I strive for that in my life.

So as I transition from a busy and very fun weekend back to yet another work week, I choose to think of my life as a connection of two themes – not opposing sides like offense and defense. I want to hold onto the enthusiasm that made the weekend so great and use it to be better in my other roles.

This story, from Reveries, Neanderthal Places, really made me smile. I don’t think I could live in a cave full time. Maybe we’ll talk to some friends and have a cave-share. We can all go there for a couple weeks a year! Any takers?

When a good friend moves to a new house, it’s very exciting. But learning the phone number is really hard. If you get lucky, it spells something – Phonespell will give you the best combination. But sometimes, zip.

Though once, my brother had 99scoop – that was easy! I once had 363-MASH, and even now, my cell phone ends with ODOR – charming

I got an email from my friend Laurie. She was shocked to get an email from me discussing arrangements for her daughter babysitting this weekend. She read my post about not emailing, evidently. Arrgh. This is hard. I caught myself several times after that. I had no idea I was such an addict.

I’m going to try an experiment. I’m going to use the telephone to make social arrangements (including the kids’ lives) for an entire week. No email – well no email for that.

I was installed tonight for the 2nd year on my local NCJW board. For a year now, I’ve been working my butt off to get the current membership (read older ladies) to agree to an electronic newsletter instead of printed, to email reminders, to programming to attract younger women, etc. Great things are happening. But tonight, one woman who has been active in the section for 20 years said that we should call people. No one is coming or volunteering because it’s so easy to delete emails. It’s not so easy to say no on the phone. I think she has a point.

So I’m going to use the phone. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Yesterday was a terrible day for me. Broken plans. Disappointment. A friend with no time to talk to me. Some hurtful (though, not intentionally) words. And some tears.

I wrote a post for the blog about the day. It was gut-wrenching. And it would have made all the people from yesterday understand how their actions made me feel. Andrew read it. He gently (the only safe way to talk to me by last night) suggested that I sleep on it before publishing. Wise man.

In the light of day, I am myself again. And I deleted the post.

We all have disappointments. We lose clients. We lose friends. Projects are cancelled. Pets die. Shit happens. How we face the world when these things happen, that’s what makes us who we are. Right? Yesterday, I faced disappointment by folding. In general, I face it by facing it. And by appreciating other things.

So yesterday I felt let down. I retreated. I read a book. Outside on a beautiful day on my favorite chair. And I watched and listen to the boys running through the sprinkler and chasing each other with water guns. (Okay, not politically correct. I didn’t buy them. But I didn’t throw them out, either.) And I waited for Andrew to come home from his first big ride on his new bike. Somehow, some joy did find me.

So I had a sad day. But I didn’t strike back. I have a good life. I have all the important people in my life for a reason. And today is another day.