The Story of Abe

I spend a lot of Sundays watching football by myself.  Last Sunday, when the Bears played the Lions, we watched the game in the hospital with a two day old Maya.  This week I was at their house in Gurnee, and we were a little more prepared.  We made plans for the grill and the game in traditional fashion. » Read the rest of this entry «

I’ve been talking about or to my father ever since I learned to talk, but I found myself in an odd situation just the other day. » Read the rest of this entry «

I woke up in Toronto last Saturday morning to find an email in my inbox from my mother that my sister-in-law was in labor.

Abe & Maya - Day 1

The friend I was visiting helped me get to the airport early, where I was able to get on an earlier flight to Chicago.  While waiting in customs, I logged into my email to let my parents know when to pick me up, and I found an email saying that she had given birth. » Read the rest of this entry «

I spent this past weekend visiting a friend in Toronto.  It was my first visit to the city, so I was quite reliant on my friend for getting around and seeing the sites.  Most of what we ended up doing lay, if I was paying attention properly, along one street, which I understand wasn’t even that major of a street.  That’s the way these things work when you get used to your neighborhood.  I didn’t climb the CN Tower, or take a dip in Lake Ontario, or go to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  We did, however, visit the One of a Kind Show.  » Read the rest of this entry «

Yesterday, a Saturday, I spent the day in a park in Tel Aviv.  It was a gorgeous warm sunny day that would have fit in perfectly in May, but didn’t at the tail end of November.  At some point during the afternoon, I heard an emergency vehicle followed closely by another and another.  When I lived in New York City that was a daily occurrence, but in Israel it usually means only one thing.  The exception that proves the rule was the Versailles wedding hall disaster, which I remember very clearly.  We were living in Jerusalem at the time, and the sirens continued for what seemed like hours.  In the park, I noted to a friend that something wasn’t right.  He said he wasn’t worried because they were firetrucks, and you don’t have to worry until it’s ambulances.  It passed, and nothing of note happened, but it reminded me of how living in this country can affect a person.

This piece was written in the summer of 2006, during the Second Lebanon War.

I’m sitting on the rooftop balcony of my apartment in Migdal HaEmek in the north of Israel. There are scattered clouds in the night sky, with some stars twinkling through the clouds and light pollution. Off to the left, I can just see the hazy outline of Haifa perched on the side of the Carmel Mountain. To the right, neighbors are throwing a party, giving a mizrachi soundtrack to the evening.

It’s the sounds that are going to define this evening. On one side is the steady backdrop of the party, the other is the eerie quiet of Haifa. From about twenty miles even a loud bustling city seems frozen and silent. Overhead there is the occasional jet or helicopter. » Read the rest of this entry «