Guilt

This one is called "Guilt" or "Ode to Mom." The abstract below is my tribute to my mom. Her initials are CZ and so it is doodled.

I learned the art of “Jewish Mother Guilt” from my mom. I thought I had learned it all until I tried to turn the tables, by trying to give my mom a little guilt trip. I said, “mom, I think you have never been to my house during Passover and it has been a long time since you’ve been to Arizona. Why don’t you come this year?”

Well, being the novice that I truly am, I did not get the response I expected. She immediately started crying, and acknowledging her faux pas. She then continued to tell me how miserable she felt by her not coming more often, and she got more and more upset. I then stupidly attempted “damage control” and tried to explain I was using the “old guilt trip technique,” but by then she wasn’t listening to me. Alas, it was too late, she had ‘trumped’ my guilt card and took me down several notches until I begged for mercy.

I am humbled. I had the audacity to challenge the Queen, and she took my volley and spiked it back to me, sending me cowering into the corner not only feeling guilty but also ashamed. Wow, she’s good.

Me bad. Lesson learned. Don’t try to out-guilt your own mother and expect to surface unscarred. Back to therapy I go….

Grate.....Underrate.....Intimidate.....Lacerate.....Truncate

Calm

After my abstract class finished, I decided I needed to explore other mediums. I tried my hand at acrylic paints on canvas. The painting below is the result and I call it "The Calm Before the Storm." I did not realize how prophetic this picture would be. After I painted it, I saw tornadoes looming in the background and five plants in the foreground waiting.

Well, our prodigal daughter, CFMG, has returned to the homestead and the whirlwind of high drama continues. I like to pride myself for remaining calm amidst chaos. Tornadoes are known to carve out destruction along an unpredictable path. The safer place to be is inside the tornado, the calm within the storm and that is how I have chosen to ride out this current storm of events.

The Calm Before The Storm

Flower

Tomorrow I will be taking an art class. It will be a two hour introduction class, called "Art, Courage & Creativity." The brochure describes this as a "class for adults who want to express themselves artistically, but who feel unsure of their natural abilities." Well that describes me. This is a new adventure for me.

The blank page, whether it waits for the written word or the stroke of a brush can be intimidating. I intend to keep an open mind and open spirit. We all stand alone from time to time, especially when we take on a new task.

Yellow Flower Stands Proud Alone

Pisces

Out of habit, I read my horoscope everyday. My main two sources are the Internet and the local newspaper. I especially embrace the words and seek out this 'fortune cookie-like' wisdom, when life is not treating me kindly. The trick is to read your horoscope in the right frame of mind. This gives you a 'win-win' scenario, no matter what is written. For example, if my day starts out good, and my horoscope advises caution, I think "well, I'll just take a little extra care today." And if something bad happens, I can't say I wasn't warned. On the other hand, if I am feeling like things are not going well, I turn to the horoscope for confirmation of a possible not-so-good-day, or for information that this nasty time will soon pass.

Do I believe that the movement of the planets shape our lives and our personalities? I don't know. But it is interesting to think that some of us might share similar traits and fates because of birth dates. And I have never met a Pisces person that I didn't like. So there. Pisces people rock!

Fishy.....Flaxy.....Flitchy.....Flity.....Flip-Floppedly

Hanukah

Hanukah. Latkes. Dreidels. Eight nights with eight lights. 25th day of Kislev, 164 B.C.E. Sufganiyot. Menorah. Nes Gadol Haya Shom. Judah the Maccabee.

According to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture, Copyright 1999, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, page 111.

For those who still think that Hanukkah is the Jewish Christmas, it's only fair to point out that the story of Hanukkah preceded the birth of Jesus by 164 years. More significantly, the Jews at that time were the only monotheists in the world. If Judaism had been destroyed, Christianity and Islam probably would never have come into being.

Thinking of

.....Hanukah.....Happiness.....Health.....Heartiness.....Hope