¡Ah, eres tú!

Happy Saturday Morning – welcome to the autumnal (fall) equinox. Like clockwork, the temperature dropping changeover was almost to the exact hour – Monday shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, Tuesday it was long pants. Pairs of shorts have now been seasonally ‘parked’ and long pants pulled from their hangers. Let the annual ‘leg-whitening’ begin.

Anniversary – Wow! Today, 56 years ago, Marcia and I vowed to our future together. Now, over all those years what to plan for today. I have two thoughts.

1. Here one thought is to regale Marcia with the verses from Genesis 18:11-14 “11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” And so forth.
2. This one is another regaling. That I entertain her with a retelling of the happening 56 years ago where Marcia and I drove to Toronto and from there rode the train to Quebec City. Once there we were escorted to our room at the spectacular Le Château Frontenac. Aside from hunting through side streets for a bakery selling the perfect Baguette; then sitting in the middle of our room properly tearing and eating our perfectly sourced baguette. Afterwards exploring the Plains of Abraham by the St. Lawrence River.

Why exactly this inordinate focus on Abraham?

Happy Anniversary Marcia, much love!

Our anniversary today is a major item, but as the QVC overnight TV shopping sales guy would say; “but wait, there’s more!” Two very important ladies in my life have given to their country by awarding two years of their lives to a needy foreign country. Marcia as an early Peace Corps volunteer taught girl’s physical education in  Venezuela. Adrianne in the South Pacific nation of Tonga (where she snagged a wonderful husband – Tevita).

Here is the ‘more’; this week back in 1961 was when the Peace Corps’ was formally authorized by Congress and this week celebrated its 65th anniversary.

Now best sip my coffee before it gets cold.

The Shurs – We’d been living on Red Bud only a short while before I spotted a mature woman standing in our yard with her arms wrapped around one of our large trees. This is how we first met Fanchon Shur.

Fanchon was the neighborhood’s ‘tour de force’. No block neighborhood event or Fanchon had immediately organized a group dance, or poetry writing, anything to get group participation. She was a lovely master.

Meantime I’d see her husband, Bonia, on his walkabout singing in Hebrew and arms swinging, directing an orchestra only visible in his mind.

Soon I learned that in the Reform Jewish Movement community, during this time, Bonia had created over 300 compositions and was the musical backbone of the movement. His compositions were used in Synagogues world-wide.

Cincinnati is also the home of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (every Reform rabbi has come through this school). Bonia was its Director of Liturgical Arts (Emeritus). We knew Bonia for a short 7 years before he passed in 2012.

Some time after his passing a service honoring him was held at the downtown Plum St Temple (renamed the Isaac M. Wise Temple. Aside from being designated a National Historic Landmark, it is probably the best example of a near Civil War built (1866-68) Byzantine-Moorish style structure in the Western World.

For the service Marin and I represented our family and we both were mesmerized by the singing of Bonia’s works by cantors who’d flown in from around the world. Arriving, we were greeted by Fanchon and I mentioned to her that since I was with a young Marin I’d grab a seat in the rear. “Absolutely not” was what I heard coming from Fanchon as she marched us to the front. Then quietly she advised me that there was no better place to keep a youngster engaged than being front and center, right where the action is.

That was what kind of neighbors Bonia and Fanchon were.

So, why all this background about a long dead neighbor you ask?

Last Saturday at our neighborhood block party I got to talk with another long-term neighbor and the Shurs became part of the talk.

Dirk, he said, were you aware that Bonia was born in Latvia? No, I wasn’t.
Did you know that as a teenager he fled East from the invading Nazis at the beginning of World War II? No, I didn’t.
Did you know that he then fought in the Russian army throughout most of the war? No, I didn’t have a clue. Nor did I then know that he managed to get out of Russia and got to Israel.

After all of this I was told that he’d kept a daily Journal throughout all those years. And, apparent when one of his sons asked where the Journal was since he’d never seen it; he got the rest of the story.
Bonia answered that had he been stopped and searched trying to leave Russia with such a Journal in his possession he would have been shot on the spot.

Bonia’s solution was to memorize every piece, every scrap of that Journal before destroying it. He had memorized it day by day, the name of every person, every incidence, down to train schedules and weather conditions.

Now here is the AMAZING part. The Journal dictated to by Bonia, translated to English, and typed up by his sons is available to you and me for FREE on Kindle. I’ve got my copy and it’s a not to be put down piece of literature.

Click here and it’ll link you directly to the corresponding Amazon page

Diary of Bonia Shur 1941-1945: Life Lessons from Behind the Eastern Front

Time Flies – Other than packing a bit, this weekend will be a quiet one. If I had any smarts, I’d climb on the radio dial and hunt for a “Riders Radio Theater” segment and it’s ‘Riders in the Sky’ comedy cowboy trio – FYI, it’s a cult classic.

Which reminds me:

Next Saturday there will be NO Ramblings; I’ll be securing the cabin for its winter hiatus.

On my trip north I should heed Yogi Berra’s words: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

This week’s Interlude – For a total of 10 years on both sides of 1990 this week’s group set the theme for something we now refer to as (hint here) the Outlaw Country movement. Listen to the attached clip, then name the song and name the group. If you feel like you’re on a roll, go ahead and name the singers who comprise this group.

Good luck, I know you’ll get it right! Remember, no cheating on the answer.

As soon as I post, next on my platter is to get a batch of Sauerkraut started. I found a ‘just-right’ head of lettuce doing some shopping (it was an impulse thing). If I get the pickling started now, it’ll mean a head start on the 4-week pickling process.

I guess my appreciation for the stuff dates to early days going to the corner grocer with my mother. By the place’s front door was a barrel with a wooden lid which held the best fresh Sauerkraut. The grocer, seeing me, would make a small cone from some butcher paper and with a long fork spear some of it into it. Maybe not perfection, but close!

Enjoy!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

A Constitutional Convention completion and farewell dinner by our founding fathers in 1787 was held at the Philadelphia City Tavern. The Inn kept meticulous records and shows the drink tab for George Washington and his 54 guests to be as follows; 54 bottles madeira wine, 60 bottles claret wine, 8 of cider, 22 of porter, 12 bottles of beer, plus 7 large bowls of punch.

Aside from setting an example this ‘fest’ must have set into motion a drinking continuum by our citizenry which eventually let on to something labeled as ‘Prohibition’. The question for you, my dear readers, now is; how many years did Prohibition last?

1. 13
2. 5
3. 17
4. 14
5. 21
6. 9
7. 11

Last week’s Bonus Points answer – # 2
Answer, this week’s Interlude: The Highway Men; Johny Cash, Wilie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings. “The Road Goes On Forever”