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Pyla Rondelek – “Hurricane Shower”

Polish Basin Bath

With no power, no heat or hot water, the conversation around the wood burning stove was about how to take the least painful shower or bath. Safta Ilana — of polish decent and a WW2 veteran had lived thru much worse than Hurricane Sandy — had the answer to the cold shower dilemma. It was… Read More »

Dharma Vigilante

Sandy Relief Center in Sayville

When disaster strikes – like hurricane Sandy – where instant pain and devastation is everywhere, is where you will find them. They are the ones that can mobilize needed help from those who have to those who need with the least amount of fuss. Armed with smart phones, social media tools and the right intention,… Read More »

Sandy Storm

When Hurricane Sandy’s full fury struck on Monday night, I peered outside to get a measure of the force. The sound of the wind whistling through the trees was like a loud drone. It increased in pitch and was becoming terribly powerful. My father-in-law Charles – 79, who is visiting us from England seemed visibly… Read More »

My Brag Sheet for Lior

What are Lior’s outstanding accomplishments? Lior’s most important accomplishments happen outside the classroom.  During the summers she’s enrolled in a leadership camp focused on community building. She has helped rebuild homes for Katrina victims in New Orleans under the sponsorship of a Jewish organization and she helped build new homes in Nicaragua for a church… Read More »

The Circle of Charles

Charles, Oren’s granddad, has been staying with us. He goes at his own pace, which judging by the the local iCrowd buzzing around him is very slow. His lucid thoughts come and go, his memories are locked on WWII stories and he sleeps a lot. His world has become small and simple. Today I was… Read More »

Father’s Day Cards

Every father’s day I get home made cards from each one of my kids. They’re essentially report cards, spelling out what I did right over the past year, if anything. They may be drawn with crayons or cutout from cardboard, but they are always very telling. Since they get made in less than 10 minutes on Sunday morning, they usually focus on the.

My Light

It finally dawned on me that life is really a circle. It’s 5:50 AM and I’m eating my granola and scanning through the countless emails on my Blackberry. What else are you gonna do at that time of day? One email came from AWB, better known as the Alternative Winter Break program from Young Judaea. My daughter Lior and her best friend Orli are currently part of the program. They are down in New Orleans

Partners

When you find yourself out of the raft in whitewater rapids without your paddle, a lot of things go through your mind. The first thought is to save your ass. The second is to save your partner’s ass and get back in the boat. In business and in life you often find yourself outside the safety of your raft and in some cases the paddle is beyond reach too. That’s when you need a…

No Plan “B”

What if if you found the one thing you wanted to do? It could be starting a relationship, becoming a writer or embarking on an adventure. Would you create a plan “B” just in case things didn’t work out? Dan DeZarn, an Assistant Professor of Art at the State University of New York at Geneseo… Read More »