Good morning everyone, today is March 31, 2021 Wednesday, another hump day upon us. It seems we are in for some rain the next two days. I guess we need it for the flowers to grow. My Easter preparations are so far running smoothly but each time I cross something off the list I add two new ones. Yesterday I took Amanda to school because I had to do some things in that area but I came across a small Italian store. Of course I had to investigate, as soon as I entered I felt like I had passed customs and was in Italy. This small store had every imaginable import you could want so I set to buying for Easter, now I have always called the first course antipasto however there is a new term the millennials are using The Charcuterie Tray, what is it you might ask, it’s an antipasto. So I did a lot of damage there and on I went to buy chocolate. Then the meat. So yesterday I spent a lot of money but I enjoyed it because I did it out of love to have the best Easter for my family.

As I drove around Newark it brought me as everything does great memories, what saddened me as it always does is that the people who made those memory and traditions are no longer here. Feesiby alone their ages would have made impossible. They truly were to use the coin phrase The Greatest Generation. As you drive around Newark you could almost see what life was like for them during the Depression and then on to WWII. As I have mentioned on my trip to Paris I visited Normandy the site of the D Day invasion. To stand on that beach and see what those boys, that’s what they were at the time, had to face, the weather the mountain, the length of the beach it is staggering to even think they could accomplish anything let alone get up that mountain being shot at. But they had perseverance, they had a job to do and they were going to do it. That is also a quality of that generation, and they did do it they freed Europe starting that day. I might add at a very high price the cemeteries at Normandy are breathtaking when you see how many died that day. I believe all American Children should see this and maybe we would not act like such fools. When I say that trip changed my life it was not just Paris but all of these things contributed to it, it made me better. I often think what would those men and women think of if they saw our world of today. Would they think all their sacrifices were worth it. You know what I think they would because their beliefs were different. America was the greatest to them, to destroy the flag or historical monuments would have been a sacralige to them. They had integrity, humility and a faithful commitment that is becoming obsolete day by day in our society.

So as one generation goes, it is replaced by another, the baby boomers, that’s my generation and we created the millennials actually they are considered the smartes and richest .

So today, I paid a little tribute to a generation who soon will not be here. Maybe we could take some final lessons. Let’s live a life through all the obstacles and make it better. We will talk soon. Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is Tuesday March 30, 2021. The weather is promising to be quite nice today. It is very early in the morning right now and as I am talking to you I am seeing a beautiful full moon shine in my window. The moon itself is an amazing thing to see as it brightens the night sky, if you believed in astrology it effects many things, the tides, moods, even birth of babies. I do believe in some of that, but mostly I enjoy watching it. One of the great beauties of life is to sit on a beach and watch a full moon play on the water. Today will be another day of Easter Preparations, the closer it gets the more I have to do. Today I will play Easter Bunny and get all the chocolate, a sparse Easter Badket is a sad thing. So I will hop around to get what I need so that won’t happen.

Now most of you by now realize I like to share memories and traditions with you. Most of them are enjoyable and get us to think and remember happier times. However, I am not Pollyanna and believed that all things were glad, and there is always something to remind me of that. In 1964 a young girl, Kitty Genovese, was walking home from work in New York when she was accosted by a man who stabbed her three times, she screamed for help , this took place at her apartment door, the attack took 30 minutes where he stabbed her several more times and raped her. 38 witnesses or bystanders watched and heard her screams for help and did nothing, it seems unfathonable doesn’t it but I remember that story very vividly I was 11 at the time. She died on the way to the hospital, it was such a sensation that ‘Bysander Syndrom’ is named for it. The event is also in many psychology books. That people stood by and did nothing. Last night on the news, I don’t know why I watch it, I do it for the weather, but something always gets me going. A yong Asian woman was walking down 43rd street when she was accosted by a man who threw her down and proceeded to stomp on her head and savagely kick her about the head and body. This was filmed by the security cameras of the building. The irony of it , it also caught the picture of the workers of the building and the doorman standing there watching this unfold at one point the doorman shut the door, none of them made a move to help this poor soul. What kind of human being can watch something like that happen and do nothing. Where are we in 1939 Berlin, are the nazis back in power terrorizing an entire nation? It goes to show that as a society we have learned nothing from history, again how can we learn from it if it is not taught any longer. Again as a society for the most part we are very much lacking in integrity, morals and self respect. This might sound chauvinistic but what kind of man stands by while a woman is being brutalized, to me that shows you have no self respect or dignity. We just seem to get lower and lower. I’m going out on a limb here but I feel the mayor of the great city of New York, a beloved place has failed the city and has allowed it to become lawless, filthy, unrefined. He has destroyed it and made it like a lawless frontier town. I don’t care how liberal you are rules must be in place and they must be followed you cannot just live and do as you please. We live in a society of all peoples and it is about time people start to realize that or we are doomed. This new thing attacking Asians, again it shows the ignorance of humanity blaming them for COVID. It’s an excuse to perpetrate hatred and racism on any level and to any people.

Now I have said quite a bit today, but it Gauls me to see some of the things going on. But I still will try to enjoy life that’s all we have ourselves to help change things and we do that within our own mind. So try to have a great day as I will also try. Talk soon Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is Monday March 29, 2021. Well it seems the rain is gone for awhile. Seems there was some ruff weather last night thank god we missed it but we had no power for about two and a half hours. That just drives me crazy, but all turned out okay.

Back in 1976 , I would buy the New York Times on Monday morning because they had a new feature they had just started to get a younger audience and make the paper more friendly it was called The Living Section. It told about the upcoming events in the city, home issues but the one I liked was The 60 Minute Gourmet, it taught you how to cook a gourmet meal in 60 minutes. The author of this column was Pierre Franney, he was the head chef of La Pavillion some considered to be the best French Restaurant in New York. I had been there several times and it really did live up to its reputation. At that time before the food revolution of the 80’ s the New York Times said there was not a real , authentic French restaurant in the city other than La Pavillion. So I felt I would learn to cook from the best, so each week I tried the recipes, in my quest to learn to cook. I did fairly well. But it actually took the pandemic years later for me to teach myself to learn to cook. Now I feel I’m pretty good. But back to Franney, I recently found his book The 60 Minute Gourmet and actually been making recipes from it. The funny thing is now they are considered vintage recipes, however most of his techniques have been copied by many famous chefs of today. So what goes around comes around again. This was a fun post and brought back some memories and that’s what memories do give us a sort of pleasure.

Today I start my preparations for Easter, so I will be busy this week. Enjoy your day and have some fun. Talk soon, Til Tomorrow.

Good morning everyone, today is Sunday March 28, 2021. It is a cloudy day for such a happy occasion because today is Palm Sunday which begins Holy Week ending on Easter. This is the week that we celebrate being Catholic or Christian the events of this week are the basis of my religion. Now to be catholic one must realize there is a lot of pain and suffering and death associated with it to ultimately be happy and joyful in the end with Jesus. All the years of catholic education were not for nothing. This week I. Will be talking about it a lot because this week and Easter mean a great deal to me. It along with being Italian are the essence of my being.

Enough theology for today, let’s talk about fun things of today. As a child as I’m sure many of you will relate on Palm Sunday you went to church early because your morning was busy, you would get your palms and make the rounds “ TO VISIT” family and close friends and wish them a Happy Palm Sunday. These visits were not long just a quick stop maybe a cup of coffee and you were on your way. The only one I really remember staying awhile at was my grandmother in Newark there we met up with my uncle my father’s brother and we would sit a that little kitchen table and have our espressos. I thought I was special to join them, then on we would go, there was a lot of cheek pinching associated with those visits. We would visit all the relatives and home we would go after all it was a holiday so there was a lot of food and a lot to do. In the afternoon I had one uncle who would sit with us all around and weave crosses out of the palms for us. That is a very big Italian tradition, in Italy towns actually have there own patterns. I don’t know if that is done anywhere else. Why did we do these visits and follow tradition out of love and respect . There is that word again it always pops up in my vocabulary. If you didn’t do it how would you know who or where you are or who. This was your family your background again to me without that you are sorely lacking something important. What stopped it, progress I guess people married, moved away, rituals like this were becoming unimportant we began to centralize around our immediate family and the extended family fell away, how sad that is. Today cousins don’t even know each other, I can still talk to a cousin I haven’t seen in 50 years and it is like we saw each other yesterday with our memories. But I guess life goes on in different ways and directions. As long as everyone is well and happy that is what is important.

Today, I want to reinvent THE VISIT virtually no matter where you are in the world imagine your bell has wrung, when you open the door there I am with an extended hand offering you a Palm and wishing you a Happy Palm Sunday.

We will talk again Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is March 27, 2021, Saturday. Well hear is is upon us again the weekend,an end to a pretty good week and the beginning of one of the busiest of the year. The weather also looks like it will cooperate so far. Yesterday was beautiful and then turned windy but not cold. When the sun came out around 11 it was perfect out so I quickly went for my walk on the way I saw 4 purple Croceuses and the daffodils starting to grow, I thought to myself what a welcomed sight, spring is here.

Why is this a busy week you ask, well tonight starts Passover, the holiest of holy for the Jewish people, let me the first to wish all who celebrate a Happy and healthy Passover. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday the start of Holy Week the holy of holiest week for the Christian people in preparation for Easter. I like when they coincide with each other as it mostly does. It shows me that one religion is based on the other, I like the history of it all. Jesus entered Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover seder when he was festooned with palms as he entered the city. At that Seder the mystery of the Christian faith was born. So without one there would not be the other.

Again we can ask why is there such animosity when we really are basically the same at the core. But that has been the question asked for over 2 millenniums, and it is certainly not something I could even begin to answer because I don’t understand it. But then again I have tolerance and I respect and welcome people for their differences. I will enjoy some matzoh this week and I must have my matzoh bre , eggs crushed motzoh and onions fried almost like a pancake. As I am sure many Jewish children will enjoy bitting the ears of a chocolate Easter bunny. I always thought this saying was cliche but it is true Why can’t we just get along.
Now today looks good so let’s take advantage of it and enjoy ourselves. Something fun to do or even remembering it will make us all happy. Let’s take a trip back sixty years and buy something new to wear for Easter, girls a new dress and of course a hat , boys a new shirt and tie maybe even a suit. Whatever you choose. Well whatever you do today let it bring you pleasure because we have a big week ahead. Til Tomorrow!