Category: Family

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Happy Thanksgiving 2019

My Thanksgiving post from 2008:

Happy Thanksgiving

by Simon on November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving is one of my two favorite holidays.  It is not mixed up with any particular religion, there is no requirement to buy gifts and most stores are closed.

Carmel 2008

Have a wonderful day.  Focus on positive things.  We live in a meritocracy.  Most of us have enough to eat.  In our country civilians are safe and opportunities are abundant.

My Thanksgiving wish is that you are surrounded by family and friends and that you can argue with them without animosity.

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Eva Gold Memorial Dinner

Pink Stuff

Last month when Eva Gold, Nurit’s mother, was in Hospice in a coma at age 92 Lillian and Rebecca came to Phoenix to say goodby. In her memory they decided to make a meal of her traditional dishes. It was a wonderful idea that they executed extremely well.

Here are pictures of each of the dishes and short descriptions. The recipes are top secret (actually they haven’t been transcribed yet) Continue reading “Eva Gold Memorial Dinner”

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Oregon Travel

It was the height of the short tourist season on the Oregon Coast when we visited. We stayed by the bridge in Newport and we experienced blowing glass. We also ate great food, the best meal was at Beck in Depot Bay. And we had daily walks to various scenic places on the coast including a lighthouse, a ghost forest, a Beaver Creek and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Below are some pictures and my thoughts on why this trip worked better than many. Continue reading “Oregon Travel”

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Glass Blowing

On our trip to Oregon last month our daughters organized for us to go to a glass blowing studio and have a lesson. I was suspicious. I love glass and thought that it was unlikely that we could create anything that was worthwhile or that we would be allowed to really be involved in the process. I was wrong on both counts. Shown above are three of the four pieces we made. Continue reading “Glass Blowing”

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The Keys of a Life

The key to happiness is low expectations.

The keys of a life are even more prosaic.

These are the keys that I found in Jack’s desk and workshop when we cleared out his possessions after his death two years ago. Jack was my Father-in-Law and we had an erratic relationship. He lived an amazing life and grew up in times of extreme shortages. Continue reading “The Keys of a Life”

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Ancient Wisdom

“I speak German, English and Hebrew.

I don’t even remember learning any of those languages but I still know them.”

Eva Gold (my beloved mother-in-law)

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My Politics

“I am, at the Fed level, libertarian; at the state level, Republican; at the local level, Democrat; and at the family and friends level, a socialist.

Nassim Taleb 

from Skin in the Game

To apply to myself I would reword Taleb’s brilliant observation to say: “At the family level I am a communist, at the friend and acquaintance level a socialist, at the local level a Democrat, at the state level a Republican and at the national level a libertarian. But at no level is it absolute, governance is a continuum.”