Sarasota, FL – (If this is your first read of ShabbatPlaylists, my mom suffers from Lewy body dementia sprinkled with a strong dose of Parkinson’s disease.)

Sometimes Mom’s words make sense and sometimes they are mumbo jumbo like from the song titled Mumbo Jumbo in the 1966 musical “Stop the World I Want to Get Off.” Some of the lyrics are as follows:

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb Tickety bubarb yak yak yak Mumbo jum red white and bluebarb, Poor Britannia’s on her back. Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb Nothing newbarb cha cha cha. Mumbo Jumbo Castro’s Cubarb. I think someone’s gone too far!

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. I usually chose laughter as it feels better. Anyway, on this particular Shabbat, Mom and I sat by the alligator pond and played some L’Cha DoDi, Shabbat Shalom music, and sang the brachot (ברכות) or blessings. Despite great memory loss and conversation, Mom continues to sing along to the Hebrew words – go figure. Erin, my daughter, called in while we were taking in the flat breeze of a humid southwest Florida late afternoon. I put her on speaker phone so my mom could enjoy some of the conversation even if she couldn’t understand it. It seemed to bring her some comfort as she grinned.

Out of 52 prior Shabbats this year, this is the first Shabbat that our household was empty. It was strange, but delightful too. Steve, my husband, and Jake, our adult son, headed to Brasstown, NC to the John C. Campbell Folk School for a woodturning and a blacksmithing course. While I don’t know the details quite yet, I am so happy that the two are creating this moment. Steve didn’t get the opportunity to have a dad at 20 years old as his dad, Jack Weinberger, passed when Steve was 19. So this is that moment when you are handed an opportunity to create a dad/son story.  As parents, we call this moment “Just Fishin” which is the song Trace Adkins wrote about Trace and his daughter, but it applies exactly to Steve and Jake. Here are some of those lyrics:

“And she thinks we’re just fishin’ on the riverside
Throwin’ back what we could fry
Drownin’ worms and killin’ timeNothin’ too ambitious

She ain’t even thinkin’ ’bout
What’s really goin’ on right now
But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin.'”

Ironically, our good friends, Ed & Sarah and their family had also headed up to their cabin in Murphy, NC, and Steve and Jake were able to catch  up with them for Shabbat which adds to the adventures.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I wined and dined on homemade veggie burgers that Steve had left for me, some French challah and left over wine from the previous Shabbat.

It was delightful.

On Shabbat morning, my very athlete girlfriend, Lori Dorman, and I met up for what would become quite a walk from the Kissing Statue to South Lido Beach and back! The only thing she told me previously is that she “walks fast.” I didn’t understand what that meant exactly as I am told I walk fast. Well, my legs are just a a tad shorter than Lori’s and I wound up kinda jogging most of the way to keep even paced with her walking. I was humbled and humored. In addition, my walking shoes blistered my foot and I had chafe like never before. Usually when I do this walk with my girlfriend, Sheila, we walk to Columbia House, drink a mimosa and eat bread, then swagger around to Ben and Jerry’s for some ice cream and then walk back to the Kissing Statue unscathed. I am not quite the athlete that Lori is and I learned exercise can be a bit overrated! We actually had a blast if you don’t mind your friends laughing at you. Intellectually,  we conquered all the problems of the world while walking. As our time came to an end at the bottom of the Ringling Bridge,  Lori suggested that she finish the walk/run to the car and just pick me up in her car. What a friend – she had an extra towel, a cup of water and air conditioning! We were both needed a cool down and felt very thirsty for strong ice tea, so we detoured to Fresh Start to renourish ourselves with their delicious Burekas the Israeli Way. While I could not move the rest of the day as my hips ached and blisters burned, I sucked it up and got work done! I am forever grateful for our friends who just take care of us here or wherever we are for Shabbat. It’s the little miracles that mean the most. Shabbat Shalom.