We Clean
October 12th, 2009
“You know, you have to do your housecleaning chores before you can play.”
Harrison, Olivia, my niece Stephanie, and I were enjoying a Saturday morning pancake breakfast at the dining room table. We love it when Stephanie spends the weekend with us. At 25 years old, Stephanie, who lives in Daly City, brings a special effervescence to our household. She somehow manages to be both an adult and a playful child. One moment she and I are sitting on the sofa, talking about spirituality and philosophy, and an hour later I spot her climbing out of a steep incline of bushes, pulling twigs out of her hair, holding high a red rubber ball. Read the rest of this entry »
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If there is one thing I wish I could tell my children about my book tours it is this: I really, really, really dislike traveling without them. Really. But I can’t let them know just how difficult it is for me to leave, or I would put them in the role of parent, and they would be forced to make me feel better about my travel.
I had the privilege of being a guest speaker at a local book group two days ago. My friend Eileen, who sought me out years ago when a mutual friend told her I wanted to feel more connected to a Jewish community, hosted the event. This wasn’t just any book group. It was a gathering of nine women who have been meeting for a decade, discussing books written on Jewish topics.
I awoke this morning to a thick shroud of fog enveloping my house. For nearly a week now I’ve awakened to fog. My house sits high on stilts, overlooking the land, communing with the treetops that neighbor it. We are equals, the trees and I. Like a child who finally reaches eye level to his parents, I feel lucky to look so squarely into the branches of my trees.
It was quite a day. Not only is it the High Holy Days – my favorite time of year – it also happens to be my birthday. It is absolutely impossible to feel anything but joy and abundance on this day. I have to wonder what I did to deserve such loving people in my life.
I have a birthday coming up in two weeks. This seems significant to me at this moment, as I sit in a dorm room at UCLA for a writer’s conference. Because it strikes me that, the older I get, the more I stay the same.
The lazy summer days are over. This is evidenced by my family calendar. It is the latest addition to our hallway decor. Some have family photos, others framed artwork or posters. The Friedes family? We have a 24×36 laminated calendar with four colors of penmanship scrawled across sixty squares.
I recently had the privilege to review a soon-to-be-released film. Called 
The opportunity was ripe. I heard Harrison in the kitchen and tiptoed up the stairs to the adjacent dining room. He was humming to himself, and I heard the hiss of an opened Gatorade bottle. A cabinet door creaked and slammed, and the clang of ice cubes rattled in a glass. I could just hear Harrison’s smugness, pleased to be surrounding himself with his favorite delectables. Finally, the crinkling and rip of a bag of chips punctuated the end of his mission.