l'shana tovah

Yesterday, a new Whole Foods market opened one mile from our house. I know a lot of people don’t like Whole Foods, but I do, because almost anywhere in the country, at least the places I go, you can find organic products and mad-cow free meat. And they hire people with pink hair, tattoos, and piercings. A least in the Bay Area.

When I saw the fliers for the opening of the new store, I saw that there was going to be a bread-breaking at 8:45 AM before the store opened at 9. I needed to be there. My girlfriend thought that I was out of my mind, but I just said, “I like stuff like that”. After all, I was born on January 1^st, and I like to be the first whenever I can, so to be one of the first shoppers in the new Whole Foods was appealing. And I wanted to be at the bread breaking.

I was also on the Golden Gate Bridge that day in 1987 when it was closed to cars to celebrate its 50^th Anniversary, and there were 800,000 people on the bridge, and the engineers didn’t know if it was going to hold all of that standing weight.

And then there was the day in 1989 that the Bay Bridge re-opened after the earthquake, and Tony Bennett was there singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Guess who was there. Yep, me.

So I went to Whole Foods on my way to work yesterday. There were about fifty people there, eager to shop in the new store. The bread breaking was pretty quick, and I realized how much I have been influenced by living with a pagan as I waited for them to call in the elements.

This morning when I mentioned to my girlfriend that there were actually quite a few people at the bread-breaking, she said, “People need ritual.” It gave new meaning to why I like to share momentous occasions with large numbers of people. I grew up as a reform Jew, but I all but abandoned the religious part as one more patriarchal religion. For the last year and a half, I have been a part of the pagan holidays, but haven’t quite adopted them as my own yet. Kind of sad that the bread-braking at the new Whole Foods is what I turn to to fill the need for ritual in my life.

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I had dinner last nite with friends and am going to the beach this afternoon to empty my pockets of everything from last year I want to leave behind. I realize that I don’t have to go to Temple to honor this holiday, that I can create my own ritual in a way that makes sense to me. As I ponder the meaning of this day, I am thinking about the need for more ritual in my life.

i love seattle!

It is a beautiful city…very green with hills and lots of water. A lot like San Francisco, except the green in the summer part. It is also a very “green” city. One neighborhood library that I saw has a living roof, and there are blue recycling receptacles everywhere, including in the hotel room! And most people here are really, genuinely friendly. There is not that preciousness that people complain about in San Francisco, although from the rate of gentrification, it might not be too far off.

I love the water here. I always thought that the mountains speak to me more than the water, but now I realize that meant the ocean. Here, there are bays and lakes and channels everywhere. It is really a seaport town, and there are shipyards and fishing boats and all the industries that support them. I love it!

Yesterday I went to the Chittenden Locks. Real locks, like we learned about in elementary school. Lakes Washington and Union (freshwater) are 6 to 26 feet higher than Puget Sound (saltwater), so our friends, the Army Core of Engineers, dug out the channel and installed a system of locks. The large lock will accommodate a ship 78 feet wide and 700 feet long. And it is all done with gravity, no pumps.

So if a boat is going from Puget Sound to Lake Washington, the lower gates open, the ship sails in, then the lower gate closes, water from Lake Washington flows into the lock, and the water level rises to the level of the lake. Then the upper gate opens, and the ship sails on its way. I was literally awestruck by how beautiful and fascinating it was. Since I went there alone last evening while I was waiting for D. to arrive, I had to share my excitement with strangers. I’m sure I was the one who appeared strange. The locks are actually one of the largest tourist attractions in Seattle, and I can see why.

D. arrived, we had a great crab and oyster dinner on the piers, and today we are off for more exploration. I love vacation!