L'ESCABEAU-------HIGHER and HIGHER!

 I do not know now, nor did I ever know who invented the stepladder. Do you?

However, I do think of it as a noble idea----to be able to reach higher and farther with stable aid.

Many of us in human attire strive to reach above our heads. We need help in order not to fall. Where do we look for it?

The root of the French word: l'escabeau --- has the prefix "esc" as in escalator and to scale (to go higher) ----- there is usually one in everyone's home---simple or luxurious as it may be. There seems to be the need for reassurance to be able to reach a higher level. A tricky climb though it may be, all of us have, at one time or another, set a place, a goal, beyond a simple stretch. The place could be physical, mental or that tired word, "spiritual".

There are plateaus that allow us to rest, or simply call for a STOP! Enough---or, at least for now.

I am at a stage wherein I strive each day to do as planned, to meet my daily planner's schedule! Sometimes I reach for l'escabeau, and cannot find it. Sometimes I  do locate  it, but cannot reach it to grab it !

I have begun to live each day as though it were my last. In this way, the evening brings satisfaction, and sometimes  one last plan for the day.

Do you keep your escabeau in full view? Do you kick it when you stumble stepping up on it?

Where or what are you reaching for? Sometimes I am not sure, except that I know I am not  willing to descend!

There is a new film out that is a true life story of a quadripeligic --- a completely paralyzed man (from 1959) who made serious positive history  for the cause of those whose lives were halted by Polio.

BREATHE---is the title of the film.

I worked with such people end of 1963 and into 1964---all quite  young and fully immobile---using breathing  apparatus machines, respirators and a few iron lungs to breathe for them knowing that the end was not far from their

present. It is an elaborate view of a life well lived which made outrageous medical history. See it if your compass has become cloudy------or even if you are reaching higher each day---- this film makes a work of art out of life.

Pull out and dust off your ESCABEAU---if you know where to find it---if not, keep looking .It is there in your home!

Reaching out,

MISS RHEINGOLD

FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE!

"I prefer the madness of passion to the wisdom of indifference."    Anatole France.

Another web of his wisdom:"I prefer the errors of of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom"

Somehow, I must have had a glimpse of my future life when admiring the fiction of Anatole France as a young teenager----my first of his was,"Penguins Island".

We all thrill to avoid the propriety of wisdom when some really good looking or good tasting choice appears!

As life progresses,  on the other hand,the choices I make seem to be able to combine both passion and wisdom.No agony, no inner battles to eshew, the" right" choices appear in right colors and often at the right time.

I am willing, even eager, to travel in a bus for a five hour round trip---each five has a different hue from the window.The  reason for the choice is usually to see someone I haven't seen for a very long time.

The definition of "a long time" can vary depending upon the closeness of the friendship.

There is even an 8 hour  bus trip I will make if I can  make the return the following day.

I can hardly do or see anything these days that does not call uon my deep enthusiasm or defiant regret.

In Yoga classes (for which my enthusiasm seems to be endless), enthusiasm lingers from one day to the next.The teacher  repeats the words (in Hebrew or in English):"You are not your body .You are not your mind.OK, I get the gist, but I am both plus the other component which hails my enthusiasm, my passion, and my desire to sing and to dance and to continue my Yoga practice!

The lust for this life is enveloped in a perfect croissant or a in a difficult schedule actualized without pain or stress,the whiplash of orgasm, the blowing of a strong breeze,the light in a window you were unable to find the last time you were there!

There is no wisdom contained in the above.There is no pause to "learn" from any one of these.

Madness of passion, yes, Monsieur France, it is what distinguishes living from just having life!

Travel encompasses all of this inhaling stuff----from one turn to the next.

My husband and I had a friend, a gay man who left the priesthood in order to be able to have a love partner and eventually they got married.

In the year 2002, the twelfth book he wrote was published:THE WAY OF THE TRAVELER.By JOSEPH DISPENZA----a worthwhile read---

He quotes Rainer Maria Rilke:

"There is only one journey.Going inside yourself."

With that, I will leave you to make your choice between Passion and Wisdom!

From the heat of Eilat,

MISS RHEINGOLD

LIFE ENTERS AND EXITS

There are cliches worth retaining, and there are those worth discarding!

How did they merit being called the despised CLICHE?

Of course there was a universal truth encompassed in the few words, so universal that the original meaning got lost.

Here in hot Eilat, we  generally witness the coming and going of lives with equanimity.

My husband and I have been receiving death news quite regularly these past months.I cannot say the news was unexpected, although a few did stun us. Age is a factor over 70 or especially over 80. Health crises can arise in a flash and the light is rapidly extinguished.There is the initial shiver, a selfish one,a friend is lost.There will be no more email excursions, or as in my case, I have lost my last two real correspondents (Post Office mail).

It has felt like a garden losing its flowers.

Goodbye, Patricia, Dan, Jeff, and to those holding on:Lorraine, Kirby, George, and Geoffrey.

There is a strong residue of pain however one believes or doesn't that there is more to follow.

The pain does eventually  yield to sadness----- and evokes the deep underlying fear of one's own demise.

The scurry to recognize matters upended, people perhaps forgotten who would love to hear from you,the need to help those who require it, but are unsure about asking.

I have begun visiting the Dialysis Ward in our one hospital here in Eilat (patients are flown to Tel Aviv when a bigger facility is required) several weeks ago, three times a week.The treatments are administered three times a week, and unless a kidney is available for replacement, for life.

Watching how people are adjusting to their life saving machines is an amazing  view.

We are fragile beings, it appears, but so damn resilient, so able to reconnect with the charm and importance of life

however it presents itself to us.The desire to remain with what we know as well as with what we do not know is of astounding dimension.

Of course, I do not wish to live forever---or even for 120 years (as the Hebrew bible suggests), yet I do not foresee my own death with any measure of serenity!

A complicated issue this death thing---as is a menu in a new restaurant that has been touted.By the way,

I have become an expert in that domain writing for Travel Advisor (started as a lark)about a year ago.I have a few thousand readers already!!

Well, I will be interested in hearing from some, if not all of you about this issue.

My husband and I have big travel plans afoot for the remainder of this year thanks to the generosity of family in New Orleans.

Let's meet again next week!
Miss Rheingold

AGE,AGING,AGED and so on……

Another week of life, another week of tasting life’s delights, another week of age!

There are so many  daily choices to be made for opinions, for food, for whom to call and write to, for what to put one’s mind to, but most importantly, in our home to decide which films are worthy of our time and attention!

There are two films currently “on the market” which are worth our time, our whole being, as a matter of fact, all of our emotion and sensibilities, especially as age mature and sensitive. You may squawk at the idea of a semi movie review being offered in a blog,huh? These are works of art and appreciation for those of us over 60 whose hearts still beat to a rhythmic tune and whose clocks seem to chime faster and louder than they used to.

One is “MAUDI”—the true story of a disabled (from birth)   woman from Canada by the very name of the film who became  much appreciated as a semi naïve artist in an obscure dwelling in the outback with a most unlikely partner whom she finally persuaded to marry her. A remarkable tour de force on the part of two highly respected actors (ETHAN HAWKE & SALLY HAWKINS)----the details of creation both of love and art are impeccable.

The second one is THE LEISURE SEEKER---- with two veteran stars who might do well as heads of State running a country(Israel could be a start, but they are not Jewish!)…..Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland.

A remarkable tour de force of acting in a script taken from an Italian novel. This piece is not afraid (nor are the actors) of showing age as a redemption as well as an encumbrance to life! It is a non sentimental story of a married couple with two adult children and grandchildren who decide to wring the hell out of days that are left to them. Sounds trivial, maudlin, and plebian.

It is a harrowing, gut delighting, seesaw ride on life’s final trudge between two of the best known English/Canadian actors who have been given  an opportunity to let it all hang out—to swing in the breeze, to be wrenched dry as well as to listen to and follow their inner dreams without letting anyone else speak sense to them.

Ironically, I had to see it in French, immaculately dubbed (my French is 100% fluent), but I am sure it is available or will be in English.

Love, at any age is a ride to be shared on a Roller Coaster (NO! This is not from a scene in the film) with secrets shedding their dust, and inescapable old age trudging along with no exit.

These two films are true works of art from the writing, direction, and acting---the last , a road film at best which reawakens the richness of such a drama.

Eilat is in deep heat right now. We are hoping for a brief release.

A.C. is my idol---as my marriage is my dream come true! It took long enough!

See you next week,

Miss Rheingold