Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions have always seemed so daunting to me, because they are so hard to follow through with— the second Friday of every January is known as “quitter’s day” because that’s usually the point by which people give up their resolutions. So, in preparing for this new year, I’ve decided I’m setting myself some more vague goals and fun goals rather than commit to something I don’t feel I can handle. 

Here are some of my ideas for what I plan to do in 2025:

1. I want to moisturize more.
2. I want to become a purse wearer in days when I don’t require a backpack, rather than just carrying around the same big bag full of crap I don’t need every day.
3. I want to cook for myself more actual meals instead of just girl dinners (though there’s no shame in a girl dinner).
4. Related to that, I want to make one new recipe for myself per month (I was going to say week but I decided that’s not sustainable for me.
5. I want to find a new form of exercise that excites me.
6. My Goodreads goal is 24 books since I’ll be turning 24 next year.
7. I want to burn more candles.
8. If I see a type of flower or plant at a farmers market that I’ve never seen before, I’m going to get it.
9. I want to make more of my own clothing.

These are all pretty general, but they’re ideas that excite me and things I think I can stick with and commit to working toward, and that’s what it’s all about, baby. 

Remember that you can have fun resolutions, not just stressful ones, and take it as a chance for a new beginning. I know I’m really looking forward to the changes of the new year. 

Happy New Year everybody!

Holly

My Year In Books

I am in 2 ½ book clubs which makes me always behind with my reading! For this blog entry, I thought it might be interesting to do a summary of one of the book clubs.  This club focuses on Historical Fiction. This year, we read ten books.

Time periods: Three took place in the 1800’s, the other seven in the 1900’s (with one dipping into the 21^st century

Locations: Three in Europe, one each in Israel, Canada, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and three in the US.

Main Characters: *All* of the main characters are female. I am only just realizing this now!

Themes: War (twice), Abortion, Murder (twice), Business, Dictatorship/Politics (twice), Biopic, and Music

Most Interesting/Surprising Thing I Learned: I’ve detailed this below for each book.

Exodus

-        1940’s

-        Israel

-        Depicts the founding of the state of Israel, primarily focusing on the story of Jewish immigrants fleeing to Palestine after World War II and the struggles they faced against British rule and Arab opposition while fighting for a new nation.

-        Takeaway: That between 1946-1948, the British government intercepted more than 50,000 Holocaust survivors seeking to resettle in Palestine and they interned these survivors in detention camps established on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. I do not recall ever learning about this.

Looking for Jane

-        1971, 1980, 2017

-        Toronto, Canada

-        Tells the story of the illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its secret code name “Jane”. The story covers three women in three different generations and the various ways abortion touched their lives.

-        Takeaway: A stark reminder of how much times have changed (and changed again) in a relatively short period of time.

Murder by Degrees

-        1875

-        Philadelphia

-        A pioneering doctor who is one of the first women to graduate the new Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead.

-        Takeaway: Loved learning about this time period and this college.

Park Avenue Summer

-        1960s

-        New York City

-        A fictional young woman from the Midwest lands a job at Cosmopolitan magazine under the real-life groundbreaking female editor-in-chief, Helen Gurley Brown. She is witness to the glamorous yet tumultuous world of the magazine while facing office politics, sabotage attempts, and personal challenges

-        Take Away: Although I shouldn’t be shocked, I was blown away by how male management really set Helen up to fail. And yet, she prevailed.

In the Time of Butterflies

-        1938

-        Dominican Republic

-        The story of the four Mirabal sisters who actively resisted the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

-        Take Away: Prior to reading this book, I did not know anything about the politics of the DR, so this was very enlightening.

Good Night Irene

-        1941-45

-        Europe

-        Irene Woodward is a woman who escapes an abusive fiancé in New York during World War II and joins the Red Cross to serve as a "Donut Dolly" on the European frontlines. She and other women operate mobile kitchens called "Clubmobiles" providing food and camaraderie to soldiers facing the horrors of combat, including D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.

-        Take Away: Again, never even heard about Donut Dollys who were not drafted -- so basically these women signed up to work long hours in the cramped quarters of a food truck, emotionally comforting men while trying not to get sexually abused or shot.  Unsung heroes in my mind.

Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

-        1900s

-        US mostly

-        Book about the life of Marjorie Post, the daughter of C.W. Post. (C.W. Post was the inventor and founder of Grape Nuts and Post Cereal.)  Marjorie starts off her incredible journey as a young girl apprenticing with her father as he builds his business.  She does many incredible things in her life including, but not limited to, running a very large corporation, overseeing the building and decorating of many homes and yachts (including Mar-A-Lago.  Yes, *she* built it!), opening up soup kitchens during the depression, and building and stocking a hospital ship to serve American soldiers during WWII.

-        Take Away: Marjorie Post accomplished many amazing things in her life, and she did it “backwards and in high heals” as Ginger Rogers is attributed with saying.

Next Year in Havana

-        Today and 1950s

-        Florida & Cuba

-        A Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity—and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution.

-        Take Away: Never really knew the developments of the Cuban revolution.  Struck me as eerily similar to the Dominican Republic one, though.

Briefly, a Delicious Life

-        1813

-        Mallorca, Spain

-        The book primarily revolves around the time that George Sand and Frédéric Chopin stayed in a monastery. Fun technique in that it is told by a ghost who has been haunting the place since her death at the age of 14 in 1473.

-        Take Away: Learned a lot about Chopin.  I’ve always listened to his music, but up until now I did not know anything about him as a person – including that he was a sickly and irascible guy.

A Most Agreeable Murder

-        1810s

-        England

-        Beatrice Steele is a young woman living in a strict English society and is secretly obsessed with true crime. Of course, she finds herself thrust into a murder mystery when a wealthy bachelor dies unexpectedly at a grand ball she is attending.

-        Take Away: The tale is told in a quirky and ironic way, and it is not based on any real people, so the only thing I got out of this one was a refresher on the Regency Era. But fun nonetheless!

Happy reading!

Eve

Rudolph's Favorite Movies Of 2024

It wouldn’t be an edition of Four Calling Birds if I didn’t share my favorite movies of the year! I’ve seen about 70 movies in theaters this year so I’m feeling good. Let’s gooooooo (in no particular order)…

 

Hit Man

I’m a sucker for Linklater and I’m a sucker for Glen Powell (who also paired up for my favorite movie of all time, “Everybody Wants Some”) so me liking this was probably inevitable. I was lucky enough to see this Netflix movie in theaters at the Egyptian in Hollywood and my one sad note was that more people didn’t get to see it the same way. Hit Man officially launched Glen Powell as a movie star. The scene at the end with the notes app had my audience applauding. Applauding! I can’t think of the last time I saw that happen. Such a blast.

 

Conclave

I like to think of myself as Glen Powell in Hit Man but if we’re being honest I’m probably more of a Cardinal Lawerence. More movies should be about cranky men gossiping about each other. So rarely do we have all of the best boys in one place: John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Ralph Fiennes? Give a Catholic a break!

 

National Anthem

Okay, underseen one here that I wanted to give a shoutout. I would’ve missed this in theaters had I not checked my AMC app. A coming of age story in which a downtrodden young man gets hired to help out at a ranch that doubles as an oasis for LGBTQ people. Eve Lindley is magical and should be in more stuff. It’s available digitally and I can’t recommend it enough. Finding your people is everything.

 

The Substance

It’s not a hot take to say that this was insane. One of a few movies I’ve seen in the last few years where it ended and my first thought was, “That was a masterpiece.” Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley give ballsy performances and it absolutely rips. Beautifully shot and it had me reflecting on my relationship with myself and my body. Not for the faint of heart! 

Thanks for reading. 

Rudolph

 

What I Really Want On My Spotify Wrapped

Every year we get a slightly different Spotify Wrapped with different categories and outcomes. There are always fun tidbits but I often feel like there are things missing, so here’s what I missed this year.

        1)    They should definitely bring back the Genre section of wrapped because I like it to tell me that I have consistent taste.

        2)    I want to know how many times each of my songs on my “Most Played” list was fully played through and how many times partially, because otherwise it feels like cheating to only know the winner’s score.

        3)    I wish the info of each category was shown in a Venn Diagram or a spectrum diagram so I can see the distribution of everything.

This is all I can think of at the moment but I’m sure I have more ideas, and if the Spotify executives are reading this for some reason, first, what are you guys doing here, and second, I give you full permission to steal my ideas for next year. 

Let’s Wrap it up!

Thanks for reading!

Holly

The Empty Nest

For years, we have heard people talk about becoming “empty nesters”.  More than talk about it, we know people who have counted down the minutes, relishing the moment when their kids have flown the coop and left home.  Between staggered graduations, COVID and various periods at home after college, we have only been full-time empty nesters for about a year.

Sure, there are some benefits.  There is less laundry to do, fewer mouths to feed, somehow the house doesn’t get dirty as fast.  We can put stuff in the kids’ rooms when we need extra space to stow something.  We can even steal a nap on one of their beds when the master bedroom is in use.  Meal planning (or lack thereof) is certainly easier with only two of us at home.  We can plan a prep a full meal or just do sandwiches.  Or even skip a meal if we’re not that hungry.  By the same token, if we’re not up to cooking, we can order in or go out to grab a bite without it being a major production.  We can make last minute decisions on doing something and just hop in the car and do it.  Easy peasy.  All of that is good.

Also, there’s all of the positive implications of being empty nesters.  It means that our kids are out there living lives, meeting people, experiencing things and all of that is good too.  We’ve spent our lives raising our kids to be smart, independent people who can flourish out in the world.

But that’s just the thing.  My wife love each other and enjoy spending time just the two of us.  But we also cherish time with our kids.  It is precisely because they are so smart, fun, adventurous, funny, thoughtful and many other things that we really like having them around.  They were around for the holidays and it was amazing.  We ate, we laughed, we saw some shows, we watched movies, we played games, we chatted about life, movies, books and other stuff.  It was delightful.  We so enjoy spending time with them.  We like to hear about their lives/friends/adventures apart from us.  We are so proud of them and the people they are becoming.  We can’t wait for the next time we’re all together again.

But in the meanwhile, I think I’m just going to have ice cream for dinner and call that a meal.

Thanks for reading.

Frosty

My Dad's Top Ten (Eve's Version)

Reading Frosty’s blog entry the other day about his father’s top ten favorite things had me pondering my own father’s top ten things.  He passed 19 ½ years ago so it has been a long time since I have witnessed any of them. Consequently, I feel like this is a good exercise.

#10 Trains. Dad loved all different train lines and loved to visit them all over the country. As a family, we have been known to hike to a remote tunnel that has trains trapped in them as a result of the tunnel caving in.  I have vivid memories of that day.

#9 Model Trains. Big train people and model train people often overlap, but not always.  And certainly these two hobbies had different outlets.  Dad loving model trains meant that half of our basement was devoted to a model train layout, train paraphernalia, building equipment, etc.  It also meant that when he passed, I inherited a collection of unusual tools that you would never expect a random person to have in their garage – like dentistry tools and all sorts of teeny tiny gadgets.  Believe it or not, they have come in handy.

#8 Scotch and Milk, my father’s go to drink.  If there was ice in his milk, I knew I could not have a sip because it was definitely spiked.

#7 History.  More specifically, the Civil War.  Dad was always watching programs and reading books about wars.  He also read a lot about WWII, in which he served (as well as the Korean War).  I always wondered if his diligent attention to this particular subject matter was some sort of coping mechanism for having been called to serve, twice.

#6 Our beautiful country.  Each summer, my family would travel cross country via our van and trailer (occasionally venturing into Mexico or Canada). Dad always said we have so much to see in the US, why do we need to go elsewhere. As a result, I am the only person I know who had been to 47/50 states by the time they were 19 years old. (And yes, I subsequently visited the other three.)

#5 Being a firefighter.  Dad was on the job for 39 years in NYC and retired as a Fire Marshall. I think he really valued that brotherhood and the community that came with it.

#4 Cooking and eating.  No question, my father was a messy cook but he was a good one. He cooked lots of German dishes and also loved to cook for his firehouse. There are a few things that he loved that I hated as a child – cantaloupe and nuts for example – that I now actually love.  Except liverwurst.  That is never happening.

#3 Camping.  This one kind of goes with the cross-country travel but not necessarily.  We often went camping for a long weekend in the woods upstate or out at the beach during off-season.

#2 Talking with people.  Dad was always up for a good conversation – with people he knew well or with strangers.  In fact, part of the draw to camping was to be able to share a campfire with neighbors.  Many people have told me over the years that my father was so knowledgeable and interesting to talk to.

#1 His grandkids.  Of course, Dad loved his family.  And he always used to say he enjoyed his friends, but it was more important for him to spend time with his family.  When his two grandchildren came along, he was absolutely thrilled.  He loved to play with them and was always game to be silly with them.  I will never forget the time he and my mom danced around the living room to entertain my son, with Dad playing a toy ukulele and sporting a kiddie cowboy hat. Or when he entertained my daughter on his lap for the entirety of a very long and crowded Christmas mass.

Thanks, Dad, for the memories.

Eve

A Journey Into Adulthood

While I’ve been home for the holidays, I’ve had the chance to reconnect with some old friends from high school and college. As he watched me wash some dishes (useless), a college friend made the comment that “being an adult is weird, but also nice.” You meet people from earlier walks of life who knew a specific slice of who you are, and now you’re kind of a different person but you also still have that same slice within you? Bizarre!

A few days before, a high school friend told me “Life just keeps getting better and better”. I think I agree with both of my friends. Each chapter of my life, COVID aside, has been a rewarding step forward filled with even more love and joy. I really remember thinking after I graduated college in 2020 (during what felt like the End of the World) that I would never have fun anymore and that the best parts of my life were behind me. People idolize their high school and college years and I completely see why. After that point, they lose a sense of community, they stop growing, and they stop having fun. As an adult, you have to fight for these things every day. Post COVID, I think I’ve figured out to do that. Complacency and disillusionment will eat you alive, and I’m so happy to have learned that while fighting for community, growth, and fun is a hard fight, it’s also a joyful one.

 

One thing I know for certain is this: they say that men’s brains don’t completely mature until age 25/26 and I absolutely feel that. I think over the last year or so, I’ve finally become a more complete version of myself with a stronger sense of identity and purpose. And what a frickin relief. Like, wow. It’s so over for you guys.

 

Things that used to scare me don’t frighten me anymore. I finally feel like I have the tools to achieve what I want and to overcome the obstacles in my way. Are you shaking in your boots? You should be. Thought I was annoying before? Wrong. Incorrect.

Thanks for reading!

Rudolph

Difficult Christmas Songs

Merry Christmas Eve! 

We went caroling this evening, as we do every year, and I was thinking about how some of these songs are pretty difficult for the average person to sing skill-wise.

First, any song that tried to make the word “heavenly” into two syllables like “hea-vnly”. It always ends up with everyone clunkily squeezing way too many consonants and sounds cacophonous.

Another one is “Angels We Have Heard On High” where they sing “Glooooooooria”. That song really hits the top and bottom of everyone’s vocal range, no matter what key it’s in, and the last “i-a” is always too low. It’s a beautiful song, but for the average person to sing in church or wherever, it’s logistically very difficult.

In general, any kind of repetitive song like “Deck the Halls” or “Jingle Bells”, those are hard because it’s hard for people to keep track of all the repeating lyrics.

At the end of the day, the best Christmas songs are the ones sung with others and with festive holiday spirit, even if they’re basically sung in an accidental round and in 7 different keys.

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!

Holly

My Dad's Top 10

I have been thinking about my father today on what would have been his 91^st birthday.  It’s fascinating to me that while there are many things I have forgotten over the 34 years since he left us, there are many things that still feel fresh in my mind.

Clear as day, I can hear his voice calling my name, I remember the sound of his laugh, the feeling of a big hug from him, many moments from our cross-country road trip in 1980, playing basketball on the driveway and watching him shoot his hook shot, and many others.

In writing this blog, my family members and I often document our favorites of the year that is ending – from movies, books, and TV shows to museums and Broadway shows.

So I decided to make a list of what I think were my father’s Top 10 things based on my own recollections (and I can’t swear by the order of these items other than #1).

#10 -- Watching sports and sharing sports trivia

#9 – Enjoying a rare, juicy steak

#8 -- Playing bridge 

#7 – Enjoying a glass of quality scotch

#6 – Teaching his students (at school, in his SAT prep courses and while tutoring)

#5 – Telling jokes (his sons and his students were the most frequent recipients of his Dad humor) and watching stand-up comedy

#4 – Reading

#3 – Traveling

#2 – Talking to his sons (on the phone, sitting around the dining table, hanging out with him in the living room)

And my father’s #1 favorite thing – Spending time with his friends and family

 

Unfortunately he never got to meet any of his grandchildren but I’m sure that would have ranked very high on his list as well.

Happy Birthday, Dad!  Hope you are enjoying a rare steak and a glass of scotch.

Frosty

Museums You Never Knew Existed

I love all museums! Living in New York, I have many world-class museums at my fingertips – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, and so on and so forth. My earliest memories of going to museums are with my brother – particularly to the Natural History museum (love the gem section!) and to the Met (best Christmas tree ever!). So here’s to you, Tom, for turning me on to this treasure trove!

Whenever my family travels, we do our best to hit some local museums. The big ones, of course, are impressive and a must-see. But more and more, I find myself seeking out the smaller “Specialty Museums”. These come in two forms: museums that have a theme of one type of item or one artist, and just a smaller low key, low-budget deal.  These museums often tell us a lot about the history of the area without telling us about the history of the area if you know what I mean.

Need some examples? How about the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, California? Walking through that museum is like walking through history and is the perfect blend of science and art. They also have classes that you can take to design and create your own neon sign.

Along similar lines, the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, New York is a thorough walk-through of a dizzying array of glass treatments.  Over 50,000 objects spanning 3,500 years with works from all over the world, this museum will give you a new appreciation for all things glass. Incidentally, you can also make something from glass on site.

One more glass example I must share: the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle, Washington. Such mastery and technique and possibly one of my favorite gardens. Plants and glass intermixed somehow really works.

Here is a list of some fascinating specialty museums worth your time: Museum of Puppetry (Atlanta, Georgia), Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, Mass), Banksy Museum (Lisbon, Portugal), Moonshot Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), the Word Museum (Washington DC), and the National WWII Museum (New Orleans, LA).

Now if you have read this far, you will be rewarded with two of the most surprising museums you never knew existed: I believe the Museum of Sex in New York City has been around for nearly twenty years. Believe it or not, there is a lot of education to be had surrounding sex and sexuality. This museum provides insight into prevailing belief systems and societal taboos across geography and time. The second most surprising museum is the the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavík, Iceland. This specialty museum is dedicated to collecting, studying and presenting actual phalluses from all walks of life, from hamsters to whales. Like the Museum of Sex, the information and objects are organized and presented in a scientific fashion.

There is easily a dozen more that I could detail for you from my travels, but I suspect I now have your curiosity piqued. Whatever town you find yourself in, I recommend you check out its specialty museums.  You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading.

Eve

My Top Books of 2024

My Goodreads goal this year was 12 and I finished #11 last night, so it’s looking a little bit dangerous but I think I should be able to lock in and finish my last one in the next week and a half. Regardless, here are my current top 3 books of the year.

#3 Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Blake Crouch does some very smart sci-fi thrillers and this is one of two of his that I’ve read. Like his other books, in Dark Matter he takes a relatively common sci-fi concept and then uses it to write a smart and epic ride. In this case, he explores the multiverse. This book came out in 2016, a little bit before the multiverse shot into the mainstream with a bunch of superhero movies and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. My favorite part of Crouch’s take is that, unlike those movies in which the multiverse is portrayed as a fun and silly place where up is down, left is right, and people have hot dogs for fingers, Dark Matter depicts the idea of alternate realities are something that is actually very scary and not to be messed with. He makes the existential terror of being lost outside of space and time seem really palpable, and I found that take to be pretty fresh and realistic. 

 

#2 Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

A great book for any up and coming artist to read. Steve Martin was just bad at comedy for so long before he became incredible at it. But he just loved doing it and kept going for the love of the game. A favorite quote that I’ve been thinking about, as a performer, since I read it: “I learned a lesson: It was easy to be great. Every entertainer has a night when everything is clicking. These nights are accidental and statistical: Like lucky cards in poker, you can count on them occurring over time. What was hard was to be good, consistently good, night after night, no matter what the abominable circumstances.”

 

#1 The Will of the Many by James Islington

The thing about me is that I love a smart fantasy novel that brilliantly depicts and acts as an allegory for real world socio-political and geopolitical issues. The Will of the Many is exactly that. Under the backdrop of a Roman Empire-esque nation, James Islington creates a vivid world that has a lot to say about colonialism, the prison-industrial complex, capitalism, and the line between freedom fighters and terrorists (uh oh). Most importantly though, there’s a cool but grounded magic system with many mysteries yet to unfold. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Thanks for reading!

Rudolph

White Christmas?

We got some snow flurries today.  Despite coming down pretty heavily at one point, it was quite picturesque and definitely made me smile.

It’s December after all.  And it is has been years since we actually had a white Christmas, let alone any sort of significant snowfall.  I’m sure today’s precipitation will be gone long before Christmas but it was still nice to see.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll get some more before Christmas gets here.

Don’t get me wrong.  Getting tons of snow can be a pain in the ass.  When there is so much that roads are not passable and you can’t even get your car out until the snow plows come around can put a real wrench in your plans.

But today was simply lovely.  We had a few flurries a week or two ago but this was actually enough to put a light dusting (a very light dusting) on the ground.

My son, who now lives in Los Angeles, is home for the holidays and he was quite excited to see the snow.  The first snowfall he has seen in two years so it was special for him.  That made it special for us too.

So whether you love snow or hate it, I encourage you to enjoy it when it is light and picturesque.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Frosty

Dream Job

People often ask what your “dream job” is. Truth be told, I really don’t wish that I had to do anything for livelihood, but in the purely hypothetical world where I suddenly inherit $10 billion and can do whatever I want for the rest of my life, I would still want to produce and put on shows and movies and TV shows, and just cast myself and whomever else I want and just be able to explore stories that I find meaningful and that bring me joy and satisfaction.

Right now, I’m about to leave my job as a personal assistant, which I’m leaving for a number of reasons, but one of them is that I wish I had more time to actually pursue the creative projects that I want. Whenever I see shows on Broadway or even when I went up to Cornell and saw my friends in a show for the theater department, I had such envy because I wished that I was doing a show, and I haven’t been able to audition for anything because my assistant job has required me to be very available.

So, now that I’ve been looking for a new day job, I was trying to come up with the ideal day job for me in this moment (other than the REAL ideal, which is just getting my big break and becoming the next Florence Pugh and not having to worry about other employment). I’m honestly at a point where I want to make things happen for myself, seeing other theatrical peers doing the same, including my brother, and I would love to produce a show somehow in the next year. So if I could have a day job that allowed me to have coworkers (which was another difficulty of my current job where my only other coworker was my boss) and either had hybrid scheduling or more work towards the evening/another weird time of day so I can do my appointments and then spend my day working on creative things, that would be amazing.

Another factor is in what field I would want to work. I would obviously love to do something in a creative field, especially in the theater/TV/film industry or in fashion, both of which I studied in college and love a lot, but at this point I’m not married to those as long as it’s not going to have me on 0% battery at the end of the day (yet another difficulty with my current position).

Even if I could find the “perfect” day job that fits all of these criteria, I feel like submitting to online job applications is like throwing my resume and cover letter into a black hole and hoping something will come of it, so I’m trying to network and use any friends-of-cousins’-neighbors’-dogs that I can to tap into different companies.

My fingers and toes are crossed, and I have no idea what is coming next for me, but I’m kind of excited at the prospect of the unknown and what’s waiting for me in the new year. Here’s to the future!

Thanks for reading!

Holly

On The Hunt

My adult son recently did a scavenger hunt organized by friends in the UCB community (Upright Citizens Brigade) and he had a ball.  This got me recalling all of the scavenger hunts I have created over the years, and the few I have attended, which is surprisingly quite a few.

If we work chronologically, the first hunt I ever did was in college. It was called the Road Rally.  First off, you had to have a car or know someone who did to participate.  I seem to recall a fraternity ran the event as a fundraiser. Therefore, I am sure there was drinking involved.  What can I say, it was a different time.  No drinking in our car, though; it belonged to my friend’s parents. My freshman buddies and I drove all over town from place to place - the next place always had the hint that led you to the next destination.  We never finished it, though, because we got lost.  Nonetheless, it was still so much fun.

Coincidentally, my second scavenger hunt was also college-related. As a young alum, I was involved in a group that also held the event as a fundraiser. For the Big Red Apple Scavenger Hunt, groups each had their own limo and whipped around NYC from stop to stop.  So I was part of the team that created the hints and destinations. I think that may be where I caught the bug to enjoy creating the hunts!

Fast forward to when my husband and I had kids.  We bought this absolutely awesome book, whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment, that had a dozen or so hunts.  Each page had tear off hints with a note on the back that told you where to hide the hint. (All the hunts were house-based.) What I loved about it the most was the hunts aged with the kids as they aged, i.e., the first hunt had just colored hints and they would have to run to the “red” thing in the house to get the next hint.  This was for kids who could not read yet.  Then it progressed to word scrambles, riddles, etc.  We used this book for a good ten years.  It was great for holidays with a little gift at the end.

Last but not least, as a Girl Scout leader I created a scavenger hunt for my scouts (maybe they were 9 or 10 yrs old).  I sent them all over the elementary school, picking up items I had previously planted.  They ran around like maniacs and caused quite a ruckus. (Not supposed to be running in the halls!)  SOO fun!

I am wondering, am I the only person who has been involved in so many hunts?

Thanks for reading.

Eve

 

From The Mouths Of Babes

I work in a kindergarten classroom at Jewish private school. The kids are very sweet and well taken care of. For my first blog, I just wanted to share some cute interactions I’ve had while spending 40 hours a week with a bunch of 5 year olds who know more Hebrew than I do. 

There’s this girl in the class and we have this hilarious bit going on together where she calls me “Sarah” but get this: HER name is Sarah. My name is Reed. Do you see what she’s doing here? She’s doing this reversal— I can’t even wrap my head around it but I know that it’s funny. That’s for sure.

A boy in my class got punished and couldn’t do that rainbow parachute thing that everyone did in elementary school. The one where everyone stands around the edge and you lift it up all at once, run under, and capture the air so it’s like you’re all in a little fort? It’s the best, and this boy was understandably disappointed. He comes up to me and goes, “This is the worst day of my life.” I was like, that’s awesome, I hope it is. You’re 5 years old. Not getting to do the parachute is an extremely high bar. If today is the worst day of your life you probably have like 80 years left of winning the lottery, eating ice cream, marrying a beautiful woman… I don’t know, other good stuff. 

 

A girl slapped my ass the other day. I was standing helping a student and she gives me a good smack and runs away. I pathetically go “Ohhh, let’s not do that”.  Her teacher, Morah Amy, hears this interaction and the echo of my wagon getting slapped and goes “What did she just do??” I’m like “…she hit my butt :(   Amy calls the girl over and invites me to join the conversation. It felt like I was in trouble too?? And that’s what’s wrong with this country. 

 

Amy goes “Did you just slap Mr. Reed’s bottom?” The girl just nods. 

 

Amy: Do you think Mr. Reed liked it when you slapped his bottom. 

 

Girl shakes her head.

 

Amy: Mr. Reed, did you like it when she slapped your bottom?

 

I said the correct answer, which was “No”.

 

Good to be back on the blog and happy holidays everyone!

 

-Rudolph 

A Walk In The Woods

While I really enjoy the four seasons, including the snow and cooler temps of winter, the thing I dislike most about this time of year is that it puts a damper on my ability to go for a walk in the woods.

Walking in general is great exercise.  It gets your blood pumping, stretches your legs and it takes you out of whatever you were doing.  I always find I have a fresh perspective on things after a little bit of time on the trail.

Luckily for me, my wife and kids generally enjoy walking as well.  When there are no woods around, we’re also game to take “urban” hikes.  They are nice too but they don’t have the same medicinal effect that the woods have on me.

I’m blessed to live in New York which has tons of places to hike in all four seasons.  I know many people hear “New York” and think about New York City.  But something like 64% of the state is forest, representing over 18.6 million acres.  That makes New York one of the most heavily forested states in the northeast.  You could spend your whole life just hiking the Adirondacks and the Catskills and never run out of trails.  And there are so many smaller areas that offer the perfect hike without having to commit an entire day (or week(s)) to do them.

Second to New York, my favorite place to hike is in Colorado.  While I have walked and hiked much of my life (starting from early days in Boy Scouts), I had never been to Colorado before meeting my wife.  In one of our earliest years of marriage, we took a southwest trip and visited many national parks, including the Rockies.  It was on that trip that I fell in love with Colorado’s beauty.  Since then, we have returned to Colorado at least once a year, and always squeeze in as much hiking as time will allow.  We have only been to Colorado in winter once.  The skiing was fantastic, sure, but all of our other trips have been during summer or fall, so hiking is always on our itinerary.

When you get a chance to take a walk, put on some good shoes and get out there. You’ll be glad that you did.

Thanks for reading.

Frosty

Sens-itive

I have often randomly had the debate with myself of “if I had to lose one sense, which would suck the least to lose?” Obviously, touch would be crazy to lose, and sight and sound I would also be very incapacitating to lose, so that narrows it down to taste and smell (and the ability to see dead people).

Obviously, I would prefer to have all of my senses, but that’s not what this hypothetical scenario is, so there.

I actually think I would give up taste and keep smell, because I have a very good sense of smell and losing my scent memory would be very sad. Sometimes I’ll just be walking around random places and I’ll suddenly smell my kindergarten classroom, or my friend’s dorm air freshener from freshman year, or a family member I miss.

I have a bottle of my late grandma’s perfume, and while it’s not something I would wear, and not even something she wore for the last few years of her life, smelling it takes me back to the prime of our lives together, when she would get dolled up and let me sit at her vanity and play with her lipstick and we would go on vacations. Some of these memories might have faded if not for the scent memories that I associate with them, and losing that would be hard for me.

I’m also a big fan of perfume and candles, and I have a collection of both. People can definitely become more attractive just by smelling good, and a room that smells delicious when you walk into it is going to psychologically predispose you to have joy in that place. Now that I’m thinking of it, not being able to walk into my parents’ house at Christmastime and smell Fraser fir wouldn’t feel like the holidays to me.

Also, my sort of cheat-y loophole is that a large portion of taste for food comes from scent (which is why you plug your nose when you take medicine), so I don’t really think the experience of eating would be terribly diminished, and if I were going by texture instead of taste, I would definitely be sad not to have the flavors but maybe there could sort of be the sensation with the scent.

In conclusion, taste is the least useful sense to me, but for now I’m going to keep my tastebuds in case something comes up. Peace.

Thanks for reading!

Holly