This morning I went for an early run before work. Since I live in a cold(ish) climate, summer is marked by building and road construction. There has been ongoing work to replace and fix drain pipes in one particular neighborhood since May. I’ve watched the work progress from the fifth block of a ten-block section of the city and finally loop back onto the nearest main street.
Today, however, I also had the pleasure of observing an act of kindness that helped renew my increasingly jaded view of humanity. A minivan stopped next to three construction workers who were standing behind several orange cones. I watched as one of the workers walked over to talk to the driver. When he stepped back behind the cones and the van drove off, he was holding a box of a dozen donuts from the Dunkin’ Donuts a block away.
The construction workers looked at each other, baffled, and grinned. They looked over at me across the street and I could think of nothing else to do but join their smiles.
Our drive home from Niagara-on-the-Lake to meet my aunts and uncle was graced by a rainbow. I don’t remember the last time I saw one, to be honest, but I can never look at a rainbow without a sense of sorrow. Judaism teaches that a rainbow is G-d’s sign to humanity that He or She wants to destroy us, as during the biblical flood, but won’t because of the treaty with Noah in the book of Genesis.
I don’t know if I believe that’s true, but it’s always something I remember from my years of Jewish education. Do other religions place religious significance on rainbows? I’d love your thoughts!
The following conversation took place between my mum and my zaidy (grandfather in Yiddish) when Mum, Mitch, and I took a trip to Montreal to visit Mum’s side of the family this weekend.
Context: Bubbie (grandmother in Yiddish) and Zaidy are going to Florida for a couple weeks in December, and my Bubbie is not a small woman. She bought a very flattering bathing suit that covers as much as can be covered.
Mum: Dad, do you like Mummy’s new bathing suit? Zaidy: Meh, it’s for old ladies. Mum: What, you think she should wear something sexy? Zaidy: Well yeah. It’s for old ladies. Why should she cover everything up?
By Rebecca Michelle 