Omens, Accidents, and a Reminder

always find writing cathartic: a kind of release, so I was surprised that yesterday's blog entry, containing memories of my late father laid me low. I was downright blue though I'm not sure why.

I could have written reams more about my father but the kids were needing lunch and I had other housework to attend. Besides, a blog is not meant to be a book, and that's the direction toward which that piece was flowing. All day long, new memories of my father kept popping into my mind and I kept thinking: I should have written this. I should have written that.

At one point, I even felt guilty: I was short-changing my father by not enumerating all those good things about him. I know that's ridiculous. But logic and emotion don't always go hand in hand for this writer.

Feeling sad made me sluggish, and I had trouble getting through my work. There were good parts to my day, but most were mixed batches of good and bad. For instance, I was just putting the finishing touches on an email to my editor to let her know I was quitting when the electricity blew. So what should have been a satisfying moment became sullied.


Was the power-out some kind of omen? A harbinger of bad luck, a portent of evil, relating God Forbid, to my new position. *Gulp*
I know, I know. Altogether silly of me. No one else would make that kind of connection. Right?



Later that evening, I discovered that the power-out had affected a large portion of the country and was due to the accidental leaning of a natural gas company worker against the button that cuts off the power supply. Yeah. You can laugh. Laugh all you want. Guffaw, even. Only in Israel, right? But as Freud said, "There are no accidents."




I felt better toward the end of the evening, even though there was this interminable rehearsal.


The reason I perked up? My friend Tsipora told me about a happy event, a surprise party her family made for her and her twin sister, and just hearing about this gave me vicarious pleasure. Funny how that works. Even thinking about it now makes me smile.


Moral of the story: when you have good news, share it and brighten someone's day.






I know. Nothing groundbreaking there. Just a little reminder. And with that boys and girls, I bid you farewell.