As the youngest child, the words “Don’t go there” seemed an invitation to peek in and investigate the mysterious forbidden place. This applied to me crawling into the fireplace in our living room, ascending the stairs at the synagogue to where I thought God lived (it was the choir loft), or breaking into the even holier sanctuary of my sister’s room to open the window seats, explore the closet and pull down the ladder to climb to the attic.
In 1980, I interned at Kodak-Pathé Paris teaching ESL to their employees. As part of the curriculum we took our students to Edinburgh to practice their English. I can’t remember how I befriended a Scottish family, but we talked about my upcoming trip to Israel. She had a Palestinian exchange student living with them a while ago and wanted to prepare a gift for the family for me to transport. It sounds...
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As the 15 year old Byerly’s employee was loading the case of bottled water into the car, I looked at Harry and said “Did you buy these?” I was especially surprised given that five minutes before, we were discussing the potential green advantages of cremation. As usual, I had driven away from Byerly’s completely forgetting I was supposed to pick up our groceries from the drive through. Harry had the two bin numbers in his lap but claimed he was observing my rule that he can’t criticize me because my car does it for me with its many beeps in “eyesight.” As we were returning to Byerly’s, we passed a fountain at The Cremation Society that Harry found aestheically displeasing. I asked him “Does that mean you won’t be cremated?” We paused in thought. We shared that we wouldn’t mind being cremated as long as we didn’t know it. It... 
What am I doing climbing up Bear Mountain alone at 7:30 am? In Sedona, Arizona’s Red Rock country I usually hike into the canyons or up slight inclines and I can’t remember why I thought it was a good idea to scale a mountain. The first 30 minutes were easy—a gentle up and down across the open land punctuated with cactus and wildflowers. At the beginning of the climb, the trail was well-marked and, although steep, the dirt path was wide. Once I hit the mesa, the trail disappeared and I had to find my own way amidst the rock. Missteps meant rocks tumbled downwards. Fortunately, I remained upright, but the sound of small rocks cascading downwards sounded internal alarms. After a few dead ends, I found a way to continue up the mountain. At the second mesa, I thought I had reached the top. I looked up and... 
