It’s 8:30 a.m. here and 3:30 p.m. there
and there isn’t much in common. Bombs
are bursting there; people are running all
over the place, tossing rocks, wielding
knives. There’s a replay on the internet of
a “gotcha” interview with a Muslim and a
Jew, the young balding Muslim being set
up to look very bad in spite of his call for
dialogue, understanding, non-violence, while
the blond as all get out, beautifully coiffed,
female interviewer, hired to affirm the place
of superiority for descendants of Northern
European Christians and their allegiance to
their tribal god’s eternal covenant with one
group over against the other listened to the
beautifully coiffed Jewish woman who just
kept attacking verbally the Muslim man with
inflammatory language while appealing to
emotion about religious wars and rumors of
wars while the interviewer concluded that it
was a great debate with a wink and a nod and
the man looked out his window to see the sun
rise over the dune and the golden oaks and the
blazing burning bush peaking through the pines
and said, “We all could use one of those right
now,” as a few fuchsia leaves fluttered to the
ground mingling with the needles. Isaac Albaniz’
(who once quipped in My Youthful Indiscretions,
“I am a Roman, I am a Christian, I am a Jew,
I am a Moor!”) peaceful guitar chords played
in the distance.

I just knew when I was ten that
the day of my liberation would
come, the day I would never
again have to hear the dreaded
sound of my mother’s voice calling,
“Robert Edwin, it’s your turn to
wash the dishes. Your sister will
dry.” And here I am sixty years
later just having washed the dishes.
At least I don’t have to hear my
mother’s voice ordering me into the
kitchen. I just go there automatic-
ally now with a cheerful voice say-
ing, “It was a great dinner, darling.”
And after I’ve made an omelet from
the leftovers from the previous even-
ing’s great dinner and we’ve eaten,
my wife will move to the sink, dirty
dishes in hand and say, “That was
a creative breakfast, dear. I’ll
take care of the dishes.”