Orel Family

Things to do on my birthday: WGI Semi-finals in Dayton! Ezra turned 17 this week. Start with the name. That's the first thing. Ezra. But that'll be for Part 2. (If there is a Part 2) First, I have Winter Guard on my mind. What is Winter Guard, anyway? Fortunately, there's a web page that succinctly answers that question: "Winter guard is the sport of indoor color guard. Modern color guard is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement." Winter Guard lineage ultimately goes back to military color guards, which helps explain the use of flags, rifles and sabres. I could do without that portion of the symbolism, even while admiring the mastery with which high school kids -- mostly girls -- can spin, toss and throw them. Ezra first joined Winter Guard as an 8th Grader. Aaron convinced them to go to a "try it out" night. The coach at the time had just created a ...

Someday we'll look back at this and it will all seem funny. Yesterday we woke up just after 4am, piled in to the car at 5:45am, and drove more than 4 hours to Cincinnati. We stopped at a shopping mall and went in to a nice book store. I had my most important business meetings of the year, but at the most crucial moment my phone was on mute -- it would be hard to participate while Bruce Springsteen was standing atop the bookstore's staircase, surveying the hundreds of people cramming every aisle of the store. Meet me in Cincinnati! Bruce preparing to meet and greet. I thought I had missed the book signings. Last month's event in Toronto was supposed to be the end of it, and I hadn't managed to get myself a ticket. Of course, I could rationalize it: After all, who would really want  to drive 4 hours each way for a firm handshake and a snapshot? < raising my hand /> And who would really want  that full day excursion for a ridiculously below-market rate ...

September 19: Full house for homecoming. Today is recovery day. Yesterday the West Bloomfield High School Marching Band , including both kids, performed at The Michigan Competing Bands Association (MCBA) State Finals at Ford Field in Detroit . The band finished in 9th place in Flight I, with a score of 88.125. Two years ago, that might as well have been written in Greek, but today I can translate every word of it. August 22: At band camp. September 5: For the first half of the first game, the dress stayed casual. Two years ago, I would never have expected to become a band dad. Aaron's school didn't even have a marching band, just a loose-knit ensemble of a few kids in a quasi-rock band that played various school events. They did ok, we had no complaints. Aaron played guitar, but with the encouragement of the group's advisor, he also tried electric bass, and it stuck. He started private lessons. Then he decided to transfer to WBHS. WBHS didn't have an ense...

July 3, 2014 One of the few vacations we take is a trip to Michigania Family camp . This is a one week camp on Lake Walloon in Northern Michigan. For us, this has meant celebrating July 4th at camp. Sometimes the camp celebration is on July 3rd or July 5th due to details of the camp schedule. This post is a retrospective of some pictures from July 4th celebrations at camp. July 4, 1999 1999 Our first year camping as a family, and July 4th was our first full day of camp. It was very hot, and Aaron -- then 2 years old -- was already a ball of sweat when I took this photo of him trying on my sunglasses. In the background is the old dining hall. July 4, 2002 2002 Elianna was 14 months old. The heat broke just in time for the parade. July 4, 2006 2006 Elianna, now age 5, at Ceramics, Arts and Crafts, working on a project. July 4, 2008 2008 July 4th was the last day of camp in 2008. This is Elianna at the closing ceremony, overlooking the lake. July 4, 20...

This past Saturday, Elianna had her bat mitzvah service. It is customary in many synagogues for a parent to say a few words to the young adult during the service. Following are the words I said to her. Beyond the opportunity to kvell,  I hope some parents may read this and see their own child, and their own feelings, reflected. And never to forget those feelings. Elianna: I went to a concert recently. Yes, really. Imagine that. You didn’t come to this one. Anyway, at the concert, the bandleader – you’ve met him once or twice, sort of – said this: "First thing you do, before you write a decent song, … before you play your first gig, you lay in bed at night and you dream yourself up. Everything you weren't in the day… So the first thing you do is, you dream yourself to life." I thought about that quite a bit when I read your d’var torah . You’ve brought yourself to life, your whole life. You dream and imagine and read and create and you commit yourself to your frie...

My first visiting day: 1973. The nest is empty again: The kids are off at camp. As it was last year , Elianna is off to Camp Ramah in Canada , and Aaron is off to Ramah Outdoor Adventure in Colorado. The house is quiet. The food goes more slowly. The days seem longer... and yet they go by too quickly. Arriving at her 2nd home: Camp Ramah. I was a Ramah camper too, at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires . For me, Ramah was a transformative experience. " From  what to  what?," I might ask in a less cheerful moment; but there are still things from that first summer that I keep with me. A feeling of warmth and belonging that I'd never quite had before. The sound of birkhat hamazon -- the grace after meals -- being sung by 600 kids in unison at the first camp meal, giving me the impression of massive bells ringing. Getting ready for shabbat on Friday afternoon, when we'd wear all white. The singing at the Friday evening services, where I could sing and not feel self-...

ok, forgiven. The fan-sourced movie project Springsteen and I had its one and... almost only showing this evening. Culled from several thousand fan submissions, the film intends to tell the story of what Bruce means to his fans, interspersed with rare concert footage that bring to the big screen the magic, mystery and ministry of his rock and roll. Why "forgiven"? For mangling the grammar in the title? Nah, Bruce did the same thing in Streets Of Philadelphia , and if it was good enough for him then I'm ok with it. Maybe for not using or even responding to my submission; which for at least 48 hours was the best video I'd ever done. The only emails I got from the Springsteen and I  crew were instructions on how best to pay an inflated price -- $15 -- for a movie ticket. Sure, there were soundbytes, but I wasn't sure if a line like "I lost my virginity to Thunder Road" was worth a laugh or a groan... or both. As I sat through the first half hour of the...

We bought a house with a swimming pool. I don't think I'd do it again, but what's done is done, and the pool has water, and ducks like to swim in water, and every spring before we open the pool ducks come and try to swim in it. This sometimes prompts a most curious scene as Lori or Aaron try to chase them away... though they always come back, at least until the water warms up. In some years ducks have started nests in spots near the pool. One time was a duck war, all the eggs were smashed, and a male duck with a very broken neck ended up in the pool. Another time, a duck abandoned its last egg. The children tried to hatch it , but nothing ever happened. June 19: 9 ducklings, unable to make it over a bubble in the cover. On June 19th, our history changed. Lori suspected we had another duck with a nest, and its nearby male partner, but on this chilly morning we found out. Ducks in the pool! Or, since we had covered the pool the previous night, it was ducks on  the pool...

For the ninth consecutive year, Aaron and I rode in the annual Tour de Cure  ride to help support the American Diabetes Association (ADA).  It was the 5th ride for Elianna and Lori. First things first:  We are still accepting donations through the end of June.  The link is:   http://main.diabetes.org/goto/teamorel We may have a date conflict next year, so this ride may be our last for a while. So I am posting some pictures of our rides over these past 9 years... Aaron during the first ride, in 2005 At a rest stop in 2006. Elianna was still using the bike in 2012. On the ride, in 2007 2008: Prepared to leave 2009: The first full family ride, and the last at Island Lake. 2010: Aaron and Elianna at Brighton High School before the ride Lori and Elianna during the 2011 ride. Before the start of the 2012 Tour de Cure 2013: At a rest stop. Aaron says he wants to go 62 miles next year. 2013: After the ride. We've gone from 7 mile rides to 15 to 25, ...