You know how we all have theme songs?

Every presidential election I sing the Who's "We Won't Get Fooled Again"...just for laughs.

Sometimes when I'm in a serious diet mood, I get a song in my head to keep me going , like "Dreamworld" by Rilo Kiley...hmmm something hidden in that one maybe?

Our theme songs sleep deep inside us and come out when we need them most.I've been thinking about my dad's theme song, mostly because I've been thinking about my dad and how sick he is and how he may not be with us much longer.When I sing this song, I feel closer to him and the song itself just makes me feel good when I sing it..

One time when my dad , my sister and I were driving through Philly on the way to the shore, we got into a great music conversation...I think it was after he sang all the wrong lyrics to Evil Ways by Santana (yeah this was the 70's) , he loved Santana, it was modern big band to him and it felt upbeat with all the Latin rhythms.I told him I liked the band Chicago and he agreed they were great too, lots of horns....boys raised up in the 30's and 40's LOVED horn bands, in particular my dad, who wanted to be a sax player in a big band. But that's a whole other story.

He changed the channel to a station in Philly that plays Sinatra all day or anyone that sounds like Sinatra...amazing...my sister and I were captive until Jersey.

When the channel came in , "On A Clear Day" was playing.

My dad sat up straight at attention and declared, "That's my theme song, I picked it the day I quit smoking"... now I'm in the back seat wondering if a smoking lecture was on the agenda and trying to detect if he found my cigarettes in my flower power suitcase..."I threw the cigarettes in the garbage and never had another one, cold turkey, that's what I did, cold turkey..." he said chest thrustingly and he proceeded to sing along.

That song really sums up my dad and when I look at the lyrics (beautifuly written by Jay Lerner), I can see them in how my dad lived his life; with an optimistic spark and lots of VOLUME!

I can't help but think how strange it is that Anthony-Robbins-by-God never picked up on this one..what a song of self empowerment...it's almost a New Age anthem in it's speak...

I guess the bottom line is that a good lyric is timeless and this song says exactly what it needs to say...and I can't stop singing it.

So thanks to my dad for putting this incredible sentiment in my head for all time.

Now I'd like to share it with you, may you have many a clear day:

On A Clear Day by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner

On a clear dayRise and look around you

And you'll see who you are.

On a clear dayHow it will astound you

That the glow of your being outshines ev'ry star.

You'll feel part of ev'ry mountain sea and shore.

You can hear, from far and near,

A world you've never heard before.

And on a clear day...On that clear day...

You can see forever and ever more!

[interlude]

You'll feel part of ev'ry mountain sea and shore.

You can hear, from far and near,

A world you've never heard before.

And on a clear day...On that clear day...

You can see forever...And ever... And ever...And ever more!

...

Spelling Bees and the Honey of life

Last night my son was in a Spelling Bee.

He joined it because his class needed a 7th player to qualify and he raised his hand, certainly not because he has a burning desire to spell. Very few 11 year old boys do. They would rather use words as targets out in the woods with their BB guns.

No ,I think he did it to impress a certain brown eyed girl standing next to him.

He declared to us at dinner, that he was in the Spelling Bee and it was no big deal if he did well or not.To which I replied (in Mom tone) "Don't you want to at least do your best? "

He thought about it and looked out the window.

On the way to the Spelling Bee, in the car, he mentioned he was feeling butterflies.

His dad said "Hey if it was me, I'd be out on the first word."

We exchanged scaredy-cat glances.I said "Just do your best and enjoy the moment of being at the table, so to speak."

The kids were all so keyed up and nervous , and the picture taking was done prior to the Bee...apparently some kids get pretty upset and it makes for bad photos afterward.

Spelling Bees are done in 'rounds" if a word is misspelled, the child is out and the next child tries and so on and so on. Once they go through #1 through #however many are in the bee, it starts the next round.

My son made the first round, thank God he didn't miss his first word...which was "broadleaf" by the way.

Then came round two.

The word was "chinchilla"....what? chinchilla? are you serious? Why can't it be ninja, like the word before, or football or jedi?

Four kids missed it, then our son.

He missed it, only after he asked them to repeat it, place of origin,and use it in a sentence...excellent stall tactics.

When a kid misses a word, he/she has the option to quietly sit with the parents or go to a special room where it's okay to cry or whine or whatever.

He sat with us. I was proud of that decision.

And we watched the smartest kid in his class get eliminated next and the not so smart kid hang in 'til the final three.

The smartest kid in the class, took it hard...the not so smart kid was living a dream and had a smile a mile wide.

As the round went on, they were dropping like flies...

The final two where brother and sister and it went on for awhile. It was incredible to watch and my nerves were frayed like a pair of seventies bell bottom jeans.

The sister won, and the word was "portfolio"....I don't think I even KNEW that word at 11 years old.

Most of the parents remarked how they themselves couldn't spell many of the words...I kept my mouth shut on that one.

We hugged our son, told him we were proud of him and how brave he was to stand up and go for it...he was a bit upset about leaving on the second word, but we joked about the word chinchilla and he was laughing by the time we got home.

I made sure not to say how life is one big Spelling Bee or make some stupid parent remark about how every now and then the status quo gets it's tree shaken...I think he already gets enough of that in golf.

I just sat back in the car seat and smiled when I realized that this is what I love about life, the wonderful seemingly randomness of it all, just like a big ol' Spelling Bee.

You can't control any of it but you can control whether you run and cry or whether you assess it , deal and try to find the good.

It is the sweetest and most golden thing and I call it the honey of life...because...can't have honey without the Bees ,now can we?

...

All Hail Ceasar....

The last three weeks I have been in and out of Atlantic City. My father , who resides in Ocean City NJ, is in the Atlantic City ICU/Trauma wing.

It's right next to the Frank Sinatra wing, my father's favorite entertainer.

Each time I go to the hospital, I park in their parking lot , which they share with Ceasars parking lot.

No not the emperor, the casino.

Starting on Thursday, the lot is so jammed, you can barely find a space.There is a steady stream of cars heading up the ramps to park as close to the casino elevators as possible.

They look like salmon intent on that swim up stream to insure their very survival.

The folks behind the wheels are every age, every ethnic background,every economic level. Sometimes they get lost and wander into the hospital reception area looking for slot machines.

At one point my sister and I, slightly punch drunk from lack of sleep and stress, could barely cross the parking garage to get to our car due to the stream of cars heading up, up, up.And I yelled, "Hey!...don't you people know that we're in a recession?"

I was completely ignored,

no response....unless you count the constant rush of traffic which almost sounded like the ocean, except for the occassional squeal of tires.

Maybe the word hasn't reached Atlantic City....what are the odds on that?

...