September 17, 2023 – On Rosh Hashanah, Jews eat new fruits. We were invited to a neighbor’s house for dinner. It was the first time we had dinner with them. Since we don’t keep kosher and they do, we wanted to bring a gift they could use. So we brought a variety of exotic fruit (uncut, so they would remain kosher).

This, of course, was Kit’s idea. I’m on board with the idea of generosity, but I’m usually stumped about how to put it into practice. Not Kit. So we spent some time in a nearby produce market looking for unusual fruit. And we got a good collection. But Kit knew our host likes star fruit. The market didn’t have any. I was ready to give up. But not Kit. Off we went to another store to complete our gift.

It’s not something we would have bought ourselves. But it’s not really a gift if it’s something the giver wants. It has to be something the recipient wants. Kit knows how to do that. I can only hope to learn from her. (And, yes, I’m a slow learner. We’ve been together for over 30 years. But I’m better than I used to be.)

The new fruits of Rosh Hashanah are not without a lesson about life. (Of course, you knew that.) This is the season of introspection when we (try to) shed our bad habits and adopt new ones. I don’t take the rituals very seriously. I’m not a believer. But the idea of taking some time to up my game has always appealed to me. If you go back to my Rosh Hashanah blog posts from earlier years, you’ll see that I usually have a post about how I intend to change in the coming year—if I posted at all.

Last year, I didn’t. I had a goofy idea for a different blog, but it didn’t go anywhere. I’ve finally decided to come back to this blog.

Over the past year, I have tried to be more positive and grateful. I have a gratitude journal next to my bed. I don’t always write in it, but it’s been a help. But it’s limited. I write in it when I’m tired and want to go to sleep. At first, I would press on to elaborate (being a writer), but it doesn’t work well at that hour. I plan to bring some of that elaboration into this blog.

And, to be honest, I’m hoping that getting back into the regular habit of writing will kick start my other projects—which I hope you’ll hear about in the years to come.

I’m not an exotic fruit person. (We kept that nonexotic fruit for ourselves.) As a child, I used to not be a fruit person at all. The basic apple and honey that we all (now) eat for the holiday did not interest me. My parents gave me honey cake to dip in applesauce instead. But eventually, I learned to try new things.

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