WarchaizerEfrons At Large

It's Sunday, and Susan is at work in Princeton, and Noah and the kids are still at Mira's bat mitzvah. (Congratulations, Mira!). Perhaps they are already on their way home?

Plumrs Reunion, with Hunnybuns and Next Generation

The annals of rock n roll overflow with stories of progeny of stars who never overcome the curse of their provinance: Julian Lennon, Dino Martin, Nancey Sinatra, Alfonso Mozart, and so many more. Which is why it was with anxiety that Liquid Plumr gathered in West Virginia, with a good number of hunnybuns and kids. The wear of 30 years on the road has begun to show on the boys in the band themselves:

The boys at Angel's Watch, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

Indeed, at first some of the next generation did demonstrate signs of the aimlessness that sadly characterizes the children of so many rock legends:

Russell Pondering the Utter Meaningless of it All

Heddy & Maya, in Imitation of the Critically Acclaimed Film, "Sideways"

Micha, Hanging Out

What will become of these "children of the dream"? Only time will tell. (Oh, and remember, you read it first here, and not on any other family blog, some of which might also carry less reliable accounts of Plumr Reunion '08).

At the National Zoo

Dara, Susan & Micha with Languid Panda

Noah, Ari & Dara Discussing Animal Husbandry

Herm & Roz Pondering the Reptiles

Rachel & Micha Excitedly Discussing Public Affairs

At the Park with Saba & Savta, Ari & Rachel

Savta had the great idea of going to the park, where we could picnic, ride on the open seas, and then toss around the ol' frisbee. Everyone quickly agreed.

The first thing we did when we got to the park in Rockville was eat our lunch of salmon croquettes, tuna sandwiches, cucumbers, peppers, carrots and watermelon, on a bench overlooking the lake. We looked like this:

After we'd eaten and eaten well, the call of the seas was too strong to ignore. We trekked to the boat house and rented their most yar vessels:

Truth be told, the landlubbing life had come to grate upon our nerves. As happens with old sea-borne families like ours, the salt in our blood had gotten the best of us. We rented the paddle-boats for half and hour, as we had an itch for the open seas, and nothing less than 30 full minutes could satisfy us.

Back on shore, the children relaxed with a recumbent brass bear of the sort one often finds in port towns:

Saba and Savta left us for a prior engagement, a surprise anniversary party for their good friends, the Fingerhuts. The rest of us went off to the field, for a variety of activities, including flying the small helicopter that came in the mail yesterday:

As well as ultimate frisbee (kids vs. adults; final score - kids 4, adults 0) and a very complicated game that Dara introduced, involving four bases, two invisible runners and other features that elude me at the moment.

Dara patiently explaining the rules of a complicated game

After that, as we began our ride home, Ari realized that his expensive mobile phone was no longer in the pocket of his shorts. We went back to the field where we played the complicated game, ultimate frisbee and flew the helicopter. No luck. We went back to the boat house, and they had the phone. This is why we love sea folk: they're our people.

Then after picking up a DVD at Hollywood video and grabbing a quick dinner at the Ben Yehuda Cafe, Micha and Abba dropped off Dara, Ari and Rachel at Saba & Savta's house, where they watched Star Wars III, in which Aniken Skywalker become evil. He does it to save the woman he loves but in a gift-of-the-magi sort of paradox gone bad, she dies because he turned evil. Oy. Micha and Abba went to a theater to see "Fly Me to the Moon" about three young flies who join the Apollo 11 crew on their historic first voyage to the Moon. Buzz Aldridge has a cameo appearance. The movie was shot in that new 3D, which was wonderous.

Micha in Newfangled 3D Glasses

More wonderous still were the prodigious quantities of Sprite and Popcorn Micha acquired upon entrance to the theater.

In sum, a lovely day was enjoyed by all.

With Ari & Rachel in Ocean Grove, New Jersey

At this writing, we are sitting on the porch of the Bath Avenue House in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, talking about this and that, as one tends to do at the beach. The Bath Avenue House is a Bed & Breakfast of the sort where all the guests eat breakfast together and chat. We met the granddaughter of the founder of Russ & Daughters, an old Jewish smoked fish deli on the Lower East Side, near Yona Schimmels. Last night, at the big oak dining room table, one of the guests was checking the galley prints of an article for the Journal of Religion. Dara points out that this sort of bed and breakfast was just the sort that Loralei and Rory stayed in on Gilmore Girls, afraid to leave their room for fear of being forced to play parlour games with the other guests, to the point where, starving in their twee room, the fought over a linty Certs from the bottom on Loralei's purse.

Yesterday we spent the day on the beach, a bit in the chilly water and quite a bit playing ultimate frisbee in the sand, first kids vs. adults (kids 3, adults 2) and then Ari, Dara & Rachel vs. Micha and Noah (2 to 2). Then we walked to Asbury Park for Dinner at Old Man Rafferty's restaurant. (Rachel to the waitress: "Is the owner really old?"; Waitress to Rachel, "No, and he's not Rafferty either). Then Micha and Abba went off for twilight on the mini-links (about which score, the less said the better).

This being vacation, Susan and Noah went to Target, naturally.

Ocean Grove was founded as a Methodist Retreat (the Great Auditorium was raised in 1894, and it is surrounded by a tent park, now as then). In the 1980s it started to become a Gay town as well (New Jersey's Fire Island, they say), and to this day, it is at once very Methodist and very gay, which has a disconsonant, but appealing vibe of opposites meeting.

Children on Horses @ Kibbutz Malkia in the Galil

Dara at Camp on Visiting Day!

Publish Post

Dara & Family at Camp on Visitors' Day (Artist's Rendering)

On Thursday, finally!, visiting day arrived and we all went off to see Dara at camp.  On the way, we stopped at Ikea, conveniently located near Neve Hadassah, and power-purchased an l-shaped sofa.  (More on that in future posts).  At three o'clock, as visiting hours began, we arrived, and Dara was waiting for us at the gate.  What happiness to see her!

She was hoarse, of course, and sounded rather like Marge Simpson.  She showed us her room -- very orderly -- and took us a bit around camp.  Then we met the other Tel Aviv families for the traditional visiting day pic-a-nic.  Then we went to see the film Dara directed in her film group.  Written by her friend Avigail Yehini and starring her, it told the story of a spoiled girl, anxious to leave camp, haranging her parents on the cell-phone: Pick me up! Pick me up!  She shuns her campmates.  But they do not shun her. Slowly, she is drawn in.  By the end, she is delighted to be at camp.  Moving, and with excellent production values.

Then it was on to a meeting of Dara's unit at camp, and an introduction to all the counselors.  Not long later, there was a fabulous show, with some surprising good speeches, and then sadly it was already time to go.  Now we have to wait four more days for Dara to come home, and it's harder than ever.