http://www.youtube.com/user/domestictranquility1, http://www.graftontv.org/, http://www.facebook.com/graftontv

Tasha and Steven Halpert, 296 Providence Road, Grafton, MA (2025)

10/16/2024

Hear is my new Love Note, please do enjoy. Love to my dear readers.

Heartwings Love Notes 2054 Too Many Choices

Heartwings says, "When the eyes are dazzled, it is difficult to see clearly."

The other day I stood bedazzled looking at the stacks of breakfast cereal boxes in my local supermarket. Many of the names on the boxes were unfamiliar to me; most of them seemed to contain sweet tasting stuff and were filled with sugar and artificial color or chocolate. They all advertised themselves as being healthy, good for you, filled with nutritional ingredients. These were listed on the boxes with chemical names that stretched along the side panel.
Buried within these shelves were the boxes of Corn Flakes, Wheaties, and Cherri Oats I used to give my children and even eat myself on occasion. They were overwhelmingly in the minority. Candy and cookies for breakfast? Not my cup of tea; however, judging by the quantity of sweet stuff, the choice of many. Our addiction to sugar begins at an early age. Some sugar is good for you, preferably in small amounts. Too much is not.
There is little to no nutritional value is sugar, however, it does play an important role in our digestive system. It provides quick energy. A handful of grapes, however, is a lot better than a candy bar, and does have nutritional benefits as well as sugar. Still, you can't carry fruit around in your pocket for quick consumption. There are also "good" candy bars that serve a healthy purpose as snacks. Yet still it can be difficult to spot them amidst the less healthy ones so prominently available.
Discovering what you need amidst the plethora of offerings can be daunting. I remembered something as I gazed at the boxes of cereal. Some years ago, Stephen and I had an opportunity to visit Denmark in the spring. We stayed in the seasonal, summer home of our sponsor's friend and did much of our own cooking. We shopped at the local market, which carried all of the necessities and none of the excesses of an American supermarket. How amazing to find a few kinds of cereal or one kind of a canned item. How refreshing!
Shopping took a lot less time then as well. I would be happy not to have to trudge up, down and around the many aisles of endless food sorts as I do now. I'm lucky not to have to shop in a super-sized supermarket. As it is I come home exhausted from a grocery run. I fail to understand why there needs to be so many brands or so much of the same thing on the shelves I must walk through. Of course, I suppose it is good exercise.
Bigness is everywhere. Have you noticed how large the delivery trucks have become? I wonder how they get around on some of New England's country roads. Still, I must make the best of things, think of shopping as an exercise in discernment, and read each list of ingredients to make sure I am getting the best nutrition I can.

10/07/2024

Please read, dear friends, and comment, if possible, thanks.

Heartwings Love Notes 2053: I Would If I Could

Heartwings says, "Expectations can be unrealistic."

I used to be able… These days these words echo in my mind far too many times. Frustrating? I don't fault myself for what I cannot accomplish in the time I have; I do, however, regret it. For instance, I have not written a column since mid-September. This is something new for me.
It is not for lack of inspiration. In fact, I have three potential column titles posted in a note on my computer screen, and this isn't even one of them. Nor is it because I'm tired of writing, far from it. It's been my joy for a long time, and still is. No, it is because I have not taken the time or made writing a top priority. That is the bottom line. What to do? Simple answer: cut back.
I once wrote my columns weekly. Year in and year out I wrote a new one, very occasionally going back to pull up an old one and revise it a little. Until fairly recently they were in the Grafton News. They were finally dropped as a result of editorial policy. Now I have no deadline and less incentive to produce. I do love to write; however, needs must take precedence over pleasure.
Three meals a day have to be planned and cooked. While Stephen would eat out at least once a day, this practical person never would. Even if my pocketbook could handle that, my digestion could not. Then there's laundry, tidying, and so forth. No ned to bore you, dear reader, with the details. Worse, my emails pile up horribly. I could handle all this once, to be sure, and therein lies the rub.
Not only must I adjust my expectations, I must also eliminate or at least cut back on my activities. I always answer every personal email response that readers send me. People are very important to me. Then too I enjoy passing on articles of interest, not to mention reading them myself. And I do appreciate any of readers' kind responses. I post the columns on Facebook as well as on my blog.
Facebook, too needs attending to. I enjoy thanking people for their nice comments as well as responding to others' thoughts. Perhaps I need to give up doing all that responding. Maybe I need to stop reading the intriguing daily informational columns like the History one…yet they do give me pleasure. If my readers have any suggestions, I would welcome them.
Having Parkinson's means I will need three or four times as long to do anything I used to do, whether it's making a sandwich or writing and posting my blog. When I can at least do away with any expectations it does make me feel better. I try to pat myself on the back for what I can do and ignore my regrets. You dear reader will see less of me, however I will stay with what I can do and keep you posted.

May you be happy with your accomplishments.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS Please write!
A poet and writer, I publish a free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog at http://tashasperspective.com.

10/04/2024

If anyone is wondering, I'm stil fine, and inundated so no new work. I'm going to post again soon. Meanwhile, Happy fall to all and a wee poem for the season.

Autumn Images

On lush autumn roadsides
verdant vines and straggling weeds
stretch greedily toward the sun.

Seeking ants
scurry crumbs to the hoard
harvesters store root and grain against the cold.

Hurry, hurry, to and fro;
accumulate, be ready for lack
grasp while you can.

Hunger is in the air
bearing open mouths gulping,
paws, claws reaching, seeking more.

Travel the autumn roads slowly
beauty fills the eye
satisfying need and hunger for a while.

Tasha Halpert

09/22/2024

Equinox Time.

Equinox Song 2021

Let go the light hours and welcome the dark,
the songs of the night to sing.
Gather and raise your voices in praise
of dreams that the dark hours bring.

Resist not the gradual fading of light
as the shadows of evening grow long.
Nature and nurture demand that we rest;
the wind sings a lullaby song.

Rising and sinking we drift into sleep
roots in the earth hold our dreams.
Welcome the music that sings us
to drink of the moon's sweet beams.

Days lose their brightness fade and grow dim,
moving toward lengthening night.
Let us remember the sun will return,
but for now, we relinquish the light.
Tasha Halpert

09/17/2024

A Fall Poem

Fall Threnody

Chill fingers touch each leaf
Crisping edges, crumbling veins;
With slow stealth they rob the green
Inflaming what remains
As icy tips puncture bright moments
Bringing a close to growth.

Fall calls for swift endings
Drawing down the dark hours.
Frost hastens, stiffens brittle branches,
Bares twigs, sending leaves to blanket earth.
Crackling under foot they sing
The old cold song.

Dark days descend bringing rest.
Earth folds into sleep, curled into burrows,
Into itself, drawing down the night.
November hallows sleep, the winter of growth,
Death is only a change of form
Life sleeps to wake again.

Tasha Halpert

09/16/2024

Love Note 2052 The 3 Bite Rule

Heartwings Love Notes 2052 The Three Bite Rule

Heartwings says, "A little can be as much as a lot."

As a child I was taught to finish everything on my plate. This was often said to me as I dawdled over what I didn't like to eat, like liver. "It's good for you, now finish your…" or "the little children starving in (India, China or somewhere far away) would be so happy to have this." No doubt many of my readers heard some variation of these words.
What we hear as children often becomes gospel to us as adults. The adult results from "finish your plate" may be overweight, or even eating disorders. It is also difficult for us to overcome our childhood anathemas. Mine was boiled eggs. It took me years to get over my original dislike of them. I never did that to my children. I did, however have a "three bite rule."
At any meal, both family members, as well as any guests present, had to take at least three bites of everything offered. This did not seem to cause any problems in so far as I could see, and it did result in some new likes, a plus to be sure.
Eating habits are something we acquire and can be changed, though with a conscious effort. Sometimes it doesn't matter, although I believe that my husband, who actually likes the taste of liver, wishes I would change how I feel about it. This is difficult for me because I used to cut it up as small as I could and swallow each piece without chewing it, as though it were a pill.
Although my mother was not enthusiastic about sweets, and we seldom even had candy except on holidays, I have always been prone to enjoying them whenever I had access to any. Come to think of it, maybe that was why! Nevertheless, I had to learn to curb my predilection for sugar, first because of weight gain and later for diabetes.
One of the most helpful methods I ever found was contained in a book whose author and title are lost to my memory. It was called the three bite rule, and it consisted of limiting any sweet or dessert to three bites. To be sure, it does require a certain amount of self-discipline. I have had to develop this anyway for various reasons, and am still working on it. That said, I do advocate this method of being able to enjoy the pleasure of sweets without penalty.
I have also discovered that to go beyond the limit of three bites does not necessarily bring more pleasure and that the limit of three actually gives me the most pleasure to be had. Once this limit is reached, at lease as far as I can tell, the sensation of the sweet taste begins to diminish. This is especially true with my favorite dessert and treat, ice cream. Try it if you like and see for yourself.

May you discover ways to live with your self-imposed limits.

Blessings and Best Regards, Tasha Halpert

PS Do you have experiences or suggestions to share? I'd love to hear your comments. Please make my day; write to me at [email protected].

A poet and writer, I publish a free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog at http://tashasperspective.com.

09/16/2024

Stephen's wonderful tale

A Matter of Great Importance by Stephen Halpert

George firmly believed that achieving absolute importance was the key to a successful life. To George, feeling important was equal to pitching a no-hitter or scoring the winning touchdown in the Super bowl. Not only did importance reflect in his estimation the only true measure of one's life work but without it the individual, he felt, was doomed.
Each night as he lay in bed half of him was back at work in his anonymous cubical, tallying endless streams of numbers. He believed that to achieve sufficient importance one must know how to work in one's sleep. Night after night he fell asleep holding his cell phone beneath his pillow, clutched in his hand. And then one night he had an amazing dream. Somehow, the method was not clear, he had attained great wealth and fame. He awoke feeling incredibly important.
After work that day he gathered several of his closest associates and proceeded with them to a restaurant where once they had ordered and been served, he proposed a plan that could ultimately result in not only far greater importance for each of them but also wealth beyond their imagining.
Nodding in agreement Alfred an attorney said, "There must be millions of others just like us who feel the exact same way we do. I'll draw up the title and get started on incorporation."
"No reason why we can’t help ourselves attain wealth through importance." Jim, a marketing pro grinned and rubbed his hands.
"Best not to waste any more time," William, a time management expert insisted. "We must begin immediately or someone else will run the ball."
Moments later, written on George's yellow legal pad, the United Brotherhood of Absolute Importance was born. George, Jim, William, and Alfred appointed themselves as the officers and managers of the UBAI, with a salary, of course, commensurate with their importance.
George proposed every new member pay a $1,000 initiation fee, and contribute another $250 each month.
Jim proposed that to begin with charter members of UBAI receive a mahogany plaque with a gold nameplate and a quarterly newsletter stressing the value of importance to everyday life.
That night home in bed as the founder of the enviable United Brotherhood of Absolute Importance, George began to feel his own self-esteem expand. During the weeks and months ahead, just as they had anticipated and despite its exorbitant initiatory fees, thousands of membership applications were received and processed. Quickly however George and his associates realized that a commodity of even greater value than mere importance was exclusivity.
They added fees for various perks including stationery with gold edges and envelope liners, and specially designed socks with the initials or the brotherhood embroidered on them in gold thread for a fee.
As the Brotherhood's bank account expanded, Jim suggested that the members' annual meeting not be held in the USA. Instead, he showed a brochure for an exclusive five star hotel located somewhere near Mount Everest. There members might flex their importance amidst natural foliage, at highly exorbitant rates and luxurious accommodations.
"We need a headliner, a guest speaker of inordinate importance," Alfred urged. "Someone who will make everyone sit up and take notice without of course threatening our self-importance one bit."
George, Jim, and William readily agreed that such a keynote speaker was essential to the ultimate success of the first Annual Meeting. They sat in their new posh office and deliberated who this headliner might be.
True to his profession, Alfred argued for a Supreme Court Justice, someone of vital importance who could lay down the law in a bipartisan and entertaining fashion.
William wanted a Fortune Five Hundred CEO whose name would immediately enhance everyone's sense of self-importance.
Jim pushed for someone more show biz: an Oscar winner, a batting champ, or a Super Bowl MVP. By hobnobbing with an All Star, he insisted those in attendance would feel more important than even their membership plaque, socks, and special quarterly newsletter could signify.
It was George who suggested the Swami. Excitedly he handed his partners photographs of a small seemingly insignificant bearded man clad only in a loincloth and turban. While his demeanor was demure his press was astounding. It included eyewitness accounts of his being able to fly and to appear in more than one locale at the same time.
George assured the others that they would be doing the right thing having the Swami as their first headliner. What sealed the deal was a Daily News photo article. It showed his disciples in Northern India celebrating the Swami's birthday each year by bestowing upon him his weight in precious stones and flower petals.
That seemed sufficient to the partners. An invitation was sent to the Swami inviting him to headline this most auspicious first Annual Meeting.
Days later the Swami not only agreed to participate in this storied event but furthermore suggested that the meeting and all festivities be held in his mountainside village of Shangri La-La, specifically in his mystical palace of earthly delights lost within the clouds that hover around Mt. Everest. Here, he assured George and the other principals of UBAI, the entire membership could best taste the riches of prosperity and self-adulation as well as experience the primal pleasures of the senses.
George, Jim, William and Alfred were thrilled. They felt totally relieved. All the work was being done for them. All they had to do was pack their bags and depart at the designated time. The Swami's staff apparently would take care of every minute detail. Would-be attendees were notified to gather in the parking lot of the UBAI offices where they would depart for the conference.
Several months later eight hundred men and women of self-realized prominence stood with their baggage at the entrance of the UBIA parking lot eagerly awaiting and anticipating their journey to Shangri La-La.
To be continued

A graduate of Emerson College, Stephen Halpert has been a published author since the 1970s. Most recently, his weekly column “American Scene,” which ran in The Grafton News from 1989 to 2022, featured humorous vignettes of his life with his wife, Tasha, and serial fiction. In 2018, Halpert published his first collection of fictional tales, Abracadabra Moonshine and Other Stories, available on Amazon. His next writing venture is titled “Mona Lisa's Eyebrows and other stories.” Contact Stephen to learn more.

09/03/2024

Enjoy your apples and try mine.

Heartwings Love Notes 2051 An Appple a Day

Heartwings says, "Apples are good food and good medicine too."

Apples are good for you. An apple a day may not keep the doctor away yet it might keep the dentist at bay. Eating them exercises your gums and helps keep your teeth firmly ensconced in your gums. In addition, apples have considerable Vitamin C in pectin, which not only makes them good for making jelly but also for healing eye injuries and infections. If you get a sty or the eye infection sometimes known as Pink Eye, some grated apple will quickly help heal the problem.
Twice a day, grate a about three or four tablespoons of fresh apple, peel and all, and put it directly on the affected eye for about fifteen minutes. Remove and wash off the sticky residue. Repeat until healed.
This has worked for me as well as for friends, who saw significant results almost immediately. Once one of my students had scratched his eye in the woods. It was late at night, so I suggested the apple poultice. By morning, his eye was virtually healed.
Apples are an excellent source of vitamin A, contain a respectable amount of vitamin C, and are also high in potassium. Their calorie content is low compared to their fiber, and they make a very good snack for anyone who is calorie conscious. One of my favorite quick lunches is an apple cut into slices and spread with around two tablespoons of nut butter--low in calories, satisfying and nutritious too.
One year because they were such a bargain I bought a whole crate of apples. After a week I realized I had better do something with them quickly and decided to make deep dish apple pies. However, I had only two suitable containers. I lined my two quart casserole with foil, peeled and cut enough apples to fill it, sprinkled in some sugar and a little cinnamon, and put it in the freezer to freeze. Meanwhile, I lined the other casserole with foil and began to fill it. Once the contents had frozen, I removed and wrapped the filling securely, stored it, and began on the next one. That winter, when I wanted a deep-dish apple pie I took one out, removed the foil, placed the filling in a casserole and let it thaw. Then I made a top crust, laid it over the apples and baked them until they were done. We had seven delicious pies from that crate of bargain apples.
I never buy applesauce. I buy a bag of 3 pounds or so of apples, cut them up removing stems and the blossom ends only and put them in a large pot with half cider, half water and two cinnamon sticks. I cook them around 3 hours. Using a food mill I grind them into apple sauce and put the sticks back in. They enhance the flavor as well as help preserve it. Try it, it tastes wonderful

May you be healthy with your food choices, and enjoy your good food.

Blessings and best Regards, Tasha Halpert

Have comments, questions, suggestions? Make my day and write me at [email protected].

A poet and writer, I publish a free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog at http://tashasperspective.com.

09/03/2024

Here is Stephen's latest

A graduate of Emerson College, Stephen Halpert has been a published author since the 1970s. Most recently, his weekly column “American Scene,” which ran in The Grafton News from 1989 to 2022, featured humorous vignettes of his life with his wife, Tasha, and serial fiction. In 2018, Halpert published his first collection of fictional tales, Abracadabra Moonshine and Other Stories, available on Amazon. His next writing venture is titled “Mona Lisa's Eyebrows and other stories.” Contact Stephen to learn more.

08/28/2024

Better late than never! My latest.

Heartwings Love Notes 2050: The Importance of Spiritual Teachers

Heartwings says, "Teachers of spirituality appear in many ways."

It is a great help to have someone who can teach you or guide you. This applies especially to any spiritual work, and is certainly proven by the number of books available to be of help in a variety of situations and circumstances.
While I have explored and benefitted from many different books, still my human teachers have taught me more than all the books put together. Were I to name them all, the list would be long and not necessarily of interest. However, I will tell you about two very special ones, and what they taught me.
My long time Yoga teacher, the late Joann Sherwood, originally began her professional life as a dancer. After studying with several prestigious spiritual teachers, she began her own classes. When I met her, she had already inspired many students as well as brought them helpful knowledge and techniques to enhance their personal as well as professional development.
A most special aspect of her work was the array of remarkable individuals she presented to us in her monthly lecture series. However, one of the best lessons I learned from any of them was that regardless how holy or how knowledgeable a teacher might be, he or she was also a human being, with normal behaviors. There was one who fretted about his tea, another about his scheduling, and so on. It was enlightening. I was able to observe these issues because Joann had put me on a committee to look after their needs. It was heartening to me. I learned and observed, and finally completely understood I didn't have to be perfect to be spiritual.
I first met the late Father Angelo Rizzo, my second special teacher, at one of Joann's monthly gatherings. He spent a part of every year in Brazil doing missionary work, and the remainder in and around New England, speaking and preaching about how the mind is the healer. This was more than forty-five years ago. Stephen and I got to know him personally while we were living in Marblehead. We offered to help him write a book featuring the themes of his teaching. He agreed.
These were not traditionally Catholic nor were they usual for a priest to be espousing. He gave us a title and his lecture tapes to work from. "I Believe Using Mind Power We are All Healers" was typed up and then fashioned into the book. His precepts were simple. While there were others, these first two have guided my life for the last forty or more years: All is a belief. You can choose your beliefs.
With his help as well as that of others, I have been given a better understanding why things work the way they do, and how to navigate the world in general. I consider myself most fortunate, and I am grateful to him and to all my many wonderful teachers.

May you find helpful teachers for your spiritual path.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS Questions, comments, suggestions? Love to hear from you. Make my day; write to me at [email protected]. I promise to write back.

A poet and writer, I publish a free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog at http://tashasperspective.com.

08/26/2024

Stephen's latest tale, enjoy!
The Waterfall by Stephen Halpert

Phil Reynolds searched the want ads frantically for a job. His checking account was nearly depleted, his credit cards were maxed out and his rent was due at the end of the month.
Near the bottom of a page of classifieds he saw a small listing: Writer Wanted. Beside it was a phone number.
Up to now Phil had not thought of himself as a writer. He'd had a handful of poems published in his college literary magazine. He remembered being paid to write press releases for a friend of his father, who was running for selectman--not exactly credentials for a job, but what the heck, he was desperate.
He called the number.
An accented feminine voice answered. "Good Luck Fortune Cookies, how may we help you?"
"I'm calling about the job for a writer. Is that position still open?"
" Hold please." She sounded cheerful.
"Hello," a dignified, older male voice came on the line.
"Hello, I'm Phil Reynolds, the writer." Calling himself a writer gave him confidence.
"Good, you write." he said cheerfully. "Come to office. Start tomorrow."
Phil's head spun. "Is this a salaried position?" he asked, fearful it was some sort of multi-level marketing scam selling time shares.
"Yes, Yes," The gentleman assured him. "You be well paid."
"That's wonderful," Phil didn't dare ask how much."
The cheerful feminine voice returned and gave him an address on Beach Street in Boston's Chinatown.
The following morning Phil made his way to the Good Luck Fortune Cookies Company. It was located in the basement of an old building. Entering through the battered office door he saw a slender young Chinese woman sitting at large black lacquered table reading a Chinese newspaper.
She looked up with a genuine smile. "Yes. You writer. We glad you come. Mr. Yin see you soon." She smiled and offered him a cup of green tea.
Moments later two elderly Chinese gentlemen came through a doorway into the office, Mr. Yin smiled. "We speak yesterday."
"Yes, "Phil said. "Could you tell what sort of writing I'd be doing?"
"Yes," Mr. Yin nodded, turned, introduced his associate. "This is Mr. Yang."
Mr. Yang eyed Phil. "You write matters of great importance, reduced to few words to be remembered."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean." Phil held out his resume.
Mr. Yang smiled, bowed, took his resume, and held out several fortune cookies. "Vanilla, chocolate, almond."
Phil carefully opened one. He cupped his hands so as not to let crumbs fall on the floor. He read the fortune aloud. 'It is never wrong time to do right thing."
Mr. Yin pointed to the small paper fortune. "These are what you will write."
Phil panicked. "But, but, how…?"
Mr. Yang nodded. "Doing what is never done makes for who we will become."
Phil took a breath. "Sure." That sounded right--totally impractical but at the same time logical.
They ushered him to a small office. Inside was a black lacquered table and a simple padded bench facing a framed picture of a realistic waterfall. On the table were pads of yellow paper, several pens and a small stone teapot and cup.
Phil's face reddened. "But there's no laptop, no reference books, not even a Bartlett's Quotations."
Mr. Yang smiled and indicated the bench. "Sit down, drink tea, watch waterfall, write what comes."
Phil's stomach lurched. He wished he were anywhere else; nonetheless he nodded, trying to appear confident.
Both men bowed. As they left Mr. Yin said. "Let good fortune come from you. Otherwise fortune no come true.
Once alone, Phil nervously gulped several cups of the green tea. He picked up the pen, clicked it a few times, gazed at the waterfall and waited. He sighed. Maybe it was the green tea but he began to feel calmer. He sat up straighter. Words flowed through his mind. He picked up a pen and started to write:
'Follow dusty path you sleep in ditch.'
'He who sit no stand on ceremony.'
'Door only open when not closed.'
The words continued to pour forth. It seemed all he had to do was hold the pen, gaze at the waterfall, and the words came forth.
How about me, he wondered. Do I get a fortune? Then he heard, 'a new love awaits you.' Yeah, sure, he thought.
He continued to write what he heard until his hand felt limp. He stood up and walked around the tiny office. As soon as he sat back down, held the pen, and gazed at the waterfall the words began to flow. It was as though he were under a spell.
Unfamiliar phrases scrolled from the pen. Writing had never been so easy but at the same time so tiring.
As soon as he got home, he ate supper and fell asleep.
For the next two weeks he adhered to the same routine, filling the yellow pads with fortunes.
Near the end of the month on Friday, Mr. Yin. appeared, smiled, and handed him a thick wad of cash. "Thank you," he said.
At home when he counted it Phil felt greatly relieved. It was enough to pay his rent for several months, afford him some new clothes and pay off his credit cards, still leaving considerably more in his checking account.
By Saturday night Phil felt jubilant. He donned his new clothes and set off for a party hosted by his friend Bruce.
"Nice threads," Bruce grinned. "That cashmere jacket is cool." Got a new gig at Tech support?"
"No," he smiled. "I'm a writer."
Bruce nodded. "You always had a way with words."
Phil grinned. "Good thing. Not much else I know how to do."
Grace joined them. "Hello stranger. It's been a while."
"He's back at work." Bruce sounded envious.
"Oh good," She kissed his cheek. "Tech support?"
No. He's a writer," Bruce said.
She grinned. "Writing promos?"
Phil sipped his wine and grinned. "Way better than that."
Several other friends joined them.
"What's the gig? Bruce said.
"Writing fortune cookies. Once I got the hang of it, it's turned into a great job."
Someone said. "You mean someone actually writes those things."
"Got my own office," he chuckled remembering the yellow pads and the waterfall.
"How do you write them?" Grace said. "Sound like a fascinating occupation."
Before he could reply someone said. "Doesn't that make you a tool to reversed outsourcing? Denying a job to a qualified Asian?"
"Ignore him," Grace took Phil aside. "But if you ever get tired of fortune cookies you could talk with my dad about a job in his ad agency. He's just landed a huge necktie account." She stroked his soft cashmere jacket. "What inspires you anyway?"
"Truth be told," Phil said. "Green tea and a waterfall."
Grace smiled. "I love a man with humility. I mean it. I want you to talk with Dad. Then we'll be working at the same firm." She squeezed his arm.
"Sure," he smiled. "Please set something up."
"Oh, I will. Anyone who can make money writing fortune cookies could write incredibly ads selling neckties."
Phil's eyes brightened. "That could be a challenge."
On Monday morning when he got to office, he was greeted by the friendly Chinese secretary.
"Mr. Yin, Mr. Yang go to China. Say to tell you they'll contact you when come back."
She smiled again. They also say to give you this. She handed him a large padded envelope. He thanked her and opened it. It was the framed picture of the waterfall.

Tasha and Steven Halpert

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