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three things we love

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Friendship in Vienna

On my travels through youtube, I came across another film that caught my eye--a made for TV movie that dates back to 1988, featuring Ed Asner again--he always made decent films! This one is about a friendship of two girls in Nazi occupied Austria and it has particular meaning to me because my mom, Edith Kern Smilow, was in Vienna just before this time. She left Germany in 1935 or 1936 to get out of the way of Hitler (she went the wrong way!) and to work in a Maria Montessori school there. But there was a polio outbreak in the school and she returned to Germany, only to leave again in the nick of time in 1938, this time to be a children's nurse in England.

The film is touching story and gives you a very good feel for how occupation and tyranny can happen very quickly. It is my hope that we all put extra effort in protecting our democracy, which is in real danger right now...lest we take it for granted.

Mary Oliver Poem

Image courtesy of the Wordy Feminist on Etsy

Pam Smilow Tree Series I-III, mixed media on paper, 60” x 22” each, $4000 ea.

When I Am Among the Trees
By Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Corey Booker, Ketanji Brown Jackson

Illustration Courtesy of Louisa Bertman @louisabertman (Instagram)

Courtesy Sarahbeth Maney, Gina Cherelus and the NYTimes

I had planned something else for this column but decided to save it for another time so I could honor Corey Booker's beautiful emotional speech he made on the senate floor during the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Jackson Brown this past week, in stark contrast to the mean-spirited demagoguery of many of his fellow (Republican) senators.
I encourage you to listen to the full version here but if you are pressed for time, you can get the flavor with the short version too. In Booker's words, "I am not going to let someone in the senate steal my joy...Today you are my star. You are my harbinger of hope...You have earned this spot...You are worthy..."

Charity of the Week:
Jose Andres World Central Kitchen

Painting of the Week:

Trying to urge on Spring with this painting called Sunshine… Pam Smilow 50” x 80” mixed media on canvas $8500.

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.