HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween Ghost Dances in the October Breeze

Photo by Marash Girl Overheard: "I'd rather be a witch than a ghost!!!"

Are you ready?

Photo by Marash Girl

Secured By Whom?

Photo by Marash Girl

No "Trick or Treat" for Marash Girl!

Marash Girl's dad grew up as one of the "starving Armenians" in Marash, Ottoman Empire, early in the 20th Century. Even so, her dad and his family never went completely hungry because their uncle had taught Yepros and Mary (his mother and her sister) to weave cloth, and even though the cloth they wove was not perfect, their Muslim neighbors would take that cloth to the countryside and exchange the cloth for grains, fruits and vegetables. Thus, the family was able to survive during the most difficult of times. However, despite the tough times, Grandma Yepros forbid her children to "beg", no matter how hungry they becamse. Hence, in the United States of America, Marash Girl's dad saw the custom of "Trick or Treating" as begging. Thus, though allowed to dress in costumes on Halloween, and to distribute candy to the costumed children that came knocking at their door, Marash Girl and her siblings were never allowed to "celebrate" Halloween by practicing the United States custom of "Trick or Treat"!

Housing Available!!!

Grandma Jennie's Trick For Opening Unopenable Bottles

Grandma Jennie's trick for opening small, unopenable bottles that noone else could open? "Easy," she would grin, grasping the bottle cover with her trusty and everpresent nutcracker, giving it a twist, and, voilà! There she had the bottle cover off of the bottle. "Easy," she would repeat, grinning even more broadly, seeing the surprise her audience exhibited at her success!

"At The Cross" In Newton Corner

Photo by Marash Girl

Purse Snatching in the Big Apple

When Marash Girl was living in New York City, she heard that purse snatching had become a big problem, so she asked a local policeman what she should do. Without hesitation, he answered, "No problem at all. Simple! Just don’t carry a purse!"

October in Auburndale

"GRAB HIM BY THE BALLOT!"

Photo by Marash Girl

A Toss In The Hay?

In discussing the political climate of the day, a long-time acquaintance of Marash Girl soundly approved the President's latest appointment to the United States Supreme Court. "Why should we help kids who have just had a night of it?" she asked . . . or as she put it, "Why support kids who have just had a toss in the hay??!!!!" And that from a woman who had tossed around "in the hay" plenty during her youth!

Stretch your feet to the end of your quilt!

Ayağını yorganına göre uzat. According to Marash Girl's Turkish friend Murat, this expression means for you to 'Stretch your legs far enough so that your feet remain covered." Implying, one should know their limits and act accordingly: particularly for financial decisions, like spending. But according to Marash Girl's father, born in Marash, Ottoman Empire, survivor of the Genocide of the Armenian people, Ayağını yorganına göre uzat means rather than knowing your limits, you should to try as hard as you can to go as far as you can!!!

Armenian Red Pepper On A Halloween Pumpkin ?

Do you know why Marash Girl sprinkled Armenian Red Pepper on her Halloween Pumpkin? Any guesses? Give up? The squirrels know why!!! From the lower limbs of the local Maple Trees, those squirrels eyed Marash Girl as she set out her newly acquired pumpkin, (see October 9, 2020, Marash Girl blogpost on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin...) liberally sprinkling Armenian Red Pepper on the pumpkin as well as on the stair at the top of the porch on which the pumpkin sat. To Marash Girl's knowledge (fingers crossed), no squirrel has attempted to take a bite out of her Halloween pumpkin yet. Perhaps they have already experienced the effect of Armenian Red Pepper on their squirrel tongues. Photo Credit: Marash Girl

"NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY . . . SAVE YOURSELF!!!"

So advised a sign prominently posted on a beautiful Cape Cod beach last summer! Could this sign have religious ramifications? Political ramifications as well? Photo Credit: Marash Girl

Thank You, Mike!

A Photo From Marash Girl's Blog!!!

Feeling a bit under the weather last week, Marash Girl was lazing around the house, until, out of a clear blue sky, as they say, (and there was a clear blue sky that day), came a phone call from a publisher who wants to use a photograph from the Marash Girl blog, the very blog you are following, in a book he is about to publish. "It was the best photo on the internet of . . ." Wow! That sure perked Marash Girl up . . . Thank you, Mr. Publisher! Marash Girl will write more on the title of the book and the photo the publisher has selected after the book is published!

On the Bus: Commuting to Yonkers, NY

In the days when women wore skirts, and that was not so long ago, (or was it?) Marash Girl commuted to work daily by bus from the Bronx to Yonkers, New York. On one such morning, she felt a hand under her skirt. Reaching down, Marash Girl grabbed the hand, a large, rough hand, clearly attached to the man standing next to her, held the hand up high, and shouted, "What is your hand doing under my skirt?" The man attached to the hand shouted out, "That's not my hand!!!" And that, as they say, was that!!!

Boris Johnson’s Ancestor was an Ottoman Turkish journalist who tried to defend the Armenians!

Email from my Anoushig!!!

 I saw this on Facebook today.  Didn’t know that Boris Johnson’s ancestor was an Ottoman Turkish journalist who tried to defend the Armenians!

I sent Mr. Lawson an email to thank him for the article.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Delegates Charkoudian and W. Fisher: Honoring All Americans By Guest Commentary - October 12, 2020 Image from a Change.org petition. 2020 has been a year of moral reckoning. The Black Lives Matter protests of this summer raised awareness of structural racism in the United States and saw monuments to a fabled past brought down. While the history of inequality for African-Americans can be traced to 1619 when the first enslaved Africans were brought to what is now the United States, another landing made six score and seven years earlier in 1492 — by Christopher Columbus — and the holiday that celebrates it, must also now be reconsidered and, in our view, reframed and renamed. The myth of Columbus Since our founding, our nation has celebrated Christopher Columbus discovering North America without him ever having stepped a foot on our continent. The United States’ Founding Fathers claimed him as a non-English discoverer of a new land and honored his legacy by placing our capital in the newly-established District of Columbia. In time, a larger mythology developed around Columbus and it became an important part of the country’s idea of Manifest Destiny and the Doctrine of Discovery, which still provides the legal underpinnings of the United States of America’s sovereignty over indigenous peoples. But what we rarely learned in school is the depth and breadth of the genocide Columbus and other “discoverers” wrought in the “West Indies” — the misnamed islands which were, in fact, inhabited by Taino people with their own culture, language and way of life. Felled by battles with Spanish soldiers, smallpox, and slavery, more than 85% of the indigenous populace was wiped out a few decades after the first contact with European invaders. Columbus’ own cruelty towards the indigenous people led many of his contemporaries to speak out against his inhumanity. Although he arrived as a brave explorer, he returned to Spain in chains. In spite of this cruelty — and the centuries of violence and injustice that followed — the impact of Indigenous Peoples’ resilience is evident throughout American history, and their history and contributions are worthy of commemoration. Some have argued that celebrating Columbus Day is a way to celebrate Italian-American heritage. We believe there is value in lifting up the many Italians and Italian-Americans who have contributed to our country’s leadership in civil rights, arts, medicine, academics, journalism, and labor organizing, among other areas. Columbus Day does not do that and we encourage and support new ways of honoring these contributions. Why Maryland should honor Indigenous Peoples Day As Marylanders, we find ourselves at a crossroads: as we look back on our difficult past, how do we carve a pathway to greater inclusion and equity? How do we reconcile both the myths and accomplishments of our past with the reality of a history of imperialism and colonialism grounded in oppression and exploitation? Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) We believe that reconciliation begins with a fuller understanding and requires truth-telling about our history. We must now create new ways to celebrate the varied peoples and cultures in our state, while resisting the glorification of historical figures whose legacy of murder, discrimination, and degradation should be analyzed and understood for the centuries of oppression that they began. Recently, Maryland began the necessary reframing of symbols of the past to reflect more accurately our current beliefs and values. We took down the statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney, who drafted the majority opinion in the infamous Dred Scott case, and removed the Confederate soldiers plaque from the State House. We honored the great legacies of Harriett Tubman and Frederick Douglass with bold statues in the State House. We are also hopeful that the state will adopt a new song to replace our current racist one. Del. Wanika B. Fisher (D-Prince George’s) We can take another important step along this path and celebrate the vibrant culture and history of the three tribes officially recognized by the State of Maryland — the Piscataway Indian Nation, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, and the Accohannock Indian Tribe — and the many other indigenous people who have been here in the past and continue to live in our state. Pledge for a new America We call on fellow Marylanders to take this Monday, Oct. 12, to reflect on Columbus’ legacy as part of a brutal beginning of 500 years of oppression and the plight — and resilience — of Indigenous Peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere. Our work to dismantle structural racism and address this legacy must also take the form of substantive policy changes. One concrete symbol of our commitment to this path is to change the name of this holiday. Please support us in the 2021 Legislative Session as we bring forward legislation, as many other states and localities have already done, to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. — LORIG CHARKOUDIAN AND WANIKA B. FISHER The writers are Democratic members of the House of Delegates representing Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, respectively. Share this: FacebookTwitter Avatar

KAMALA FOR PRESIDENT ON MAPLE AVENUE

 

       
Sign proclaiming KAMALA FOR PRESIDENT decorates a front lawn on Maple Avenue in Newton Corner

Save the Tower at Newton's Grace Church!!!

 

TO MAYOR OF NEWTON RUTHANN FULLER: Please Use An Alternative Approach to Protect Historic Bullough's Pond Dam and the Laundry Brook Forest

          Dear Mayor Fuller, 

          I am writing to you as a long time resident of Newton, Massachusetts.  

As a little girl, I learned to skate on Bullough’s Pond.  

As an adult, I learned to appreciate the beauty of Bullough’s Pond and the Laundry Brook Forest. 

As a former voting member of Newton Parks and Recreation, I am writing to ask the powers that be to consider using an alternative approach that will protect Bullough’s Pond Dam and the Laundry Brook Forest. 

PLEASE DO NOT clear cut the banks of Bullough’s Pond  and put in gravel on the side of Dexter Road!!! '

          Sincerely,

          Bethel Bilezikian Charkoudian 

Go West, Young Man: Hunting The Perfect Pumpkin

 

URGE SPEAKER PELOSI TO VOTE TO SANCTION TURKEY & AZERBAIJAN

Please call Speaker Nancy Pelosi by telephoning 1-202-225-4965, press 1165, with the following message:

"Speaker Pelosi, I urge you to vote to sanction Turkey and Azerbaijan and to cut United States military aide to these two dictatorships."

Marash Girl Extends Get Well Wishes to President Trump and His Wife Melania

 Marash Girl and her family extend get well wishes to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, 

and his wife, Melania.  May the Lord bring you both back to good health.

AP Chemistry and Anti-Semitism in Newton High School in the !950's

Teacher JCH (addressing the brightest kid in the room) asked Abe to stand up in Marash Girl's high school AP Chemistry class, and for no apparent reason,laced into him. "You and your people . . . " he began. And continued in a diatribe, the details of which Marash Girl prefers not to remember. Marash Girl, unable to tolerate the anti-Semitism, stood up and addressed the teacher. "You can't talk to him like that!" she exclaimed. The bell rang. The members of the class, with no comment, headed out to the hall so as not to be late for their next class. Two weeks later, report cards were issued. Marash Girl had averaged straight A's in that chemistry class, but that's not the letter of the alphabet that appeared on her report card. Can't imagine why!!!

Happy Birthday, Meghan!!!

Have a beautiful day, Anoushig!!! 

Mugsy and the 5&10

When Marash Girl first arrived in 7th Grade, she sat (in homeroom) to the right of Mugsy, a tall, muscular boy with flaming red hair combed into a D/A, a boy who was 16 years old in a classroom of students who had just turned 13. Every day, in order to win the approval of his classmates, Mugsy would carry into homeroom a small trove of treasures that he had stolen from the 5&10, treasures which he would proceed to pass out to the kids in homeroom. When he attempted to foist his loot on Marash Girl, she would politely refused the stolen items. Apparently embarrassed by her refusal, Mugsy would gesticulate and loudly proclaim to all the students around him that Marash Girl felt that she was too good to accept his "treasures"! Marash Girl had no response. She just sat quietly in her seat, awaiting the bell that would signal peermission for her to escape to her first class.

Autumn in Newton Corner

FEEDING THE DUCKS

Marash Girl learned about metaphor early on in life. The metaphor? "Feeding the ducks!" Do you, dear reader, know to what this metaphor refers? If you graduated from Newton High School, you may recognize the reference . . . A prize for the first correct answer!!!!

I'm a no rushin'

 Grandpa Peter used to love to imitate accents, as he learned English as a 10 year old and grew up with family members who, if they spoke English, spoke with heavy accents.  One of his favorite phrases?  

"I'm a no rushin'  (Russian) . . . I'm a just takin' my time!"

Stockingless in the Early 1960's!

A bright young man from MIT,

(Armenian he, oh, glory be!) 

Begged Marash Girl, “Go out with me!" 

But when no stockings he did see, 

He fled right back to MIT!

N.B.  Mary Auntie would have commented, "Abris, dghas!"

Composting a la Adrian!

 The most brilliant compost "piles" Marash Girl ever did see , , ,  (Can compost piles be brilliant?  Oh, I guess she meant the one who might have done the piling!) were not compost piles but rather compost-filled declivities!!! Adrian of Troy, New York, clued Marash Girl in on the secret.  It's not a pile that you want, but rather, the opposite!  Does it take an MIT mind to come up with that one? Adrian would simply dig a deep hole in his back yard, a hole with the circumference a bit smaller than the circumference of a garbage pail (remember those from the old days?); he then covered the hole with a garbage pail cover.  Whenever he had vegetable peelings or the like, he would lift that garbage pail cover with his shod foot and drop the vegetable leavings into the hole, the garbage pail cover covering the hole as soon as he removed his foot.  When that compost hole was filled nearly to the top, he would remove the garbage pail cover, cover the compost-nearly-filled hole with about 6 inches of soil, and dig another hole, covering that with the newly available garbage pail cover.  And so it went.  Thank you, Adrian, for your simple but brilliant solution to composting.

Thank you, City of Newton!

Thank you, City of Newton's Parks and Recreation Commission, for planting a beautiful young maple tree (on Maple Avenue, of course . . . where else would one plant a maple tree?) in order to replace the two hundred year old maple tree that, this past summer, went the way of all good trees!

Medzmama and a Goldfish in Newton Corner

You may not be able to pet your goldfish, but your goldfish sure know how to beg for attention from you . . . or perhaps only from Medzmama. Here's what happened. Medzmama fed the goldfish every morning. After a while, every time Medzmama stopped by the goldfish bowl to watch the goldfish swimming about (which was fairly often throughout the day), one of the goldfish would come up to the side of the bowl, the side on which Medzmama was standing and gazing, and open and close its mouth quickly, making it clear that s/he was waiting for a treat!!! Medzmama, recognizing its plea, fed it a bit more, and soon, Medzmama became fast friends with the goldfish in Newton Corner!!!

The Old Chestnut Tree

On Wednesday, Marash Girl woke up remembering the big old chestnut tree that stood proudly on the corner of Otis Street and Kimball Terrace, in the corner of Mr. Parker's yard.  (Mr. Parker was the orchestra leader in the elementary schools of Newton, Massachusetts, when Marash Girl was in elementary school.  For 7 years, Marash Girl had walked home from the Old Claflin School in Newtonville Square, walking up Otis Street, past that big old chestnut tree.  She loved to pause in the fall and fill her pockets with the beautiful, shiny smooth (though inedible) brightly brown chestnuts that the tree offered to the world around it. This tree was even more significant in Marash Girl's life because of the the poem that Marash Girl's father had her memorize  in third grade (scroll down to see the full text of THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH).  So first thing Wednesday afternoon, Marash Boy and Marash Girl drove over to Newtonville Square, to see if the tree was still there, and as they took a right onto Otis Street, Marash Girl held her breath.  Where was that old chestnut tree?  Marash Girl can't even type the answer, she's so sad about its loss!!!!  A piece of her childhood has gone missing.

The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands. 

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man. 

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low. 

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor. 

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice. 

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes. 

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose. 

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

Thank you, Amin!

Thank you, Amin, for your friendship and for sharing your expertise in a time of need! As folks have said for centuries, "A friend in need is a friend, indeed!" N.B. This from the internet: a Roman poet named Quintus Ennius who lived in the Second Century B.C.E. wrote (when translated from Latin): “A sure friend is known in unsure times.”

Remembering With Thanks The Poem That Dad Made Marash Girl Learn In 3rd Grade

The message still as clear as day!  How this poem shaped Marash Girl's philosophy of life.

 For a' That and a' That

BY ROBERT BURNS

Is there, for honest poverty,

         That hings his head, an' a' that?

The coward slave, we pass him by,

         We dare be poor for a' that!

                For a' that, an' a' that,

                        Our toils obscure, an' a' that;

                The rank is but the guinea's stamp;

                        The man's the gowd for a' that,

What tho' on hamely fare we dine,

         Wear hoddin-gray, an' a' that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,

         A man's a man for a' that.

                For a' that, an' a' that,

                        Their tinsel show an' a' that;

                The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,

                        Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord

         Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;

Tho' hundreds worship at his word,

         He's but a coof for a' that:

                For a' that, an' a' that,

                        His riband, star, an' a' that,

                The man o' independent mind,

                        He looks and laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,

         A marquis, duke, an' a' that;

But an honest man's aboon his might,

         Guid faith he mauna fa' that!

                For a' that, an' a' that,

                        Their dignities, an' a' that,

                The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,

                        Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,

         As come it will for a' that,

That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,

         May bear the gree, an' a' that.

                For a' that, an' a' that,

                        It's coming yet, for a' that,

                That man to man, the warld o'er,

                        Shall brothers be for a' that.