Yiddish Lessons

At one thirty am the neighbor kids were getting dropped off from a party and were talking in the street. I woke up. I noticed that I had a song stuck in my head. So I got out of bed and went to my writing desk. I started thinking about my pal Steve Subotnick's 94 year old friend Esther who is teaching him Yiddish! I wish I could be part of this because I LOVE the sound of Yiddish words, they are juicy and often sound like what they mean. I met Esther at Steve's daughters Bat Mitzvah party a few years ago in Steve and Amy's kitchen. Esther is sparkly and wrinkly with wild white hair. She's a great story teller. She is about four feet nine inches tall. I had to bend over to hear her. When she was ready to leave the party I offered to walk her out to her car. She locked arms with me as we descended the porch stairs in the dark carefully navigating the stones and leaves. She was parked at the opposite side of the street at the intersection so I crossed with her and waited until she got into her car. She got in, put on her seat belt, started up the engine and screeched away like Mario Andretti!