Two of Us at the Hayward Farmers Market

The Beatles' music lives forever, as shown by the appreciation of the farmer's market shoppers today, who put $93.70 in my music partner Frank's guitar case. As the Beatles duo, Two of Us, we ran through dozens of Fab Four favorites, including everything from Please Please Me to the concluding section of the second side of Abbey Road (by request).

The weather cooperated, with temperatures in the high 50s and no wind, so we weren't uncomfortable. Several of our local friends and fellow musicians dropped by. Gary Howe was good enough to join us on one song.

The beauty of playing in this kind of venue is that you can try out stuff and nobody minds if you screw up. We had plenty of false endings, wrong chords, shaky harmonies, and the like, but we are getting better ("all the time") and are looking forward to another outing in February and next summer.

SPECIAL NOTE:

This post completes a commitment to blog daily in 2011, and is on a theme, music, that was popular as a blog subject. Test Driving Life is about trying everything as a "test drive," but music and cars were the main stars. I'll publish a review of the year of blogging tomorrow, when all the numbers are in. I do know that December 2011 was the most popular month ever for Test Driving Life, with more than 6,000 view. It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it.

Thanks to everyone who reads this blog. It will continue, but may not have a daily entry, in 2012. See the Jewish Roots Project for the blog that will be my primary focus next year.

Exploring Jewish Roots

As my year of daily blogging enters its final week, and Chanukah passes it midpoint, I am beginning a new focus for 2012. With the Jewish Roots Project, I will explore my ancestry in Judaism with a wide range of activities. These include interviewing rabbis, reading a wide range of material, attending services, practicing some of the rituals, growing a nice big beard, and much more.

I'll look at Jewish art, learn about famous Jews through history, and attempt to get a comprehensive overview of 5,772 years of culture.

As an intermarried, assimilated Jew, it would be easy to simply ignore my background. Life is going just fine and I love my family. But periodically, I get a certain feeling that calls me back to my roots.

Those roots are buried but present. My family practiced Reform Judaism sporadically and without a great deal of enthusiasm. I have had a few years of Jewish education -- 7th through 10th grade -- celebrated a hastily prepared Bar Mitzvah at 13, and I spent 10 months living in Israel, feeding cows and studying Hebrew as a young adult. But it's all part of the bigger Jewish picture.

I'll record my findings and periodically post something to the new Jewish Roots Project blog. Then, on January 1, 2013, I'll assess what I've found and decide how to proceed with my relationship to Judaism for the rest of my life. Will it require more study? (I'm guessing yes). I won't join any synagogues until then, if at all. But if I've learned anything in the last several years, it's that having a focus and doing something daily that relates to it is what makes things happen. And it helps to work with other people to get support and perspective (and it just feels good, too).

So, after January 1, 2012, Test Driving Life will not necessarily be fresh daily, but be sure to visit the Jewish Roots Project as well to see what's going on.