On my drive, I saw a car dealer that has balloons on each vehicle on the lot. That turned some heads. There's no question that the ambulance and rescue vehicles, with lights flashing parked on a front yard, definitely caught an eye - at least from the people who were trying to figure out why traffic was going so slowly. Of course because the drivers were gawking, they made traffic go even more slowly. My emails had emojis, bold lettering and as many fonts as a ransom note in the subject.

     What did  I notice? I checked the e-mails to see if I recognized the person who sent the note. On the street, I made sure there was safe space for me to drive by the vehicles. But moreover, I noticed trees beginning to bud, flowers popping up from the ground and green areas - without rings of snow and ice. It took a bit of effort, but I chose to focus on simple items, what often goes unseen, by looking for what wasn't calling out for attention.

     There's a massive amount of eye clutter and view-competition everywhere we turn. All the activity often makes it hard to see what's really of value and what is not. Our responsibility should be to look carefully and try to determine what counts for us and our sense of well-being, not what someone else decides is important.

     One event which does not call out for attention, but needs it, is the community's  Yom HaShoah u'Gvurah commemoration  this Sunday; meeting this year at TAY and beginning at 2:00 pm. In a year when questions of and about the Holocaust have been forced center stage, we should all show our support by attending.