November 24, 2022 Thanksgiving Small World Tap-Tap

Hello, everybody. I just wanted to say to you all how thankful and grateful I am to have all of you in my life. I know that on the surface Small World Seafood is a business but there is something much deeper than that going on here.

This whole thing started with just trying to help neighbors out when our worlds were shut down in March of 2020. Through that terrifying, dystopian period, we continued to grow through connecting. The world was disconnected but WE were connecting.

Two and a half years later, so much has changed in the world. We've all changed too. We've all learned how to enjoy cooking at home more. We've all learned how sharing meals with people we love at home can leave a residual feeling that, in turn, fills our homes with more love. One of the things I marvel at most is the skill and expertise many of you have developed over the past two years. To tell you the truth, I can't wait every week to see what you all have made with our seafood! Well done, everybody! I am so proud of you!

And the lines have been something else. What a beautiful thing it is to see strangers begin to talk to each other and find common ground. What a beautiful thing for us to experience your smiling faces and gracious natures when it's your turn. I mean, I'm gonna gush a bit here, but we really live in an amazing city with amazingly wonderful people.

Most of all, I am grateful for working with some of the best, nicest, honest and funniest people you could ever want to work with. Andy, Annie, Pat and Sal make every day fun to go to work.

Now, I know that I am wordy and I make no apologies for that. I can't help it, really. I like to talk. Like, a lot. A lot. So, I will keep this on the shorter side but offer you a poem that I wrote a bunch of years ago. So many of you have told me how much you've enjoyed my weekly tap-taps. Thanks for that. Fun to write. Have family fun with the one below.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!

Peace

Robert Amar

Small World Seafood

Owner

WHERE DO MISSING SOCKS GO?

I’M IN A STATE OF SHOCK!

I CANNOT EVEN TALK!

ONCE I’VE TOLD YOU WHAT I’VE SEEN

YOU’LL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN.

IT STARTED AS A JOKE

WHEN SHE AND I HAD SPOKE.

BUT IT WAS CLEAR TO ME AND LEAH

WE’D NEED TO SOLVE A MYSTERY-A.

THE QUESTION, ONE MIGHT ASK,

AS WE SET UP FOR THE TASK,

WAS “HOW ARE WE TO KNOW

WHERE ALL MY MISSING SOCKS COULD GO?”

I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING, HONEY.

WE SPEND A LOT OF MONEY

TO BUY SOMETHING WE NEED

THAT DISAPPEARS, INDEED.

IN THE WASH THEY LAND.

THIS, WE UNDERSTAND.

YOU MAY THINK THAT I’M A LIAR

BUT THEY DON’T COME OUT OF THE DRYER!

SO, ME AND LEAH WENT

AND TRIED AN EXPERIMENT.

WE HAD TO PREPARE THE MIND

TO SEE WHAT WE COULD FIND.

I MOVED THE BIG APPLIANCE

WITH ABSOLUTE DEFIANCE.

AND THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND..

A BIG HOLE IN THE GROUND!

WE FELT A LITTLE FEAR.

THIS MUCH WAS VERY CLEAR.

BUT WE WOULD BE COURAGEOUS

EVEN IF THIS WAS SO OUTRAGEOUS.

WE CLIMBED DOWN ONE BY ONE.

WE WERE NERVOUS, LIKE, A TON.

BUT IT WAS WORTH A LITTLE FEAR

TO SEE IF SOCKS APPEAR.

SHE HELD MY HAND REAL TIGHT

AND THAT HELPED WITH MY FRIGHT.

OK, I STILL COULD FEEL A LITTLE.

OK, MAYBE SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.

SHE FOUND THIS LITTLE CANDLE

WITH A PRETTY RUBBER HANDLE.

THIS WOULD BE MUCH EASIER..

(AND MAKE ME FEEL LESS QUEASIER).

DOWN THE PATH WE WENT

AS IT SLITHERED AND IT BENT

AND CAME UPON A SIGHT

THAT STUNNED US AS IT MIGHT.

RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR VERY EYES

AND MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE

WERE TINY LITTLE CREATURES

WITH FUNNY LITTLE FEATURES.

THEIR EYES WERE REALLY SMALL.

THEIR ARMS WERE REALLY TALL.

THEIR LEGS WERE SHORT AND STUMPY.

THEIR SKIN WAS ROUGH AND BUMPY.

THEIR HAIR WAS KIND OF MOPPY.

THEIR WALK WAS KIND OF HOPPY.

THEIR NOSE WAS LIKE A FLUTE.

YOU KNOW? THEY REALLY WERE QUITE CUTE.

WE FOLLOWED THEM ALONG

AS THEY HUMMED A CUTESY SONG

UNTIL WE CAME UPON A SIGHT

THAT THRILLED US WITH DELIGHT!

AFTER ALL THE LOWS AND HIGHS

WE LET OUT TWO BIG ROUND SIGHS.

WE FOUND WHAT WE HAD FOUND!

ALL OF OUR SOCKS IN ONE BIG MOUND!

BUT IT WAS STILL A BIT CONFUSING

AS TO WHY THEY WERE ALL USING

OUR SINGLE MISMATCHED PAIRS

IN THESE COLD DARK UNDER LAYERS.

THEN WE LOOKED UP TO THE ROOF

AND FOUND THE VITAL PROOF

THAT EXPLAINS, IN REMINISCING,

WHY ALL OUR SOCKS WILL OFTEN GO MISSING.

YOU SEE, WHEN TREES GET REALLY OLD,

THEIR ROOTS GET REALLY COLD

SO CREATURES COVER THEIR ROOTS

WITH COLORFUL FUZZY BOOTS.

THIS IS ONE BIG REASON

TREES SURVIVE THE WINTER SEASON

BECAUSE LITTLE CREATURES STRIVE

TO KEEP OLD TREES ALIVE.

SO THE MYSTERY, AT ITS BEST,

CAN REALLY BE PUT TO REST.

WE CAN STOP TO BLAME OUR MOTHER

OUR SISTER OR OUR BROTHER.

IT’S ALL FINE IN THE END

YOU MUST AGREE, MY DEAR FRIEND,

TO LOSE ANOTHER BOOTY

TO SAVE A NICE OLD TREE.

(Robert Amar & Leah Pessin, 2015)