Author: Manny Kagan

The term “Simple Beauty” is a bit of an oxymoron. It originates from the Ancient Greek word oksus which means “sharp”, “pointed” and the word moros which means “dull”, “stupid”, “foolish”. Out of curiosity, I explored examples of oxymorons online, and found some great ones like, “living dead” and “jumbo shrimp”. As Plato said, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”. Beauty cannot be either simple or complex. Perhaps another title for this story could be “How to Find Beauty in Nature’s Simplicity”. But this would also be misleading, since who can define Nature? In the Torah it is written, “While God was creating our world/Nature every day was called “good”. And later on, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it”. (Genesis 3:6)

I thought about all of this while walking on a trail along the ocean in The Sea Ranch.

We decided to take this weekend trip at the spur of the moment. On the Tuesday before, my wife Elfa asked me what we should do over the 4th of July weekend. I suggested that we visit “The Sea Ranch”, as we haven’t been there for a long time. My wife is a realist, and was concerned that we would not be able to rent a house on such short notice, while I did not have a doubt. This is why we’ve lived and worked successfully together for so many years. She asks a question, and I have to find an answer. This time, the answer was on the web. She found a house that was available and at about 5pm on Friday, we reached our favorite destination. We went for a walk after dinner, and I was felt dizzy from the fresh sea air that filled my lungs. After sitting in the office for 10 hours, I often go for a half an hour walk in our neighborhood, after dinner. But here it is different. You are in the middle of the Nature. Everything is simple. The ocean waves crash the shore, wild flowers stick out from the yellow grass, and there is a specific smell in the air. A few people walk by, some with dogs. Sometimes a jogger rushes by on her or his mission. Rustic houses color the background. A flock of pelicans settle down for the night on a big rock not far from the shore. Black tailed deer and their babies have their supper in the open field. I feel welcomed, embraced, a part of the big picture we call Nature.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. As a photographer, I can only focus and isolate a very small part of what my eyes see. The problem is always which four images to choose to share with you.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Thinking about the subject of keeping pets, my memory goes back to Riga.  When I was about 5 years young, we had a pet kitten. To our surprise, one day my “kitten” gave birth to four other ones.  I particularly remember this because my nanny took those tiny creatures to the attic and drowned them in a bucket of water.  Probably this was (and perhaps still is) the method to control the cat population.  We got our next kitten many years later, when we lived in a rural area in Israel.  We had just become vegetarians and tried to teach our cat to do the same.  In spite of our efforts, he would go to the field to catch mice, which he brought us back as gifts.  At night he would sit in the kitchen and catch huge cockroaches, who flew in through the open window.  One day as my wife walked home from the local grocery store, a small dog followed her.  In spite of our efforts to get rid of him, he kept coming back.  But our cat probably felt that this insult was too much to bear and a few days the cat disappeared.  We called our new dog companion Lucky, and he traveled with us wherever we moved.  Then one day we moved to a village and he disappeared as well.  We suspected that he ate poisoned meat, which our neighbors used to keep wild animals away.

When we moved to San Francisco, we got a new kitten.  We called him Champion or Champy. He was very cute, and grew up into huge, gorgeous hairy creature.  Unexpectedly, I developed asthma and the first question the Chinese doctor, we were referred to, asked if we had a cat.  It turned out that I was allergic, and we had to give Champy away to friends.  Our next pet was an Irish setter puppy that we called Amber.  When she grew up, she turned out to be beautiful, but rather nasty animal.  When we reprimanded her for bad behavior, she would punish us by chewing antique furniture or defecating on our Persian rug.  She had a tendency to jump over our fence.  I had to look for her over all of the neighborhood until one day after she ran away she was killed by a car in front of our house.  My wife demanded that our next dog have short legs.  So we got a Welsh Corgi, whom the breeder gave a Scottish name Angus.  He was our trusted companion for over thirteen years until his passing.

Since then, we have been discussing who would be our next best friend.  The solution might be not far away.  When our daughter Alona decided to move from Paris back to the Bay Area, one of the important questions on her agenda was, which dog would she get?  And since she is often away on business trips, it will fall on the shoulders of the “grandparents” – us, to keep a watchful eye on her companion.  Stay tuned.  I will keep you posted.  One of my upcoming photo projects is going to be “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”.  Enjoy and Share.

P.S. Animals, like people, behave strangely.  I recently visited a client.  When I walked by her bedroom, I noticed that her bedcover was moving.  First I thought it was wind, but it turned to be her gorgeous cat, who for some strange reason liked to be under the covers.  When we recently visited the UC Berkeley campus, I encountered a couple with two cats on a leash, like this potbelly pig I encountered on my way to work.

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Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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About a month ago we were invited to our friend Irv Spivak’s Birthday’s party. We’ve been friends for over ten years, since he joined our BNI networking group. We discovered there were a number of things we had in common. We both lived in Israel and speak Hebrew, and we both like to tell jokes. At that time he worked at the Simayof Jewelry Store, helping buyers celebrate their lives by spending a lot of money on diamonds and jewelry. His next job was at the Payne Mansion Hotel, where he helped to organize events. While there, he developed his next occupation officiating special celebrations like weddings, childbirth celebrations and funerals. No matter what Irv touched, it was always a celebration of life.

The party was his 63rd Birthday celebration, and I did not know what to expect, since I was told that Irv had started chemotherapy. Generally, people are not known to celebrate during these unfortunate life circumstances. The party was held in Golden Gate Park, but it was not a typical picnic. It was a celebration of life. Music blasted with the help of a DJ, while people danced on the grass. Smoke rose from a huge grill. Huge amounts of food and drinks covered tables, children played lawn games, and everyone had a good time. And to top all of this, cigars were freely distributed by our celebrating host. Part of Irv’s celebration of life was his love for food. I was surprised when one day a few years ago he announced that he would start a special diet. A few months later, a new Irv appeared in his new clothes, 40 lbs. lighter. Similar to many diets, the transformation did not last. We had lunch a few months ago and Irv was dressed in his old clothes, and enjoyed bread with butter and the rest of his meal with a great appetite.

Unfortunately, his disease caused him to lose weight again. But his big blue eyes were shining at every guest he greeted. Seeing us, his first words were “Let me tell you a joke”, which he told with great pleasure. When I texted Irv last Sunday to find out how he is doing, I received a reply from our mutual friend Constance Adamopolis, who is an incredible events organizer and helped create Irv’s Birthday party. She has worked with Irv on many life-celebrating projects. Constance told me that Irv is in hospice and that he does not have much time left. When we went to visit him there, Irv had difficulty speaking, but when my wife Elfa told him a joke, his face lit up, and he showed his thumb up. There are so many small things that can teach us how to celebrate life.

Enjoy your life and Share with a friend.

P.S. I hope that these four images will help you remember to celebrate life as long as you can.

P.P.S. Yesterday, July 21^st at 2.30 pm Irv’s soul left this world.

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Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Years ago I read that a mother approached Dr. Spock, the famous pediatrician, and asked him when she should start her one year old child’s education. His response was, “You are exactly one year late.”

I am sharing this anecdote as an introduction to talk about when to start preparing for retirement.  When I began working in the mortgage business over 30 years ago, most of my clients were my young age.  Now at the age of 69, many of my clients are catching up to me, meaning, some of them have reached their retirement age.  A few years ago, my wife Elfa suggested that we slow down, perhaps semi-retire.  I did consider her offer, after all, I have so many other things to do, such as to photograph and to write books.  But after a night’s sleep, I decided to keep going until I am 90.  There were two circumstances that helped me make my decision.  First, I felt that we were not yet financially ready to retire, but the second reason was because I had met my first reverse mortgage clients.  After helping them, I realized that there are so many people whom I can help to enjoy their retirement, before I am ready for my own.

As part of my effort, I decided to take a deeper look at the subject of retirement.  The result was my decision to write a book titled, “Retirement Solution for Smart People.  5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”.  Since writing a book takes time, I decided not to wait and to share my ideas with you sooner.  In order to do that, I created a seminar.  The first one is going to be on July 19^th.  We will discuss: What it takes to retire, when to start planning, who can help you, how to maximize social security benefits, and what to do with the mortgage.  I hope you can join us.  The details are in the attached flyer.  Enjoy and Share.

P.S. I am guessing that the people I photographed in those four images are either retired or are ready to retire.  Are you ready?

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Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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On a recent visit to downtown, San Francisco, we visited the new Apple flagship store, which was relocated to the corner of Post and Sutter streets. We entered the store from Sutter Street, ascending the stairs, passing the famous fountain by the sculptor Ruth Asawa, and faced a narrow waterfall running from the top of the green covered opposite wall. After getting inside the store crowded with people, my initial reaction was awe. On the other side of the store, facing Union Square was a 42 foot sliding glass door. Since the door was opened, it felt as though we were just part of the outside world. Looking around at the people, I noticed that others were awestruck as well. In the store itself, there were simple large wooden tables that displayed Apple’s merchandise like their iPhones and Apple Watches, similar to other Apple stores. One large room had some wooden cubes for people to sit on. Opposite the cubes, there was show of panoramic video, on the opposite wall, which was probably shot with an iPhone. There were as many employees in their blue t-shirt uniforms, as visitors, and the store was packed with onlookers like us. From the outside, the store looked like a huge glass box. It seemed to be completely out of place on Union Square, surrounded by mostly older more architecturally appealing buildings (at least for me). Nevertheless, the feeling of awe was there. Not even about the store and its location, but about how we live in a time, witnessing what the genius of the human mind can create in a relatively short period of time in history. But can this feeling of awe last? Will a new gadget or a car, which our mind cannot even fathom, in a few years convert the Apple store’s ground floor into a driverless cars show room? Or in ten years, will the building be demolished to be replaced with another one? Time will tell.

People are always looking for something new, exciting or stimulating, regardless if it is our relationship, in our family, work, or any of our other endeavors. We constantly need to be awed, even if the subject of our attention is God.

I recently read a weekly commentary on the Torah (Parasha in Hebrew) in the book “Talks on the Parasha” by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, whom Time Magazine hailed as a “once-in-a-millennium scholar”. There he comments on being in awe of God. “To what degree can one stand very close and yet remain in a state of awe and reverence, dread and trembling? To straddle both sides simultaneously is nearly impossible, it is certainly one of the most difficult things that a person can do. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) comments that in order to achieve this, one must be simultaneously extremely old and yet, in a sense, completely infantile. These requirements are against human nature, but nevertheless we are called upon to do just this.” Enjoy and Share.

P.S. I know that I am not extremely old, nor infantile any more, but I am in awe of many things in my life: my wife, my children, my colleagues, the work I do, helping people, and even the fact that you are reading my stories and like my photos. This time, I was fortunate to encounter and capture images of some people in with the expression of awe in the Apple store.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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