“I don’t feel old.  I don’t feel anything till noon.  That’s when it’s time for my nap.”  Bob Hope

And so it was that a crowd of relatives and friends celebrated Bennet Mermel’s 90^th birthday recently, complete with sunshine, fabulous food and a shocked face as we all yelled SURPRISE when he walked through the door.  They say it’s not wise to startle old men yet, in Bennet’s case, it’s so very clear he can take it.  After all, you don’t survive multiple concentration camps and death marches without building a thick layer of skin. 

As Bennet made his way through the throng of people wishing him “Happy Birthday”, shaking hands and extending hugs, it was quickly obvious how affected he was by all this attention, as well as those responding back, like the boomerang that love symbiotically is.  When working on his memoir, he once told me “what you give out comes back to you”, a karmic law if there ever was one.  And of course that morning an infectious load of it was on display, the room pulsing out its unmistakable beat.

Writing Bennet’s life story has been one of my life’s greatest privileges; one that afforded a particular view through the lens of one man’s experience.  While so much of Bennet’s life was shaped by his endurance through concentration camps, he has never been defined or confined by them.  Instead, what has always struck me is his uncanny ability to recover his own sense of self, a changed man from the experience, to be sure, yet one who preserved both dignity and decency, surmounting many obstacles even in the years initially following his release.

After creating an astonishing life of successes – as an opera singer, an early pioneer in LA’s garment district, a father and world traveler – Bennet certainly has earned his afternoon naps, though I defy you to find many 90-year-olds who still walk a treadmill, do Sudoku and crossword puzzles with as much vigor as he.  Upon starting his short speech after we sang “Happy Birthday” and he blew out his candles, he joked and said, “I can’t see very well, I can’t hear much, etc., and while we all laughed at his litany of complaints, in an abrupt turn, he broke down sobbing.  This was not on account of his physical losses, mind you.  Rather, it sprang instantly from the place where both gratitude and sorrow reside. 

I know he knows how blessed he’s been throughout his life.   While Bennet has sustained images of horror, both actual and re-lived, he has gained insight and sensitivity from the depths of his head and heart, mining and polishing a hard-won maturity with honor and wit.  Though innocent by his own admission, he’s also nobody’s fool.

My son once described Bennet as “every man, a universal man,” and that remains so obvious to me.  This does not diminish Bennet’s very personal experience during the Holocaust.  Instead, it expands it, amplifies it even.  Through this one man I’ve witnessed every man’s suffering, watched every man cry out; heard each gasp as it forms the collective.  Miraculously, I’ve correspondingly witnessed every man’s courage, every man’s fortitude, every man’s triumph, all through the one man that is Bennet Mermel.

As Bennet sobbed out his reverence for helping save his brother’s life, he also wept out his regret for not being able to save his friend’s.  How many of us have ever had to confront the depths of these things so personally, so specifically.  In an uncanny way, it strikes me that Bennet has done this not just for himself, but for each of us as well.  In a stroke, it seems he offers this gift of his example, this consideration, this wonderment, quite possibly without his own awareness, yet extending it just the same. 

Without a doubt, when the physicists describe entanglement theory, I have a keen sense of which they speak for I, we, cannot help but be affected by acknowledging Bennet’s exclamation.  It is the great and glorious web of life that connects us one to another, invisible in its sourcing, yet so evident in its affects.

And what does Bennet do after the sobs cease?  Flanked by his children on either side of him, he recovers.  He begins cracking jokes, thanking people, reclaiming himself from sorrow, transcending it to light, as always, shining it on the joy that resides in front of him.  As always, he insists on living-ness, the forward progression of himself and his connection with those he loves.  It is all palpable and real, acknowledged in silence by everyone in the room, as we listen to what he has to say by his very transcendence. 

At the end of the day, Bennet, indeed each one of us, will not be outdone by tragedy unless choosing to do so.  For his part, Bennet decided decades ago to follow life and hope, remaining an unwitting example and inspiration for all to see.

To read about the first 90 years of Bennet Mermel’s life, his memoir titled The Man Confused by God is available through www.Amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com.  (The first five chapters are free!) 

Rancho Santa fe's largest citrus grower, Del Dios Ranch, harvesting oranges this week

Orange picking was in full swing Friday at Del Dios Ranch, the largest citrus operation at Rancho Santa Fe at the corner of Del Dios Highway and El Camino Del Norte.

Rancho Santa Fe has more than 400 acres of oranges and lemons, many of them managed by Chuck Badger Jr. and  R.E. Badger & Son, Co. R.E. Badger was a Rancho Santa Fe founding father, managing most of the first area orchards beginning in 1922. He was president of the San Diego County Farm Bureau from 1936-1937. Chuck Badger held the prestigious Farm Bureau presidency in 2007-2008.

According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service:

• The 92067 Zip code contains 10 farms with more than $50,000 in sales from fruit and nut trees. another 129 operations were classified as not specified.
• By far the norm in the area, 119 orchards were smaller than 15 acres;
• 11 orchards were 15-to-99 acres;
• Del Dios Ranch was 100 acres.

Citrus is a $1.5 billion industry -- with a total estimated economic impact around $5 billion -- in San Diego County. It is the county's fifth largest industry, ranking behind only manufacturing, tourism, defense and biotechnology.

Lovers of navel oranges will be pleased to learn there should be more of their favorite fruit this year, according to the California Farm Bureau.

A new crop estimate says California farmers will harvest 93 million cartons' full of navel oranges this season, up 13 percent from the previous year.

Some other fun facts about county farming, such as these revealed in the 2009 annual crop report, a mandatory requirement for each county, based on voluntary reporting by local growers: 

• San Diego County has 6,687 farms, more than any other county in the United States. Sixty Eight percent of those are one to nine acres in size.
• Nearly 27 percent of all San Diego County farms are operated by women.
• Statewide, San Diego County is in the top five counties for producing cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, boysenberries and strawberries, grapefruit, Valencia oranges, tangelos and tangerines, honey and eggs.
• San Diego County has the largest community of organic growers in the state and nation, with 374 farms growing more than 175 crops.

Growing in San Diego County has always been about adjusting, said County Agriculture Commissioner Bob Atkins, “to drought, freeze, fires, economy, pests and diseases. It’s good to see that growing in San Diego is still economically viable.

This past year, San Diego County farmers certainly worked smarter to solve struggles of limited resources, competition and unpredictable forces of nature using innovation and determination," Atkins said in the 2009 San Diego County Crop Report (See attached pdf file for full report.)

"Additionally, San Diego County had an unprecedented five Mediterranean fruit fly quarantines. North County farmers were especially hard hit with the Fallbrook and Escondido area quarantines. Quarantines for Diaprepes root weevil (rescinded) and Asian citrus psyllid (still active) also affected local farmers.

Given all these challenges, a decrease of only 0.26% in the value of agriculture is admirable. In fact, since 2000, when the total crop value was $1,253,884,664, San Diego County agriculture has experienced nearly a 24% increase in crop value."

The full report provides a state-of-the-farming-industry snapshot, including lots of great information about agricultural education, programs, activities, personnel and contact information.