A few years ago we started celebrating thanksgiving – it is a great holiday because nothing is expected of you but food. Turkey used to be more common than chicken, so it wasn’t a problem. Ground turkey, turkey shnitzel, turkey breasts – it was cheap. But in recent years I can’t find a turkey to save my life. I wound up with a big chicken and I’m hoping I’ll be able to pass it off as turkey. I’ll let you know. Happy Thanksgiving.
november 24, 2021 – turkey Read Post »
Because my watch has been warning me that my heart suddenly speeds up for no reason – even in my sleep, I wrote my doctor this morning. He wrote back that I should get a 24 hour halter to measure it properly and sent me the number. I spent the rest of the morning trying to get to the right number and when I finally found the right place, they told me they’d call me back. They didn’t.
When I saw it isn’t going to happen, I called the general number of the health clinic again and they said that the only thing they can do is give me an appointment for January. “Should I go to the emergency ward?” I asked. “No, no! Wait for us to get back to you.” So if you don’t hear from me, know I’m still waiting.
Somewhere.
so it’s just me and my watch
november 24, 2021 – my watch and health clinic Read Post »
I was sure no one would be there. Elections of the board of the Writers’ Association in Hebrew couldn’t be terribly interesting, I thought. So I promised I’d be five minutes and went in. But I had to show my green pass, get checked off the list, go through a bunch of welcoming candidates, and then get in line for the registration and voting booths. There was a lot of kissing on the way and promises to get back to the stage and screen. But I kept thinking about the old days, about the enormous events we had, the amazing friday afternoons at the cafe, the interviews and conferences – above all, the respect given to literature and the development of a culture. Now it’s all nostalgia. Nostalgia and maybe hope
november 23, 2021 – hebrew writers election Read Post »
i wanted to call this section “tiv tam and tomatoes” – because it’s only a detail of a short shopping trip. But it was such a strange and funny detail.
I noticed today when I dragged Ezi to Tiv Tam in search of a turkey for thanksgiving that the store was almost empty. It seems that the times it is crowded are when most people think no one is shopping – nights and weekends. So the fact that everyone was speaking only Arabic in a Russian supermarket was very obvious. Anyway, we were picking out vegetables when a lady in a hijab complained in Arabic that the tomatoes were not the best quality. Immediately the clerk began rolling the un-picked-over tomatoes from the unreachable top of the piled-high tray down to her. Luckily we understood and waited until she’d picked her tomatoes. Then we picked ours. Bandoora. Always good, as the cat said, to learn a foreign language….
november 22, 2021 – tiv tam Read Post »
I just don’t know about hotels. Everyone in Israel seems to think it’s a form of vacation in itself, but I only am interested in going places and seeing things. The idea of sitting around in a lobby in the evening and listening to some guitarist while you’re buying clothes for the next vacation on the internet – not my idea of fun. Our hotel was also challenged by the fact that most of the activities take place in the open pool area, and it was … raining in the desert. Nevertheless, we managed to find great pleasure in our stay at the Kedma, and may return… but with friends…
november 22, 2021 – hotel vacation Read Post »
Two elements in life are always amazing to me. The element of history. Every time I realize how long civilization has been going on as usual, how long people have been living almost the same way we are living – I am amazed. Today at Ovdat, a place where I have been many times, but long ago when I was apparently young and stupid, I began to imagine a woman like me living thousands of years ago in the villa on the other side of the hill from the bath-house, feeding her babies, enticing her husband with humor and food and wine, bathing in the incense bought and sold on the incense trail from Egypt to Petra – frankincense and myrrh – praying to one god or another for frivolous things… just like me. Only well over 2000 years ago.
The other thing that floors me is nature – how it is so alive, transforming, magnificent. I’ll try to show you some of it – some of the desert blossoming, but my computer is malfunctioning and it will take time. Here’s my amazement:
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november 21, 2021 – ovdat and zin Read Post »
We’re freezing down here! So we went to the bar in Kedma to warm up. And there are two musicians playing on oud and drums music that sounds like it should be Arabic but have tunes that sound like Shereles to me and maybe it’s the Pina Coladas but I keep picturing 4 Hasidic couples with handkerchiefs dancing in the background.
And now they have seen me singing along to one of the Hebrew tunes and they purposefully turn to play “Next year” with the words “Next year we will sit on our balconies and count migrating birds.” It is the kind of sentimental song about peace that proves to me the fact that the whole thing is a fantasy.
november 20, 2021 – music Read Post »
