this must be the time of year that Haman is making his nefarious plans to get rid of all the Jews in Persia, so it occurred to me that there might be a queen Esther out there to save us from the attack that is sure to come when the US bombs Iran.  Not a very optimistic thought, but one that keeps popping up in my mind this week.  Most people here are pretty confident this weekend is the one that will drive us all underground for a number of days, and yet the atmosphere is pretty blase’ –  

I myself buckled down under the strain and regressed to my usual behavior, buying out the supermarket.  The prices are higher than usual, and the coupons symbolic, but i managed to eke out a few discounts.  

It comforts me to have a full refrigerator in wartime.