what a celebration today! this country is doing everything possible to minimize the ptsd of the released hostages and the soldiers, and I am proud of it.
the last hostage – 1.27.26 Read Post »
While I was talking to some friends about feeling sympathy for the victims of October 7, then for all the women whose partners or parents have been overwhelmed with the demands of military service for well over two years, one of my friends added that if we were feeling sympathy for women we might also feel sympathy for women in Gaza. She reported that she knows that women there, without protection and a home, are subject to violence and rape – by Hamas. How do you know that? Someone asked. Its a common situation for societies in conflict, in transition, in disarray. someone else remarked. And think of the women in Iran , another woman chimed in.
No one denied it – women have the least power and suffer most in wars.
On Tuesday we travelled up north – in a bus made for people half our size – to see the spring flowers. A sign of new beginnings, they awakened our hope for new beginnings. Despite the discomfort, the long journey, the hunger and thirst, we were inspired.
Today we went to the neighborhood nature preserve. And there were all the flowers we could wish for – a short walk away.
We’ve even got narcissus sprouting in our window box.
There is something about this country that is always renewing itself. Every time I read Melville or Twain or any of the writers who wrote about this land and the desolation they encountered I look around me with appreciation and wonder.
anemones, narcissus, Read Post »
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.
pre-purim – 1.23.26 Read Post »
From here, you can see many of the kibbutzim in the north. Here, you can see memorials to the lost soldiers of the kibbutzim. You can also see memorials to the kibbutz members who were killed on October 7. sometimes whole families.
In the neighborhood are fields and fields of flowers – anemones, shy cyclamen. Overwhelming.
anemones and cyclamen – 1.21.26 Read Post »
In his dictionary Samuel Johnson defined politics as “The last refuge of a scoundrel,” and if you look at the knesset now, it seems an exacrt definition. But if you look at the people who are entering politics for the first time in this country, it’s the complete opposite. The most promising people are planning to change our future. There is hope!!!!
I uonce went out with a boy like that – he spent the entire evening making eyes at other girls, and then, when i was sure he wasn’t interested, he went after me big. I picked up on it quickly because I’d seen him play that trick on others. Bait and switch I think it is called.
greenland and iran – 1.19.26 Read Post »
since so many people left the country – because of the war, but also because of the politics – I would like to suggest that they keep a bag packed in case elections are called and they return to vote. I know this is a very complicated issue, but i would look into it if I cared about our past, and our future.
come back and vote – 1.18.26 Read Post »
