Nature

Nature is really fascinating. In Japan...
In Israel we have black and gray plumed crows and while I haven't witnessed them cracking open walnuts, I have seen one pick up a small rock with its beak and today I saw one with one leg up on an olive tree as though it were tying its shoe!

At the intersection of Keren HaYesod, King David, and Jabotinsky Streets, the pansy flowers spell out Yerushalayim - in Hebrew of course.

Tower of Babel

I love reunion stories. Here is one.
I cry for joy when they are reunited.
However, I look quizzically at the author's name.
I love culture and language but this one is a bit much.
The tower of Babel is alive and well.

Art Switch

Yesterday morning felt more like the Groundhog Day movie script than Friday. I left the house without an umbrella and thus was soaked the minute I stepped out of the apartment entranceway. I crossed rivers to get to the makolet (quickie mart) and when trying to cross the railroad tracks while simultaneously avoiding speeding cars who were oblivious to the puddle/lakes that they were driving through, I realized my socks were wet. I went back to the apartment for dry clothes.
The second time down the stairs, I noticed that the "art" on the wall had been switched in the short time I had been away. The cartoon-like cats were now to the right of the clockface. I think that whoever is responsible for the cats and clocks may feel as though they are on Sesame Street featuring the letter "C". There are also chintzy ceramics but Maria Montessori would not approve of that as it is not phonetically apropos.
It was just another Manic Sunday.

The Prophetic Shadow

Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays primarily due to the movie of the same name - Groundhog Day. Today should not go unnoticed. I bring you a bit of Crayola history.
Have a colorful day.

If Idaho, I'd plant 'em myself

Baking potatoes are here!
I don't know where you can buy them in the raw but baked and ready to eat - go to HOT POTATO!
It is located in the alley between Leonidas Belgian chocolates (and Village Green) and Sbarro.
They have the strange Israeli favorites such as corn, olives (both kinds), and tuna to top off your tater. I suggested sour cream and chives and told the owner that both things exist here. For 20 NIS you can get all those toppings and more.
Delicious.

Time for Planting

My flowerboxes now have marjoram and romaine lettuce seeds in their soil. I bought seeds and trays to catch the water overflow, and my mom-in-law bought more earth as the latest rains claimed the dirt. No, 'tis not an allegory for anything else.

Perhaps the new year that I have longed for is the New Year for Trees.

Top 5 Reasons Why the Flu...

is better than a kick in the pants:

5. You lose your appetite and save on grocery bills.
4. The heat is on and you have a valid excuse.
3. There is more than enough time for recreational reading.
2. Looking the way you feel is okay.
1. I fit into those curve defining boot-cut plum trousers again!

Cold December Rain

I would rather walk home in the winter rain than take the wet, odorous bus. The only major thing to watch out for, other than cars that can't brake in time, deep puddles, mud, and dropping your gloves when you reach into your pocket for a tissue, is walking too close to the curb. The image will forever stay etched in my mind - my close friend (who now lives in Smogville) was waiting for the green man to light up before the green bus passed and sent a tidal wave in her direction. It was a smiling happy waving friend closely followed by the classic "Home Alone"/Edvard Munch's "Scream".
Happy Winter!

What's the Rush?

I have some of my most profound thoughts while waiting for the green walking man.
Before I left the US to come on aliyah, I made it a point to not get annoyed with traffic and chose not to read newspapers. I felt that there must have been a reason for the delay and getting road rage was not going to solve it. The papers generally featured old bad news so I didn't put it on my reading list. Now I avoid jaywalking, especially when the brightly-vested are around, and scan the articles in order to move on to the puzzles page.
Happy Torch Lighting by firetruck or crane.

Nightscapes and Dreammares

Wild and crazy dreams. That's what happens when you sleep in a room with the heat turned up. It sets the stage for a fever-like evening of vivid sleep journeys. Then when you wake, you travel to the beaucratic land of 'mares: the income tax office. Did you know that there are 3 branches in Jerusalem and they have assigned themselves numbers. What they forgot to do was tell the public. And so we went to one branch and since the one we needed was not so far away; we walked it. After a bit of finding-the-right-floor, we obediently took a number (as though we were at the deli counter back in Jersey). At a certain point the red LCD went BACKWARDS. That my friend is how you know that you are in the right place.
All in all it was a worthwhile visit because the amount we owed, was in fact their error. In 2 weeks we should be rather wealthy or at least break even.

Factoid: The guy who discovered/invented X-Rays was named Roentgen. Doesn't your whole world just fall into place?

A Season

This time of year, when the real grass smells green and the fake grass needs no water; visit the circle at Hizkiyahu HaMelech for the latter. Autumn leaves have fallen yet no New England foliage preceded this event. There is the well-known PC desktop picture of Autumn, bright orange dressed trees lining a road. It makes me think of Unami Park and the swings that helped you fly into the treetops, if you pumped your legs hard enough. And when I learned to ride a bike, small, low to the ground and yellow and black. And while we are on the subject of glorious colors, check out this site, a bit of color synesthesia for you?

Stream of Consciousness

What happened to Wednesday? Was the weather cancelled? Or postponed? Was it forecast and then cast away? MrHawaiianShirt and I watch Heroes, an interesting series brought to us by the world of television downloads. There is bending of space and time, alter egos, brain-hungry bad guys, and those gifted with speedy cell regeneration. There is a book of scientific theories, an ethnic mix of cultural references, mind-reading, and 2 interracial couples. Why mention the latter? Click.

Looking for the Little Rainbows

One should be grateful for the little things. Like technological advancement, medicinal experts and just merely being alive...being able to afford to buy a turkey that is twice the size of my adorable nephew Lev, roast it in the oven without taping the door shut, and sharing it with friends over just one of the celebratory 25 hour weekly holidays...sharing life with a talented, most patient, and loving man.
The apartment is still on the market and I think I will have to turn it over to a real estate agent.
Just knowing that there are little rainbows, like the one colorfully bouncing on the newspaper display at the makolet this morning, soothes me.

Just a Bisele*

Happy Day of the Dead!

My Crocs bit me. I walked home from work and the nasty cuts that resulted were quite painful. Those "shoes" have not been worn since.

Our plaster turtle used to bite, which prompted us to call him the Snapping Turtle. Now he's tame. He stays obediently across from the door so as to greet guests. Everyone should have a Watchturtle.

I use the term, bite, in daily speech rather freely. When an insect, almost always a mosquito, takes a nip, I used to say, "somebody bit me." Then I realized it's best not to confuse the things with the people we love to be bitten by.

Which then brings me to the recent incident with the dirty old guy tourist who feigned fear of the photographer "snapping" his picture.
"Will it hurt?"
"No, he doesn't bite."
"Will you?"
"No."
"Please."
"No."

* Have you seen Yiddish with George and Laura?

Welcome?

Every Friday (or Thursday), our neighbor cleans the stairs by the waterfall method. She picks up everyone’s doormats and places them on the railing. After the squeegee part is done, the mats are put back in front of their respective apartments. Ours was a gift from Mom and it actually reads: “WELCOME”. Every Friday morning however, it returns to its spot upside down so that when one leaves the apartment, they are “welcomed” into the world out there.

I have been exposed to a lot more Hebrew lately with my new job in an over half Hebrew speaking environment. This is wonderful for me but there is one noticeable problem so far-how do I know when I am asked a question? It seems that most languages have clues such as inflection. I know that in Asian dialects, inflection is everything. While my command of the Hebrew language is less than perfect, I infer the meanings of the words that I don’t understand. But when someone asks me a question using words that fly by and I miss the question mark, I just nod. Give me my cue please.

Gulindo Bistro Bar

Oh what a treat! Today I had canneloni with salsa rosa.
Their yogurt soup is also divine.
Great background tunes.
A must eat there!

Shamai 17.

Picture this.

Picture this. Teenage girl dressed in no-longer-fashionable (according to Sunday’s Cathy comic) low-rise jeans on her way to the bus stop with a low hanging pale pink O’Neill backpack. Graffiti in black marker litters the stereotypical feminine rose canvas. The phrase “F--- the World” appearing at least twice, a few Anarchy A’s, and the swastika. At first I was incensed – how could this teenage girl not care about the people around her who undoubtedly have been affected by the Holocaust in some way. Then I wanted to go to City Hall and yell at whoever was in charge, for not educating Israeli youth about the last impetus for founding this State. Then I thought maybe I was merely angered at the injustice of having lived through the gory details described to me in Hebrew school at the age of 10. Maybe a small part of me wanted to regain that sense of innocence (or lest I say ignorance) of a time when my mind wasn’t filled with the horrific scientific experiments performed on pregnant women during the war. But then I took a closer look.

Upon further examination, I saw that there was an attempt at correcting one of the symbols that must have been facing the wrong way. While I only dabble in Robert Langdon’s field, I found that the clockwise and the counterclockwise versions have been interchangeable around the globe and throughout time - until 1920. The ones displayed in bold thick lines, were like those associated with Nazism, at least in the last 85 years. Symbols are strange like that.

My mom went to a PTA meeting when I was in high school on the topic, “Cults and Your Teenager.” At least I think that was the title. What I do know is that my mother returned home with a hefty 30+ page document of symbols that a parent may find in the doodled margins of their teen’s class notes (if they took any at all); each one interpreted to have satanic meanings. I could wax environmental and lament on how many trees were destroyed for the sake of distributing this one-sided drivel but I won’t. So I perused this ‘manual’ and found all types of symbols including the Star of David and the sign most commonly associated with PEACE. It stated that within the circle was a person with broken arms and thus a sign indicating devil worship. Whatever spawned this hysteria must have been pretty bad.
Back to the bag - there’s a bit more.

On the bulging pocket was a small pin of the flag of Israel. Next to it was an Israeli police silver badge. And so as not to confuse, a small pristine white toy duck served as a zipper extension of her schoolbag. So I concluded (?), by the way that is a question mark, that either someone vandalized her bag or she was just plain confused. Then I felt a bit of pity, and then I felt the irony of it all. What was written may be a cry for attention. Or maybe just maybe it was nothing at all.

Let the River Run...

No joke, the Archimedes' screw is working again. The fountain in Kikar Safra is bringing water from the depths through the aqua tiled runoffs to a pool across from the Old City. Let the river run!

Treats

Like Sahlab is the stuff that warms you up in the winter, a Passiflora/Vanilla Barad cools you down, at least for a little while. Sahlab used to really contain powdered orchid, now it is made from cornstarch, the stuff that pudds the pudding. It is a custardy drink that you can top with peanuts, cinnamon, shredded coconut, and raisins and then eat with a spoon. The Barad (hail) is more slush than a ball of ice. And as I hail (pi) from a place that had both, I can tell the difference. Today I had Pina Colada and Passionfruit and it did the trick.

Yippee!

Lime season! Remember to scratch and sniff to be sure you are not buying green lemons.

Check out this totally hip napkin I bought near the shuk.Nothing goes to waste.

Happy 29+ Birthday to Grandma!