tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34091342024-03-23T20:14:49.305+02:00Mozemen's BluesFiber. Politics. Teenagers. World travel. That about covers everything, doesn't it?Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-89294589861604063252008-08-10T20:47:00.001+03:002008-08-10T21:06:11.419+03:009th of AvGiven our situation, reading the verse "We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows" (Eichah 5:3) is every bit as devastating as you'd imagine.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-87164451801466296252008-07-20T20:33:00.005+03:002008-07-20T21:10:04.842+03:00Would you murder and also inherit?This being a widow, I see now, means exposure to one injustice after another. (For example, if he had died 64 days later, after being granted disability payments, I would have gotten 17,000 NIS for burial expenses. Because Benjy was so sick that he only lived 27 days after diagnosis, and so saved the government the disability benefits, I get nothing.) Today's, though, really makes me burn.<br /><br />Today's mail brought a bill for 632 NIS from Magen David Adom, for "transportation and treatment of Benjamin Cohen." Logical enough, had they done any transportation or treatment. However, due to MDA's own screw-ups, they did neither, but still want their pound of flesh.<br /><br />Within a few minutes of Benjy's unofficial death, one of our neighbors took a break from the resuscitation efforts to call for a Critical Care Unit. Five minutes later we are told that the CCU at the bottom of our hill is out of commission with a flat tire. A few minutes after that MDA called for a regular ambulance from a town 25 minutes away. <br /><br />In the meantime, since there was no CCU available, the army sent one of its Critical Care Ambulances, fully loaded and staffed by a doctor. The MDA regular ambulance finally arrived 25 minutes after being called (37 minutes after Benjy had died) -- the same travel time it takes a car not going over speed limit. 18 minutes after the MDA ambulance got here, the army doctor declared the death. The MDA volunteer printed out a report (which stated that resuscitation had been done by a different medical team, and that the death had been declared by a non-MDA physician) and left, with Benjy stretched out on my living room floor.<br /><br />I tried speaking to someone at MDA when the mail came in, trying to understand: if there was no transportation and no treatment, what am I being charged for? The man on the other end of the phone said it was for the declaration of death. So I found the phone number of the doctor who declared the death and he confirmed that he came with the army ambulance.<br /><br />Riddle me this: MDA came too late to help. If there had been any chance of saving Benjy, it would have required the critical care unit, which was sidelined -- how stupid a reason is this to die? -- because of a flat tire. Since they didn't do a blessed thing because of their own incompetence (Hi. You're an ambulance service. Maybe you should periodically check your vehicles <span style="font-style:italic;">before</span> they're needed?) do they really deserve to make some money off Benjy's death?Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-14120030541406687152008-07-09T17:20:00.003+03:002008-07-09T17:43:27.531+03:0030 for Benjamin Cohen Z"LThe first 30 days of mourning for Benjy are almost over. If anyone reading would like to attend the evening in his memory, here are the details:<br /><br />Wednesday July 16 2008, 13 Tammuz 5768, Har Bracha<br /><br />18:45 unveiling in the Har Bracha cemetery<br /><br />The rest of the schedule will take place in the Har Bracha synagogue:<br /><br />19:15 Mincha<br />19:30 Father/son study<br />20:15 Maariv<br />20:30 <span style="font-style:italic;">siyum mishnayot, divrei Torah,</span> light refreshment<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcP_aELO9cun1KzVMk4jVpWUr7R-RYboRt9c1__ZpoQZer1on02LhPtUOhurpC3A6tiUeuilBEPVZIGDyAyJJAUQWvvEnXjTlcOLPdbZJW3z2rQAwn6zs4zdFRzz22YiiF_MXyA/s1600-h/BZC+at+WHC2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcP_aELO9cun1KzVMk4jVpWUr7R-RYboRt9c1__ZpoQZer1on02LhPtUOhurpC3A6tiUeuilBEPVZIGDyAyJJAUQWvvEnXjTlcOLPdbZJW3z2rQAwn6zs4zdFRzz22YiiF_MXyA/s320/BZC+at+WHC2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221023843787313218" /></a>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-33195390974574925812008-07-02T11:18:00.005+03:002008-07-02T16:34:47.663+03:00I am not ready for this, but...I haven't posted for a long time. I was so involved in the year of mourning for my mother that I could spare no mental energy for much of anything else. Then I was traveling with The Spouse, and then it was time to get ready for Pessach. And then --<br /><br />The Spouse had been in America, working like the devil, from Sukkot until just before Pessach. Two weeks before he came home he went to a convention and caught a cold, which developed into a nagging cough. Chol HaMoed Pessach he went to a doctor, who thought the cough was a side effect of his high blood pressure medication and switched his pills. No joy. Then off to an ENT, who thought it was allergies, and prescribed pills and potions and inhalations. Still no help. Off to the lung doctor, who calls for X-rays.<br /><br />The X-rays show lots of fluid in the lungs, so back to the lung doctor. He says it's pneumonia, and since we live so far out of town, The Spouse should go into the hospital for a week. We head to the hospital, where they draw blood and check his oxygen saturation level -- about 85. They slap oxygen up his nose ("Up your nose with a rubber hose, hon") and we wait for service. <br /><br />Later that night they aspirate about a liter of fluid from his right lung and send him for chest X-rays and a CT. We spend the night waiting in a corridor, he on a gurney and I on a chair, while he's being pumped full of antibiotics. The next day we spend in the corridor. Toward midnight of the second night they finally put him into a curtained off area with three other people, an area in which I can at least stretch out on the floor to sleep. We spend another day and a half there, and they released him on Friday with major doses of oral antibiotics.<br /><br />Sunday May 18 he had trouble breathing, and the local paramedic sent us back to the hospital. This time we get a curtained-off triple room in the ER from the start, and since new X-rays show more fluid in the lungs, they inserted a drainage tube first thing in the morning on Monday. On Tuesday the doctor told us we're moving up to a ward -- oncology. The fluid they had aspirated that first night was sent, as a routine matter, for testing, and came back positive for "growth cells."<br /> <br />While we were waiting for a room on the ward, The Spouse had convulsions and passed out. When he came to, the doctor ordered a head CT. The next day the oncologist comes to see us -- they still can't see the growth in his lungs, but the head CT shows two growths in his brain, and they can also see a growth on his adrenal gland. On Thursday they give him a full torso CT and find the growth -- the size of a man's fist -- in his right lung, and small growths on his mediastinum. Final diagnosis:<br /><br />Stage IV metastasic non-small cell carcinoma of the lungs<br />malignant pleural effusion<br />brain and adrenal metastases<br /><br />His condition, the doctor said, was inoperable and incurable. His projected life expectancy was 4 months; if all the treatments worked well, he might have up to 14 months.<br /><br />The next day, Friday, The Spouse was given his first chemo treatment (55 mg cisplatin, 55 mg navelbine) and on Sunday we were moved to Hadassah Ein Karem for whole brain radiation. (Shaarei Tzedek doesn't have the equipment to do radiation.) While there he got another dose of chemo.<br /><br />After 10 days of radiation, on June 5, we returned to Shaarei Tzedek. That Sunday we came home for the holiday of Shavuot, with an appointment to go back on June 15 for his weekly chemo treatment, and on July 1 we were to go for a new head CT. Other than that, we were free to be at home.<br /><br />On June 17, at 1:20 pm, he had another set of convulsions and died in my arms, in our home. Up until the end he was optimistic and working, telling his clients he would be back in the States after Sukkot. It was only about an hour and a half before he died that he first said "I'm afraid."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsbPuJr6DgWUKD_N34PX7D94Q0y9mJ7R_hDQo52GE43HSpXzid_5WeMWbQP1K2lL4zS8JDcps4kZF-kjKdE99Y4NxQiwJS_I1O9m0hnzo-D7UltnJeaHXYji67LSSCTY8vLijUg/s1600-h/Image011.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsbPuJr6DgWUKD_N34PX7D94Q0y9mJ7R_hDQo52GE43HSpXzid_5WeMWbQP1K2lL4zS8JDcps4kZF-kjKdE99Y4NxQiwJS_I1O9m0hnzo-D7UltnJeaHXYji67LSSCTY8vLijUg/s320/Image011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218408985873073634" /></a><br />(taken at 11:35 am on June 17, 2008; hard at work e-mailing clients)<br /><br />Rabbi Benjamin Cohen<br />22 Nissan 5716-14 Sivan 5768<br />April 3 1956-June 17 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Yehi zichro baruch</span>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-87537501922698978242007-11-10T20:17:00.000+02:002007-11-10T20:19:35.884+02:00In honor of Shabbat Irgun<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/1812540955/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/1812540955_0e575ea7f4.jpg" width="500" height="498" alt="100_2283" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/1813384970/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/1813384970_9e2eee8dc3.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="100_2285" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/1812541471/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/1812541471_a67e94ad84.jpg" width="448" height="500" alt="100_2286" /></a><br /><br />Snif Givat Zayit -- Kavod!Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-41462198897973097192007-07-30T11:30:00.000+03:002007-07-30T11:43:15.784+03:00Coasting in to ParisJust in time, I finished the cotton sweater. It's not perfect, but it's meant to be a knock-about sweater, so it's perfect enough. The Middle Teen, who's modeling this shot, wants me to make another, same body size but smaller sleeves, for her, which really means it must be close enough to perfect. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/949349918/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1185/949349918_8bee43abbf.jpg" width="428" height="500" alt="100_2051" /></a><br /><br />Whew. Now I'll take a rest day and then go back to MS3 (moving into the slow bee lane, because I need to add length to both the black and the white versions) and Vog On.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/949349940/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/949349940_b81b2cd033_m.jpg" width="240" height="229" alt="100_2052" /></a><br /><br />Dad's here, the last gasp of gardening before shmita is being done, one kid is starting summer vacation and the other is ending it--never a dull moment.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-11289293659616430072007-07-27T18:10:00.000+03:002007-07-27T18:48:55.782+03:00Knitter down!Can you spot the mistake in the last of my TdF knitalong WiPs?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/916410029/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1281/916410029_20b565ed43.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_2037" /></a><br /><br />If you noticed that one shoulder slope was much wider than the other, you're more observant than I.<br /><br />The sweater is going for dope testing. If it tests clean, I'll knit up the missing piece and graft it on. If not--off the team with it.<br /><br />Vog On has been cast on. I never did expect to finish these by the end of TdF, so I'm happy enough to have just spun the yarn and started it. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/916410239/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1329/916410239_5decb328ca.jpg" width="500" height="218" alt="100_2040" /></a>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-16529005103876046102007-07-18T14:19:00.000+03:002007-07-18T15:01:18.321+03:00Tour de France: Elimination roundsBefore this post, two members of the team which started TdF had been eliminated: the <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/07/fing-o-on-tdf.html>Clapotis Cap</a> and the <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/07/tdf-stage-2-roving-to-socks.html>Mock Croc socks</a>, neither of which had the staying power to remain on the needles throughout the Tour. <br /><br />Today another member of the team was eliminated: the stained glass toddler sweater.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/845114318/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1257/845114318_244added70.jpg" width="500" height="306" alt="100_2035" /></a><br /><br />I'm not entirely thrilled with this sweater. The pattern writer was trying so hard to make the pattern simple to read, but with a little more details, things like the arm holes would have been much easier. Oh, well, it's for the gift stash, so I'll just let it stew in its own juices for a while.<br /><br />Still in the ride is the cotton sweater which needs sleeves and 'Vog On, whose yarn I'm almost through plying (which will mean the rainbow batt will be eliminated from the Tour de Fleece team, making room for the brown Romney to take the lead.)<br /><br />MS3 Black is still riding in the team car. Clue 3 done, but since the final clue won't be out when TdF is over, there's no way it's crossing the finish line.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/845132110/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1245/845132110_a96e030c6f.jpg" width="500" height="265" alt="100_2032" /></a><br /><br />MS3 white is in the car, too, but in the back seat, with Clue 1 a few lines away from being finished.<br /><br />Something else is getting done around here. Though the Yarn Harlot may <A HREF=http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/07/16/i_dont_care_about_other_mothers.html>complain about teens who want to veg all day</a>, my teens are an industrious lot.<br /><br />My garden, she is a mess. Shmitta is coming up. Dad is coming for 3 months. Teens to the rescue.<br /><br />They moved a tree-let that had been languishing in the shade cast by our big willow and built it a terrace<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/844363339/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/844363339_c2154cf9d0.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_2034" /></a><br />and they hauled scavenged stones and paving bricks to create this nice little herb garden and path under my office window.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/844363309/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1065/844363309_fdc1d0d07c.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_2033" /></a><br /><br />Of course there is still tons of work to do, but they're making a good start. And the TV hasn't been turned on in months!Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-69040509525991582032007-07-13T13:51:00.000+03:002007-07-13T14:00:28.524+03:00Kntting into the Mystery (week 2)Clue #2 is done on I am Mysterious (Black).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/797034859/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1287/797034859_b2bb8d6690.jpg" width="339" height="500" alt="100_2030" /></a><br />Unblocked lace. So pretty. Not.<br />I am Mysterious (White) is up to Row 80 on Chart B (Clue 1). I'll probably not catch up with that one until the Harry Potter break week.<br /><br />Skein #1 for the Rainbow <a href=http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTvogon.html>'Vog On</a> socks is done, so I'm halfway through what I wanted to accomplish on the <a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a> and will definitely have the yarn to finish all my <a href=http://tdfkal.blogspot.com/>Tour de France KAL</a> team projects.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/797034879/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1162/797034879_731f75cabc.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_2031" /></a><br />As soon as I finished the two remaining WiPs in the hopper , I can cast on; by then I should be finished plying the second skein.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-14131265132124652672007-07-11T21:18:00.000+03:002007-07-11T21:31:49.575+03:00TdF stage 2: roving to socksThe polka dot jersey crowd keeps climbing hills in the <a href=http://tdfkal.blogspot.com/>Tour de France KAL</a>, and from the top of hill #2 I report FO #2 -- <a href=http://www.knitpicks.com/Mock+Croc+Socks_PD50400220.html>Mock Croc socks</a> for The Spouse. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/776865831/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1145/776865831_96e314a68d.jpg" width="500" height="367" alt="Mock Croc socks" /></a><br /><p align=center>Statistics:<br><br /><a href=http://www.knitpicks.com/Mock+Croc+Socks_PD50400220.html>Mock Croc Socks</a><br><br />Pattern from <a href=http://www.knitpicks.com>Knit Picks</a><br><br />Yarn: Lang Jawool Color Superwash color 82.0202<br><br />Purchased: <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2006/03/blessed-be-he-who-revives-dead.html>March, 2006, in Athens, Greece</a></p><br /><br />And in preparation for the hardest TdF hill (and pedaling away on <a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a>), yarn for <a href=http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTvogon.html>'Vog On</a> is nearly done. Singles have been spun, and plying has commenced.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/776865883/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1383/776865883_3e4995dfa7.jpg" width="309" height="500" alt="100_2028" /></a><br /><br />And in non-KAL knitting, proof that I am a total masochist. I decided my Mystery Stole 3 in black was too delicate for everyday wear, so I also cast on in a sturdier white yarn, with white beads (sturdy and subtle--hey, that's what people say about me!). Here's Clue A done.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/776865923/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1261/776865923_a3235c2330.jpg" width="500" height="391" alt="100_2029" /></a><br /><br />No walking tour this week. Instead we went to Jerusalem to take advantage of a credit card offer for 50% off glasses in exchange for points. Still ended up spending 760 shekel on glasses for the Middle Teen, but they are nice <i>kallah maidel</i> glasses. Not that I want guys to make passes at her, despite the best bets amongst her friends being that she'll be engaged this time next year, to a boy she has yet to meet...Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-77252986452509030682007-07-08T21:42:00.000+03:002007-07-08T21:58:14.724+03:00F'ing the O on the TdFFirst mountain climbed on the <a href=http://tdfkal.blogspot.com/>Tour de France KAL</a>. The <a href=http://www.almostrandom.com/needlesnhooks/pattern/clapotis-cap/>Clapotis Cap</a> is done. The Middle Teen doesn't love it -- says it looks too much like a hat a married woman would wear -- but she'll take it. Oh, well, they can't all be the stunning successes <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/01/sometimes-i-even-knit.html>Skully </a> was.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/754986193/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/754986193_e4c3ac0bf7.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_2024" /></a><br /><a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a> progress: another color of the rainbow spun. 2 more to go.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-2286189250905349782007-07-06T12:24:00.000+03:002007-07-06T13:32:23.123+03:00Shvil Yisrael, around EladSome sections of the Israel National Trail are beautiful, like <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2006/12/shvil-yisrael-herzliya-heading-north.html>Apollonia</a>. Some are decidedly less beautiful, like this week's walk. We took up where we left in February (which I have yet to blog about, since we did the walk just before my mother's final illness. Must. Remember. To. Backpost.), at the town of Elad. <br /><br />Elad is a religious community which has won awards for its beauty and landscaping. And just outside its fence--yuck. We parked at the outer edge of the town, just near the entrance, since our starting point was about a quarter kilometer out of town. <br /><br />We started at what's a not-uncommon sight in Israel: a memorial to a mother and daughter killed in a road accident.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725217372/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1225/725217372_720013b128.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1954" /></a><br /><br />(One of the problems with the trail is maintenance. If the weeds in front of this rock hadn't been tramped down, we never would have found the path.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725217394/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/725217394_3cb0d645bf.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1955" /></a><br /><br />After a short distance you get to the one pretty thing on this walk: Mazor Mausoleum National Park. (Yes, it's a National Park. Yes, it's about the size of some people's driveways. As they say, Velcome to Izreal.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725427250/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/725427250_536b3d65f3.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1966" /></a><br />We were unsure of the mausoleum's status vis a vis a cohen and ritual impurity, so I went in, but The Spouse stayed outside.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725217456/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/725217456_3ad51c9454.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1957" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725427124/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/725427124_ece3a3ed02.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1958" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725745454/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1149/725745454_66b10310cc.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1968" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725745632/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1178/725745632_da3f9a135d.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1971" /></a><br />(Remember the window in this picture. It will be important later. There will be a quiz on this.)<br /><br />The inside is two rooms. In the first there are the remains of two sarcophaguses and a mahrab (Muslim prayer niche), which is part of the reason it's still standing.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725427176/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1263/725427176_3f9130b310.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1959" /></a><br />The other room is difficult to get into without assistance or a stepladder. It's a <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbarium>columbarium</a>. I loved the built-in stone staircase. The windows in the earlier picture belong to this room.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725427220/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1187/725427220_14611363cd.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1964" /></a><br />One of the cisterns outside the mausoleum. Wouldn't want to have to drink from this...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725427316/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1406/725427316_e763743160.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1967" /></a><br /><br />Here's where we leave anything pretty behind. Can you see the Trail marking on teh stone?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725745688/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/725745688_5969910884.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1975" /></a><br />You spend a short while walking on the old road. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725745840/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1433/725745840_8b34422cb8.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1976" /></a><br />Carefully look to your left as you walk, because the turn off is not marked. See the marking on that first tree? That's as much warning as you get. You should be OK as long as you remember that this section skirts the outside fence of Elad. When the fence turns, you turn, too.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725745950/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1018/725745950_498a3b4716.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1978" /></a><br /><br />(Note: Wear closed shoes on this portion of the trail. These green things are very sharp. A certain idjit [yes, that would be me] wore sandals and regretted it immensely.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725746016/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1423/725746016_6f6b7d30d5.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1980" /></a><br />Another reason for closed shoes: there's a wadi just outside Elad. Easier to navigate the rocky bottom in something other than sandals.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115578/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/726115578_76387703f9.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1981" /></a><br /><br />At the end of the wadi you turn, seemingly away from Elad (we'll rejoin the fence line soon). The turn is marked, but not too well--it's on one of the big rocks in the background.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115612/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/726115612_67ed53fb76.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1984" /></a><br /><br />Obstacle course!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115684/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/726115684_fd88c23924.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1986" /></a><br /><br />When you get to the dirt road, turn left (sign is on the fence). If you make the wrong turn you'll end up back at the main road and can return to Elad.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115716/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/726115716_0eb0965996.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1987" /></a><br /><br />When you get to a fork in the road, take it. Another piece of bad signage, on a tree; take the left fork, rejoining the fence line of Elad.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115782/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/726115782_c29370d8ec.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1988" /></a><br /><br />It's very nice of <A HREF=http://www.kkl.org.il/kkl/kklMain_eng.aspx>KKL</A> to provide garbage bags when people use the woods for gatherings and cookouts. Too bad KKL never sends anyone around to collect the bags...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/726115820/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/726115820_699c678ec9.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1989" /></a><br /><br />Here's where we ended our walk for the week. We were getting hot and cranky. Taking a summer walk in a beautiful setting is one thing; this is quite another.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725326325/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1057/725326325_b835a65b61.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1992" /></a><br /> <br />Knitting: <a href=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3>Mystery Stole 3</a> has the second clue out, and tomorrow night I start the <a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a> and <a href=http://tdfkal.blogspot.com/>Tour de France KAL</a>. Whole lot of needle shaking gonna happen after Shabbat.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-59027662524868771362007-07-05T11:50:00.000+03:002007-07-05T13:16:37.300+03:00Setting the baselineTwo big, active -alongs coming up this weekend: <a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a> and the <a href=http://tdfkal.blogspot.com/>Tour de France KAL</a>. <br /><br />For the KAL, I've entered in the polka dot jersey section. I'm going to try and finish up all my WIPs aside from <a href=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3/>Mystery Stole 3</a>, which I obviously can't until the last clue is issued.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/723902605/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1432/723902605_9a88a44673.jpg" width="448" height="500" alt="100_2021" /></a><br /><br />Clockwise, from top left: <a href=http://www.graftonfibers.com/>Grafton Fibers</a> rainbow bat to be spun for <a href=http://keeponknittinginthefreeworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-fleece-2007.html>Tour de Fleece</a> and then knitted into <a href=http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/PATTvogon.html>'Vog Ons</a> for The Youngest Teen, a <a href=http://www.almostrandom.com/needlesnhooks/pattern/clapotis-cap/>Clapotis Cap</a> for the Middle Teen to match her revamped <a href=http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATTclapotis.html>Clapotis</a>, <a href=http://www.knitpicks.com/Mock+Croc+Socks_PD50400220.html>mock-croc socks</a> for The Spouse, a cotton sweater that was supposed to be for me but now will probably be shared by the female Teens, and a <a href=http://www.greatballsofyarn.com/freepatterns/ch-STAINED_GLASS_TODDER_PULLOVER.doc>Toddler Stained Glass sweater</a> for the gift stash. <br /><br />Knitting into the <a href=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3/>Mystery</a>--clue 1 complete. (Bear in mind that, as innernetz wisdom has it, unblocked lace looks like boiled <i>A</i>vraham <i>S</i>hmuel <i>S</i>chnidman. And yes, that's a real person's name, though I may have misspelled the surname. My nephew went to TA in Baltimore with the boy, and yes, they did make fun of the initial.) Mystery Stole, mystery yarn pulled out of a dumpster when a neighbor decided he had a whole stock of yarn unsuitable for commercial hat making, sz 4 needles from a collection given to me in Florida by a woman who collected all the needles people in her senior community had stopped using due to eyesight deterioration or due to death. Recycling at its finest:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/724670112/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1099/724670112_5509dff592.jpg" width="500" height="486" alt="100_2019" /></a><br /><br />And in the garden, my birthday gift. Yes, this year of mourning I'm not supposed to get gifts, but given what it is, I guess this is OK. (In any case, I bought it and paid for it myself, from my own salary, so it's not really a gift.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/725217330/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1031/725217330_4fe74f966c.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_2018" /></a><br /><br />No, it's not a Dalek in the making, though <a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/>Blue Peter</a> does have instruction for <a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/content/articles/makes/2005/12/05/dalekcompost_make.shtml>making it into one</a>. (But really, <a href=http://www.russelltdavies.com/>Uncle Rusty</a>, could that finale have been any more lame? Doctor Tweedy Bird? Doctor Jeebus?) My very own composter! Ever since I read about composting during shmitta, I've been lusting after my own solution to next year's let 'em rot problem. And it's right outside my neighbor's teen-age boys hang-out, where the delinquents of the yishuv start gathering about 11 pm every blessed night, so it may kill two birds with one plastic box.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-59401748960290582582007-06-24T17:09:00.000+03:002007-06-24T17:47:17.623+03:00Israel National Trail: When the going gets hotJust because the temps are up doesn't mean Shvil Yisrael for the Old and Enfeebled can;t continue. But since it was in the 90s last Thursday, we haven't done any serious walking aside from <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/06/not-israel-national-trail-still-not-for.html>going to Chomesh</a>, and <a href=http://www.ikea/co.il>Ikea</a> was having a summer solstice sale/fair, we decided to take our walk in Netanya, where we could find shade and cool drinks.<br /><br />This part of the walk starts off at Kikar HaAtzmaut, at the intersection of the Midrachov/tourist area and the boardwalk. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891266/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1338/581891266_8649409e22.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1882" /></a><br />You then turn towards the boardwalk, passing this plaza.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891302/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1341/581891302_19e42534c9.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1884" /></a><br />(Isn't it a great space? If it could be cordoned off effectively, it would be wonderful for a wedding.)<br />The first sign you're on the right trail:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891312/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1216/581891312_385f5ccbbe.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1886" /></a><br />A little bit of history to start your walk off right. Netanya was the primary port for the illegal immigration ships of 1937-1940.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891334/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/581891334_3f3b4bb283.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1887" /></a><br />Netanya also brings teh pr3tty:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891434/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1306/581891434_2a6dce7383.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1888" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/581891454/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/581891454_f9d4747b4a.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1890" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582135316/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1396/582135316_37cd69c1d9.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1892" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582135330/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1191/582135330_ab0faa8df3.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1895" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582135360/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1427/582135360_51d6017372.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1897" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582135374/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1421/582135374_68fae6a33f.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1898" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582418488/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1071/582418488_60bed2b5f4.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1912" /></a><br /><br />After a few minutes' stroll the boardwalk ends. Follow the path the only way you can, leading you through an alley:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582135414/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1106/582135414_a0166b95b6.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1899" /></a><br />and out into Netanya, onto Rechov Gad Machnes. You'll continue down that street until Rechov Dankner, where you turn right.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385728/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1301/582385728_cbf65b0ecc.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1900" /></a><br />Follow Dankner all the way along (because of construction you won't actually, at this point, be walking the Trail; you'll be across the street, but can see markings past the construction site)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385740/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1144/582385740_5a3e6919bc.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1903" /></a><br />until it intersects with and becomes Baruch Ram.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385748/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1105/582385748_1e5314e456.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1904" /></a><br />(Three apartments for sale on the same side of the same building. Kind of sad...)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385752/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/582385752_5c441d5cbf.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1905" /></a><br /><br />We stopped at the end of Baruch Ram because we were getting too hot. Nice art installation?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385774/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/582385774_60d8477d14.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1909" /></a><br />Just rocks on the end of metal poles. Some things look beter from a distance or from a passing car.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/582385790/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1191/582385790_cb70873bdb.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1910" /></a><br /><br />Tonight it's Dr Who time. David Tennant. John Barrowman. John Simm. Squee!Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-31775990792891802262007-06-18T11:54:00.000+03:002007-06-18T15:54:09.270+03:00If I disappearit's because I got my <a href=http://www.ravelry.com>Ravelry</a> invite. Oooh, it's all kinds of teh shiney! I'm going to try to be a good girl and not get sucked in: no more than 5 pictures of stash yarn added per day. (OK, at least that's what I'm aiming for.)<br /><br />And speaking of teh shiney--<a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/drwho>Dr Who</a>. Was that not just the most... Makes you kind of regret those <a href=http://www.johnbarrowman.com/>John Barrowman</a> genes aren't going to go on to another generation. The Middle Teen hates me now for letting her watch a "to be continued" episode; she despises having to wait a week for the next part.<br /><br />But there has also been dull. Not dull knitting, but a dull black color for my <a href=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3/>Mystery Stole 3</a> swatch. This yarn was pulled out of a dumpster years ago, and the needles were given to me by a woman who collected knitting supplies from senior citizens who could no longer see well enough to knit. Recycling at its finest--maybe it is teh shiney after all.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031164@N07/564261347/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1272/564261347_2fa79253c7.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="MS3 swatch" /></a>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-87916462622362934922007-06-14T14:23:00.000+03:002007-06-14T15:09:39.747+03:00Not the Israel National Trail, still not for the old and enfeebledOr<br />What I did on my 42nd birthday<br /><br />While <a href=http://muqata.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-im-not-going-to-chomesh-today.html>some people</a> boycotted the march to Chomesh this Tuesday, I went. Why? <br /><br />(a) Yes, it was organized by Moetzet Resha. Anyone who doesn't know that this means you go, you walk around, you take pictures and you get out of there when told (and come back on your own later, without the snitches) almost deserves to get caught. Come on--our teens know who's unreliable. Still, it was a chance to go to Chomesh. <br /><br />(b) My daughters were going. Their friends were going. It was my birthday. I'm going to stay home because I don't like the organizers? Screw 'em--I'll go where I want, when I want.<br /><br />(c) Something very odd was going on during the march. Several times army vehicles pulled up alongside us and shouted encouragement: "Way to go--you're the heroes! Keep going--you're halfway there." "Settlers are great! Settlers are heroes! Welcome back to Chomesh!" It's almost like they went out of their way to send <i>unzerer</i> soldiers. And the shortcuts they allowed us to take on the march were not the same ones which were taken on the last march. One of the kids I climbed the hill with said "It's almost like the army is teaching us new paths up there."<br /><br />(d) Planning for July, G-d willing, if my father isn't in then and needing my care. 'Nuff said.<br /><br />While I'm resting my aching legs (it took us over 3 hours to walk up from the junction of Shavei Shomron to Chomesh -- we have got to get back into shape), some pictures:<br /><br />The start of the march (look--there's still a trail here!)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/543855279/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/543855279_a430558b52.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1788" /></a><br /><br />A scarecrow--if you're following <a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/308.shtml>Dr Who</a> in recent weeks, you'll know why that could scare more than crows.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/543855287/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1331/543855287_00935d8e87.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1793" /></a><br /><br />By this time we'd lost The Spouse, who couldn't keep up with the kids (while I was trying valiantly). We waited for him at <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastia%2C_Middle_East>Sebastia</a> for a while, then gave up when he was till lagging behind.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/543855291/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1433/543855291_4d35fea5bd.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1796" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/547270947/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/547270947_b79ddae237.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1794" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/543775818/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1003/543775818_ca68afc8be.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1797" /></a><br /><br />We continued on, this time thankfully mainly on paved road (though certainly not hobo grade).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/543775810/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1077/543775810_c00915de06.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1792" /></a><br /><br />Finally The Spouse caught up to us by taking a few short cuts we didn't take (and having some teen boys almost literally drag him along) and calling us to wait for him. Man, was I happy I had thought to bring my spindle along to keep me diverted -- well, that and discussing Peres vs. Rivlin with all the press photographers who staked out the turn-off from the road to the no-trail shortcut.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544106650/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1062/544106650_5a1700552a.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1798" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544106664/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1001/544106664_e8da653566.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1803" /></a><br />(See that road in the center of the picture? That's where we'd come from. See the trail we took? No, we didn't either. We just kept going "up" until we found another paved road.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544106668/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1331/544106668_d4d78c5f83.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1806" /></a><br /><br />At last we got to Chomesh (see how nicely the plants are surviving?) <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544106674/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1026/544106674_facfe8b0ec.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1807" /></a><br /><br />where The Youngest Teen was waiting. She and her friends had come in bus chartered by her school, because they had classes until 1 pm. We said mincha and had my birthday cake, baked by Youngest Teen and somewhat worse for having survived the trip up strapped to The Spouse's back.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544420467/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/544420467_84867439d5.jpg" width="500" height="387" alt="cake" /></a><br /><br />The media was out in force up here, too. Well, of course. Didn't Bentzi Lieberman and his crowd need cameras to play to?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544106694/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1022/544106694_1ac3b2f746.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1812" /></a><br /><br />We escaped the crowded entrance and went for a quiet walk around the yishuv, just the two of us and 5 teenagers in tow.<br /> Looks pretty much like any other yishuv, doesn't it? Aside from the lack of buildings and electrical wires overhead. It would be so easy to rebuild Chomesh...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/544450897/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1086/544450897_74d7e26ac1.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1823" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/547270835/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/547270835_d8e741d662.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1822" /></a><br /><br />The water tower is still up, even, painted in honor of the crowd.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/547270849/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1149/547270849_990cf54ec2.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1820" /></a><br /><br />Hurrah for the kids who came ready to clean and plant!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/547270925/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1224/547270925_c12064eafc.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1818" /></a>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-20897847662844705352007-06-11T23:02:00.000+03:002007-06-11T23:02:08.493+03:00A year of davening slowlyJewish philosophizing to follow. If you're looking for craft content, skip to the end.<br /><br />Jewish law has many ways to help people cope with death. Most of them don't apply to me. No new clothes? I buy, on average, one shirt every two years. No music? I have a great memory for music, and mainly "play" it in my head after hearing a recording once or twice. No TV? Haven't watched since our color tube went, leaving us with a 17 year old black-and-pink set. No movies? Last movie I saw in a theater was Shrek 2. Before that--Shrek. No weddings? We live here in Israel, our families in the US, so that's an easy one.<br /><br />So what's left? I could learn some gemara or read some Tehillim. But I already do that, anyway.<br /><br />Then there's the biggie: Kaddish. Not exactly the world's least controversial topic given that, last I checked, I'm not my brother. I read up some, checked some sources, spoke to the local rabbi, and have been at minyan three times a day, saying Kaddish, for the past 13 weeks. <br /><br />Some people say women only want to recite the Kaddish to "be feminists." That we're looking to take over men's roles instead of doing our own. I'd like those people (largely men) to try saying Kaddish as a woman must for a month or two and then let them talk.<br /><br />Saying Kaddish, at least in the Orthodox minyans in which I have said it and particularly in my home shul, is an exercise in humility and humiliation. I'm not allowed to say the Kaddish alone--I have to arrange for a man to say it with me. Twice my husband was too sick to go with me to shul; I said Kaddish and none of the men answered. (Since then, my husband has arranged back-up kaddish-zuggers, who usually remember they're on. If they forget, I'm not allowed to prompt them--see next point.) I'm not aloud to say Kaddish above a whisper, because some men complained to the rabbi that the sound of my voice saying Kaddish made them think inappropriate thoughts. On the other hand, at least once each day some man walks in to the women's section to get a book, put down his books, put sunflower seeds out for the evening study session, or just to disguise how late he is getting to shul--usually when I'm bowing during Shemoneh Esreh, rear halfway in the air and unable to turn around. (Interesting--my voice behind a curtain is irresistible, my posterior is not. Not so great for the vanity, is that?)<br /><br />Yes, I've read the responsa on women saying Kaddish, pro and con, and in this case they're irrelevant--the local rabbi's had his say (though his changed his psak in midstream because of community pressure, telling me to whisper the Kaddish, and saying wistfully "If it were 100 years from now..."). What gets me is how little the (male) community thinks of the women's section, with how little sanctity they perceive it compared to the men's section. The men's section is tidied after every prayer. In the morning, after the men have had a study session in the women's section, there are dirty tissues and sunflower seed shells on the floor, candy wrappers, books flung all over chairs, the table, and the floor, chairs tossed about as though they'd been wrestling with each other instead of the text. The curtain between the men's and women's section is consistently flung open all the way across. (I don't close it, aside from the little area in front of where I sit. It's not for my purposes, the curtain; I'm allowed to see the men. They can reach the curtain at least as easily as I can. Let them close it.)<br /><br />I'm all out of ideas. I've talked to individual men. I've talked to the men officially in charge of the shul. How does one stop men from being pigs in the women's section?<br /><br />I try to get to shul early and learn some gemara. Today I was learning Megillah 14b, which includes this gem: "While women talk, they use the spindle." In honor of that saying, here's what I've been spinning.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/536123457/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1436/536123457_a186a5399d.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1787" /></a><br />Sock yarn (still in single form) from a rainbow colored batt by Grafton Fibers. (As soon as I bought this, I found out Linda's no longer going to sell retail. Note to self: don't fall in love with this stuff.)<br />And there's been knitting. Clapotis v.3, out of horrible wool and mohair that my sister-in-law "inherited" from her mother, who is now in a Home, suffering from Alzheimer's. (Don't blame me--it's for my sister, and she spied the yarn in SIL's stash.)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/536123461/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1223/536123461_0f7bafd5e5.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1786" /></a><br />And socks. Sockotta, no pattern, plain simple knit until you throw up. Started in the hospice while Mom was dying, finished here at home. Explain to me why from one side they look like they have nothing in common<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/536123483/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1139/536123483_04cf3ab052.jpg" width="500" height="352" alt="100_1765" /></a><br />and from the other they're a perfect match?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/536123477/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1408/536123477_63e48048e9.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="100_1766" /></a><br /><br />So, who's going to Chomesh tomorrow?Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-34813327561882548122007-06-05T18:27:00.000+03:002007-06-05T20:08:50.010+03:00Blame the lack of posting on Lolly<a href=http://lollygirl.com/blog/2007/05/31/changing-colors-and-new-obsession/>Lolly</a> posted about <a href=http://www.ancestry.com>Ancestry.com</a> and I fell into the gaping maws of the time suck. I'll never get as nice a family tree as she has, because my family arrived only in 1898, 1912, and 1947, but I still have found census information on my in-laws, grandparents, and great-grandparents. I've even tried their "find famous ancestors." Um, no. No way am I related to all those famous <i>goyim</i>. Nice try, though.<br /><br />But at least it's taught me not to complain. Sure, I have 3 teens to feed, but my poor great-grandmother had 19 mouths to feed every single day (see lines 43 to the end below; click to enbiggen). And no tanorexics, either--family and farmhands (yes, a farm in the middle of Queens, NY, bordered by Woodhaven Blvd. and Union Turnpike).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/531820595/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1223/531820595_2f6f45e664.jpg" width="500" height="372" alt="grandma 1920 census" /></a>Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-65899713272931680972007-05-30T21:58:00.000+03:002007-05-30T22:15:39.726+03:00Back with a vengance--or rather, with a memeThe past 12 weeks have been a roller coaster, up one day, down the next, sharp slides and long hard climbs. I miss Mom like crazy, and have to fight the urge to dial her phone number, expecting to hear her voice, half a dozen times a day.<br /><br />How to go from all this emo back to the mundane of blogging knitting and teen life?<br /><br /><a href=http://yarnyenta.blogspot.com/>Heatherly</a> was nice enough to ask me some questions for the Interview Meme. I love this one, because no matter how many <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2005/03/interview-game.html>times you do it</a>, the questions are never the same. If you want to join in, drop me a comment.<br /><br />So, here are the Yenta's Qs and my As:<br /><br /><ol><li> oh i have missed your blogging! must be hard with all the traveling! not to mention crazy people trying to blow you up! or do you used to that? this is not an official question.:-)</p><br /><p>The traveling is pretty easy to recuperate from. People trying to blow me up--well, that's really not an issue; I live in a pretty safe area of the world, all things considered, and of the country, for that matter. (It's not like this is <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sederot>Sederot</a>.)</li><br /><br /><li> my son dreams of being in the IDF, how do mothers in israel prepare their children and themselves for enlisting and the inevitable conflicts that arise?</p><br /><p>I was lucky. My son is slightly disabled (completely deaf in one ear) so I knew from early on that he would never be a combat soldier. We spent his entire childhood teaching him, contrary to Israeli popular mythology, that combat units weren't the best thing since sliced bread. We regaled him with stories of his paternal grandfather, who was a machinist on the Manhattan Project, and had him think about who did more damage to the enemy -- his grandfather or a foot soldier. That doesn't mean that he didn't develop rifle envy, what with a lot of his friends going into combat units; he solved that by getting a part-time job doing guard duty and armed escort work, so he has a rifle of his own. The one big conflict is what would happen if Israel stages another land giveaway as they did in the summer of 2005, giving away Gaza in exchanged for thousands of Kassam rockets, to be delivered daily over the course of years. What will he do, and how will we help him through that? No clue. We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.</p><br />BTW, there's a whole program for foreigners. In fact, when we took The Oldest Teen in on Induction Day, we were speaking English as we approached the fenced-off area where recruits were standing. A group of English speaking boys called him over and told him, "You have to go inside and surrender your passport." We all started panicking a minute: he was supposed to bring his passport? No one told us that! He said he didn't have a passport with him, he had his national ID card. "Oh, you're not an American?" the boys asked. "I am, but also Israeli," said Teen. "Oh, then forget what we said; we thought you were here to volunteer in the overseas program."</li><br /><br /><li>i know you can grow your own cotton but where do you buy yarn in israel?</p><br /><p>Well, this year I won't be growing cotton because the time period when I usually started was eaten up taking care of my mom and then taking care of her estate. And next year I won't grow anything because of <a href=http://www.diaspora.org.il/Jewish_Law/Shmitta/>shmitta</a>, so it's a good thing there are now decent yarn stores in Israel. It used to be, back when I moved here 17 years ago, you could buy all the yarn you wanted -- as long as what you wanted was fuschia acrylic. Now there are two yarn stores I frequent (when I'm not on a yarn diet): Badei Shani in Jerusalem (Martef HaIr, next to HaMashbir, across from the midrachov) and <a href=http://www.knitnstyle.com/information/stores.shtml#israel>Gourmet Yarn</a> in Raanana.</li><br /><br /><li>is there a yarn or product you can't get in Israel but are dying to try?</p><br /><p>I haven't been to Gourmet Yarn in a while, between being busy and being on a yarn diet. Pretty much everything I'd want to try she's got, or is willing to get. One thing I'd like to try, though, and which I didn't find when I was in NY last month, is Tofutsies sock yarn (and all the other cool new sock yarns that aren't 75/25).</li><br /><br /><li>what is your favourite thing(s) about living in israel?</p><br /><p>Oooh, tough question. I love the pace of life here, I love the freedom my kids have to go where they want, when they want. I love that here I never have to explain why I'm taking time for a religious life. (Go explain to the average American employer that you're taking off half an hour for afternoon prayers.)</li><br /><br /><li>we are just about to enter life with teenagers, any advice?</p><br /><p>Fasten your seatbelts. No, seriously--if you've raised them right until now, they'll be fine, with a minor bump or scrape here or there. There's a Yiddish saying--from seven to seventy, a person's essential character remains unchanged. <br />When my kids were little, we had a reputation for being very strict. Now that the youngest is 15, we have a reputation for being very lenient. I rarely tel my kids no, but not because I'm indulgent--because they already know what they can do and what they can't, and very rarely ask to do something I wouldn't allow.</li></oL><br /><br />DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME<br />1. Leave a comment saying, "Interview me."<br />2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. Please make sure I have your email address.<br />3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.<br />4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.<br />5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.<br /><br />Now that I've broken the ice, maybe I can finish up that post about knitting in the hospice, or knitting since, or saying kaddish...Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-85314873865944946112007-03-12T14:54:00.000+02:002007-03-12T14:57:56.648+02:00Baruch Dayan HaEmetExcuse my prolonged silence--my mother A"H passed away on Purim morning in Florida. I was with her the last week and a half, day and night, was with her when she died until the funeral home took her away, identified the body before the funeral, and helped bury her. We got up from shiva yesterday morning and I am flying back to Florida with my father today to deal with all the financial paperwork, then to Toronto for the weekend and back home on Monday night.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-70650797582884125372007-02-11T15:14:00.000+02:002007-02-09T22:55:47.933+02:00My knitting ate my weekly walkLast week we didn't get to do any of the Israel National Trail. Blame it on <a href=http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter06/PATTmonkey.html>Monkey</a> business.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/383941210/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/383941210_f307389034.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1629" /></a><br /><br />What is it with me lately, underestimating the amount of sock yarn I'll need? Luckily Tzvi at Badei Shani had one more skein of this yarn in this dyelot. I might even have enough for fingerless mitts, since the third skein is only making toes.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-40567962621664715102007-02-01T21:31:00.000+02:002007-02-01T22:04:24.592+02:00Downsizing JanuaryI don't know whether it's an early midlife crisis, a fit of <a href=http://www.flylady.net>FLYing</a>, or the Israeli settler's version of the American middle-class woman's fear of ending up a bag lady (i.e., ending up in a <i>charavilla</i>), but I've been trying to downsize. Get rid of things I don't love and won't use, books that don't interest me, VHS tapes I have on DVD or electronic files, turning stash into knitting. January was a productive month. I'm down 22 VHS tapes, 40 books (yes, I do read fast), and 13 skeins of yarn (after the one skein which was bought to finish these):<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/376578236/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/376578236_9db7978857.jpg" width="500" height="436" alt="100_1625" /></a><br /><br />The four skeins of yarn it took to knit these knee socks aren't amongst the 13 in the count; until I knit the final stitch possible out of a yarn, it doesn't count as done, and I have about 40 grams left. Anyone have any ideas on what to do with such a small but substantial amount? If it were food I'd feed it to the cat, but I doubt she likes Strumpfwolle 6 fach.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-67201508774587911662007-01-31T11:29:00.000+02:002007-01-31T13:06:35.612+02:00Shvil Yisrael -- Rabin ParkIs it just me, or is everything in this country named "Rabin"? I'm surprised we haven't yet become the "State of Rabin."<br /><br />We had agreed to take The Oldest Teen to his base on Sunday morning. Despite the prohibition on soldiers hitchhiking, every time we go out we load up our car with soldiers, so why not do it once for our own boy? Everything was planned, I had a nice walk planned out near <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Israel_Defense_Forces_bases>Nitzanim</a>, and then he comes home--he's been assigned, for the week, to the big army base at <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzrifin>Tzrifin</a>. Great. Who wants to walk in <a href=http://www.rishonlezion.muni.il>Rishon LeZion</a>? <br /><br />The day was beautiful when we left the house, horribly foggy by the time we got to the base. But since we were out, anyway, we decided to continue toward Beit Meir and see if the weather picked up. By the time we got to where we'd <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/01/shvil-yisrael-beit-meir.html>left off last</a> the sun had come out, and we set off in the direction we'd meant to go last time, if only The Spouse didn't have a lousy sense of direction.<br /><br />Israel National Trail markings are few and far between on this route. If you don't have a book with turn-by-turn instructions with you, just remember that you have to pass <i>mishlat</i> (fortified height) 16 and 21 to stay on the Trail.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371878349/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/371878349_7f4b39427e.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1565" /></a><br />The views here are very different from those on the <a href=http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2007/01/shvil-yisrael-tel-aviv-to-arena-mall.html>beach walks</a>. Hard to believe we're less than an hour away from there. The more I walk this country, the more I realize how much is compressed into this little slice of land.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371878352/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/371878352_29c453a5a6.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1568" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/373285122/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/373285122_5a5d403848.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1613" /></a><br /><br />Most of this walk is along the path used to gain the hills around Jerusalem. The historical aspect (the Palmach's fight to gain control of the fortified high ground, in Operation Maccabi, May 1948) is well-signed. The trail--less well signed.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371878344/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/371878344_8a60bfba54.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1562" /></a><br />Here's why a guidebook is so important. See any National Trail markings here? (Those would be blue, white, and orange.) <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371878358/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/371878358_fbc4feda3d.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1571" /></a><br />Overlook to the right, 4x4 path to the left. The overlook is probably on the trail, right? Wrong. When you get to this sign, you'll start to follow the green and white 4x4 trail. Occasionally there will be National Trail markings, but not often. As long as you're on track towards 16 & 21, you're in the right place, not that anyone will tell you.<br />After a nice little nature hike you'll reach <i>mishlat</i> 16, where you'll find a nice example of our national product--a memorial to the fallen, in this case, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmach>Palmach</a> fighters.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371878363/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/371878363_28481f1773.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1575" /></a><br />It felt odd, a year and a half after the expulsions from Gush Katif, to see a marker memorializing (among others) 10 Palmach fighters who died trying to defend <a href=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Paying+the+Price+for+Peace+-+July+2005.htm>Kfar Darom</a> in the fight for independence, and it made me think how different history would have been had they managed to hold on to the village back then. <br />We thought this was the difficult part of the trail--there were some somewhat steep uphills. The Spouse and I joke that we're doing "National Trail for the old and enfeebled," but this section is not for that demographic; we certainly couldn't see bringing his 86 year old mother here, for example.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371999672/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/371999672_0e246f4028.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1585" /></a><br />Continue up the path, following the green and white markings, until <i>mishlat</i> 21. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371999682/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/371999682_cc82e245c7.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1588" /></a><br />Here the trail gets more complicated, because instead of following the signs to more historical markers, you have to go behind the memorial area, behind the firing stand (for some reason, exceptionally well marked) <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371999687/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/371999687_b06a4f1353.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1593" /></a><br />and down between some rocks on what barely looks like a path. How a 4x4 is supposed to manage this part is beyond me.<br />For the next hour or so I only took pictures looking uphill after we'd scrambled down. If I'd had to look all the way down from where we were at the top of the mountain, I'd have been too chicken to go on.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371999693/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/371999693_d557664b9a.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1596" /></a><br />Do you really think a 4x4 could do this path?<br />Finally an Israel National Trail marking, telling you to continue on the green path. We were getting hot and tired, so we decided to cut across the blue path, back to the red, which would circle around to where our car was parked.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371999699/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/371999699_bf3a03283b.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1600" /></a><br />No one, not even the guidebook, bothered to inform us that if green and white meant "barely passable for a 4x4," blue and white meant "barely passable by a mountain goat."<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/373285114/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/373285114_d7218ad1ed.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1611" /></a><br />(See that vaguely light brown dirt path? That's the path to take. It's very well marked, which is good, because the trail itself is very poor, and tends to become slippery rock at the least provocation.)<br />The red trail! A Jeep trail! Probably passable! Yay! <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/373285110/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/373285110_b8f18c5cd5.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1609" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/373285124/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/373285124_48a98f24f0.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="100_1614" /></a><br /><br />The specs: From the Beit Meir hen houses to <i>mishlat</i> 21<br />Parking: Free parking at KKL's Rabin Park (space for 4-5 cars or 3 buses)<br />Return: Foot, baby. Bring a walking stick.<br />Difficulty Level: The trail itself is a bit steep in places, but manageable. The shortcut to make the walk circular is not recommended for anyone with a fear of heights or problems with balance. Wear good walking shoes. <br />Potential hazards: Steep rocky paths, poor signage, loose rocks.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-45315522821525155312007-01-29T12:42:00.000+02:002007-01-29T20:10:37.079+02:00Shvil Yisrael -- Tel Aviv to Arena MallSo, it looks like all I do is walk, knit, and work? Um--yeah, and your point is?<br /><br />Last Thursday we finished off the Tel Aviv section of the trail. We had started it, as a family, back in <a href="http://mozemen.blogspot.com/2005/04/aint-gonna-work-on-wednesday-well-not.html">April of 2005</a>, but since the kids are all over the place now (the Oldest Teen in the army, the Middle Teen in Hadera, the Youngest Teen sometimes agreeing to come home), we decided to finish it off by ourselves.<br /><br />Warning: This is going to be picture heavy, because the trail signage sucks, and not in a good way, in Tel Aviv.<br /><br />We took up where we left off last, in the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846708/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/369846708_1a195c8ee5.jpg" alt="100_1388" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Based on the marking, you'd think you should go over the bridge, right? Well, the bridge was pretty, with all its cut out shapes, so it was a nice detour.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846711/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/369846711_8019e68c9e.jpg" alt="100_1391" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />But if you're doing the trail, take the path *under* the bridge to continue. Go along the path until you get to the memorial for fallen Tel Aviv residents (this country specializes in memorials).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846713/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/369846713_a0a52e2889.jpg" alt="100_1396" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Here's another example of bad signage. The path, you'll notice, runs on the extreme left of the picture. The sign to turn is on the right.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846722/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/369846722_221e408c99.jpg" alt="100_1436" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Usually signs, especially ones so important, are just on the side of the trail, not hidden. Again--if you're doing the trail, the turn onto the streets of Tel Aviv is just past the tennis courts, *before* the boating and rowing center. *Before,* I said--not after. But having missed the turn, we did get to see some pretty sights:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846715/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/369846715_39a75f42d3.jpg" alt="100_1417" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369846718/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/369846718_3d17b51319.jpg" alt="100_1426" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Once we realized we were lost and found our way back to the trail, we exited onto Rokach Blvd. On the other side of the memorial are two computer kiosks, one to Tel Aviv residents killed in terrorist actions, back to before the establishment of the state:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899750/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/369899750_1da6ccf3cb.jpg" alt="100_1438" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />The kiosk on the other side of the park is for Tel Aviv residents who fell in battle. Despite the fact that The Spouse used to collect obits of people with the same name as his, he wouldn't let me take a picture of the screen devoted to the soldier with his name who was killed in Khan Yunis on June 5, 1967.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899753/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/369899753_4ffacb0390.jpg" alt="100_1444" height="500" width="371" /></a><br />When you get to the corner of Rokach and Ibn Gavirol, you won't find another missing marking, but make a left turn onto Ibn Gavirol. Just across Rokach you'll see a marking telling you to continue up Ibn Gavirol, so you know you're on the Trail.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899757/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/369899757_e7d2edc29c.jpg" alt="100_1449" height="500" width="371" /></a><br />Continue up Ibn Gavirol to Agnon. Here there is a marking telling you to turn right, but since it's on a traffic isle, you might not notice it.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899761/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/369899761_9f7f92a7f8.jpg" alt="100_1453" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />You'll pass a municipal "protected animal area" -- I'm not sure what it is, but from the sounds coming past the fence, there are a lot of dogs there. Isolation? Municipal kennels? Bueller?<br />Then you'll walk past a lot of fancy apartment buildings. Why does the Israeli "good life" involve living near so many other people, in so little space, with nature being something you look out your window at?<br />Make a left turn off Agnon onto Levi Eskol. The marking is on the bottom of the electrical box to your left. For once, it's close enough to be easily seen.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899765/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/369899765_4b2f9496e8.jpg" alt="100_1456" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />You pass the Sde Dov airport. (You could fly to the other end of the trail in a little less than an hour, if you were in a hurry).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/369899768/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/369899768_3ebde64107.jpg" alt="100_1457" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Another reason for poor signage.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/370885225/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/370885225_36123cf20f.jpg" alt="100_1460" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Did the municipality take down this pole, or was it someone looking to make mischief? Or maybe metal thieves, preparing for a night-time pick-up? In any case, where do we go from here? Good thing we brought along the <a href="http://www.dbook2.co.il/product.asp?pf_id=003960000329&category_id=0">book</a>, because the maps are useless when the turns are so sharp.<br />On the corner of Levi Eshkol and Tzvi Propes, make a left.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/370885228/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/370885228_5195c23383.jpg" alt="100_1462" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Here's a hint: If you think you should have seen a marking and didn't, try looking in the opposite direction. There was no marking for the left turn, but once we made it, there was a marking on Propes instructing us to make a right onto Eshkol, so we knew we had made the correct turn, considering we were going in the opposite direction. (Did that make any sense?)<br />Continue past some construction and you'll get to the Tel Baruch parking lot.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/370885232/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/370885232_fe7e3c07c4.jpg" alt="100_1466" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />In the summer it's full of cars. In the winter, it's full of evidence that Tel Aviv prostitutes practice safe sex. Wear closed shoes.<br />You're finally off the streets (as are the women who work in the parking lot...).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/370885234/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/370885234_cbcff455c0.jpg" alt="100_1468" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />A few meters on we met a fisherman. He had a net and would stand on the rocks, peering out at the waves, and when he saw what he wanted, throw out his net, gather it up, and bring a catch of fish back to the sand. He'd dump out his catch, throw back the small ones, and his partner would gather the rest into a plastic basket, washing them off in the sea.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/370885235/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/370885235_63f0c9276b.jpg" alt="100_1485" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127928/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/371127928_6b7c0a04aa.jpg" alt="100_1486" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127932/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/371127932_99d613f517.jpg" alt="100_1487" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127935/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/182/371127935_176441b89f.jpg" alt="100_1488" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127939/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/371127939_9cad9b812d.jpg" alt="100_1489" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />Then they moved down the beach a little to start again.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127948/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/139/371127948_e7f2cf7f92.jpg" alt="100_1494" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371127953/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/371127953_5fb7009629.jpg" alt="100_1495" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371159992/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/371159992_1b9a820716.jpg" alt="100_1496" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371159993/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/371159993_6ce6f5e3b5.jpg" alt="100_1497" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />WARNING: The section of beach from Tel Baruch to Cliff Beach is, I gather, an unofficial nude beach. Luckily, we only passed two men taking advantage of the freedom, and The Spouse warned in time about each. Isn't the sea lovely? <i>Shmirat Einayim</i>, enforcing modesty by being careful what you look at: it's a great alternative to forcing your own values on others.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371159997/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/371159997_38586a3578.jpg" alt="100_1513" height="371" width="500" /></a><br />At Cliff Beach we met more fishermen, this time using a more conventional method.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371160003/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/371160003_54afbf5d46.jpg" alt="100_1530" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Good-bye, Tel Aviv. Good-bye Herzeliya.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371160005/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/371160005_2a6ed82697.jpg" alt="100_1533" height="371" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Next stop, Jerusalem!<br /><br />The specs: Park HaYarkon (Tel Aviv) to Arena Mall (Herzeliya), approximately 10 km<br />Parking: Free street parking on Ibn Gavirol off Rokach<br />Return: Dan 90 bus from outside Arena to Alozoroff, just past Ibn Gavirol. Then take the Dan 26 outside Ibn Gavirol 120 to the corner of Ibn Gavirol and Rokach.<br />Difficulty Level: Very easy. Only potential problem is walking along the beach, for those who have trouble walking on sand.<br />Potential hazards: Prostitution at Tel Baruch parking lot, nude beach between Tel Baruch and Cliff Beach, jellyfish along the water's edge.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409134.post-78177557255311727812007-01-27T22:27:00.000+02:002007-01-27T22:41:07.162+02:00Sometimes I even knitSkully sweater #2 is done and on the model:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371062165/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/371062165_3abcf5ef42.jpg" width="371" height="500" alt="100_1544" /></a><br /><br />Of course Skully #1 had to launch a fight with Skully #2. Who said the army takes a boy and turns him into a man?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30398603@N00/371085508/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/371085508_ada433976b.jpg" width="500" height="452" alt="skullyfight" /></a><br /><br /><p align="center">The specs:<br />Skully by Samantha Bliss<br />From Stitch 'n Bitch (page 190)<br />Knit in Knitpicks Sierra (70% wool. 30% superfine alpaca), 9 balls Coal, less than 1 ball Natural<br />Modification: Attached the sleeves via single crochet and I am knitting each teen a set of plain black sleeves in case they ever grow out of skulls.Mozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13990273323099109227noreply@blogger.com3