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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 before they're needed?) do they really deserve to make some money off Benjy's death?
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
30 for Benjamin Cohen Z"L
The 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:
Wednesday July 16 2008, 13 Tammuz 5768, Har Bracha
18:45 unveiling in the Har Bracha cemetery
The rest of the schedule will take place in the Har Bracha synagogue:
19:15 Mincha
19:30 Father/son study
20:15 Maariv
20:30 siyum mishnayot, divrei Torah, light refreshment
Wednesday July 16 2008, 13 Tammuz 5768, Har Bracha
18:45 unveiling in the Har Bracha cemetery
The rest of the schedule will take place in the Har Bracha synagogue:
19:15 Mincha
19:30 Father/son study
20:15 Maariv
20:30 siyum mishnayot, divrei Torah, light refreshment
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
I 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 --
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.
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.
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.
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."
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:
Stage IV metastasic non-small cell carcinoma of the lungs
malignant pleural effusion
brain and adrenal metastases
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.
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.
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.
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."
(taken at 11:35 am on June 17, 2008; hard at work e-mailing clients)
Rabbi Benjamin Cohen
22 Nissan 5716-14 Sivan 5768
April 3 1956-June 17 2008
Yehi zichro baruch
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.
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.
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.
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."
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:
Stage IV metastasic non-small cell carcinoma of the lungs
malignant pleural effusion
brain and adrenal metastases
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.
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.
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.
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."
(taken at 11:35 am on June 17, 2008; hard at work e-mailing clients)
Rabbi Benjamin Cohen
22 Nissan 5716-14 Sivan 5768
April 3 1956-June 17 2008
Yehi zichro baruch
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Coasting in to Paris
Just 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Knitter down!
Can you spot the mistake in the last of my TdF knitalong WiPs?
If you noticed that one shoulder slope was much wider than the other, you're more observant than I.
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.
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.
If you noticed that one shoulder slope was much wider than the other, you're more observant than I.
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tour de France: Elimination rounds
Before this post, two members of the team which started TdF had been eliminated: the Clapotis Cap and the Mock Croc socks, neither of which had the staying power to remain on the needles throughout the Tour.
Today another member of the team was eliminated: the stained glass toddler sweater.
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.
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.)
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.
MS3 white is in the car, too, but in the back seat, with Clue 1 a few lines away from being finished.
Something else is getting done around here. Though the Yarn Harlot may complain about teens who want to veg all day, my teens are an industrious lot.
My garden, she is a mess. Shmitta is coming up. Dad is coming for 3 months. Teens to the rescue.
They moved a tree-let that had been languishing in the shade cast by our big willow and built it a terrace
and they hauled scavenged stones and paving bricks to create this nice little herb garden and path under my office window.
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!
Today another member of the team was eliminated: the stained glass toddler sweater.
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.
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.)
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.
MS3 white is in the car, too, but in the back seat, with Clue 1 a few lines away from being finished.
Something else is getting done around here. Though the Yarn Harlot may complain about teens who want to veg all day, my teens are an industrious lot.
My garden, she is a mess. Shmitta is coming up. Dad is coming for 3 months. Teens to the rescue.
They moved a tree-let that had been languishing in the shade cast by our big willow and built it a terrace
and they hauled scavenged stones and paving bricks to create this nice little herb garden and path under my office window.
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!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Kntting into the Mystery (week 2)
Clue #2 is done on I am Mysterious (Black).
Unblocked lace. So pretty. Not.
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.
Skein #1 for the Rainbow 'Vog On socks is done, so I'm halfway through what I wanted to accomplish on the Tour de Fleece and will definitely have the yarn to finish all my Tour de France KAL team projects.
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.
Unblocked lace. So pretty. Not.
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.
Skein #1 for the Rainbow 'Vog On socks is done, so I'm halfway through what I wanted to accomplish on the Tour de Fleece and will definitely have the yarn to finish all my Tour de France KAL team projects.
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.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
TdF stage 2: roving to socks
The polka dot jersey crowd keeps climbing hills in the Tour de France KAL, and from the top of hill #2 I report FO #2 -- Mock Croc socks for The Spouse.
And in preparation for the hardest TdF hill (and pedaling away on Tour de Fleece), yarn for 'Vog On is nearly done. Singles have been spun, and plying has commenced.
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.
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 kallah maidel 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...
Statistics:
Mock Croc Socks
Pattern from Knit Picks
Yarn: Lang Jawool Color Superwash color 82.0202
Purchased: March, 2006, in Athens, Greece
And in preparation for the hardest TdF hill (and pedaling away on Tour de Fleece), yarn for 'Vog On is nearly done. Singles have been spun, and plying has commenced.
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.
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 kallah maidel 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...
Sunday, July 08, 2007
F'ing the O on the TdF
First mountain climbed on the Tour de France KAL. The Clapotis Cap 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 Skully was.
Tour de Fleece progress: another color of the rainbow spun. 2 more to go.
Tour de Fleece progress: another color of the rainbow spun. 2 more to go.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Shvil Yisrael, around Elad
Some sections of the Israel National Trail are beautiful, like Apollonia. 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.
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.
We started at what's a not-uncommon sight in Israel: a memorial to a mother and daughter killed in a road accident.
(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.)
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.)
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.
(Remember the window in this picture. It will be important later. There will be a quiz on this.)
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.
The other room is difficult to get into without assistance or a stepladder. It's a columbarium. I loved the built-in stone staircase. The windows in the earlier picture belong to this room.
One of the cisterns outside the mausoleum. Wouldn't want to have to drink from this...
Here's where we leave anything pretty behind. Can you see the Trail marking on teh stone?
You spend a short while walking on the old road.
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.
(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.
Another reason for closed shoes: there's a wadi just outside Elad. Easier to navigate the rocky bottom in something other than sandals.)
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.
Obstacle course!
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.
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.
It's very nice of KKL to provide garbage bags when people use the woods for gatherings and cookouts. Too bad KKL never sends anyone around to collect the bags...
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.
Knitting: Mystery Stole 3 has the second clue out, and tomorrow night I start the Tour de Fleece and Tour de France KAL. Whole lot of needle shaking gonna happen after Shabbat.
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.
We started at what's a not-uncommon sight in Israel: a memorial to a mother and daughter killed in a road accident.
(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.)
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.)
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.
(Remember the window in this picture. It will be important later. There will be a quiz on this.)
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.
The other room is difficult to get into without assistance or a stepladder. It's a columbarium. I loved the built-in stone staircase. The windows in the earlier picture belong to this room.
One of the cisterns outside the mausoleum. Wouldn't want to have to drink from this...
Here's where we leave anything pretty behind. Can you see the Trail marking on teh stone?
You spend a short while walking on the old road.
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.
(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.
Another reason for closed shoes: there's a wadi just outside Elad. Easier to navigate the rocky bottom in something other than sandals.)
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.
Obstacle course!
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.
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.
It's very nice of KKL to provide garbage bags when people use the woods for gatherings and cookouts. Too bad KKL never sends anyone around to collect the bags...
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.
Knitting: Mystery Stole 3 has the second clue out, and tomorrow night I start the Tour de Fleece and Tour de France KAL. Whole lot of needle shaking gonna happen after Shabbat.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Setting the baseline
Two big, active -alongs coming up this weekend: Tour de Fleece and the Tour de France KAL.
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 Mystery Stole 3, which I obviously can't until the last clue is issued.
Clockwise, from top left: Grafton Fibers rainbow bat to be spun for Tour de Fleece and then knitted into 'Vog Ons for The Youngest Teen, a Clapotis Cap for the Middle Teen to match her revamped Clapotis, mock-croc socks 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 Toddler Stained Glass sweater for the gift stash.
Knitting into the Mystery--clue 1 complete. (Bear in mind that, as innernetz wisdom has it, unblocked lace looks like boiled Avraham Shmuel Schnidman. 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:
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.)
No, it's not a Dalek in the making, though Blue Peter does have instruction for making it into one. (But really, Uncle Rusty, 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.
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 Mystery Stole 3, which I obviously can't until the last clue is issued.
Clockwise, from top left: Grafton Fibers rainbow bat to be spun for Tour de Fleece and then knitted into 'Vog Ons for The Youngest Teen, a Clapotis Cap for the Middle Teen to match her revamped Clapotis, mock-croc socks 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 Toddler Stained Glass sweater for the gift stash.
Knitting into the Mystery--clue 1 complete. (Bear in mind that, as innernetz wisdom has it, unblocked lace looks like boiled Avraham Shmuel Schnidman. 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:
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.)
No, it's not a Dalek in the making, though Blue Peter does have instruction for making it into one. (But really, Uncle Rusty, 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.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Israel National Trail: When the going gets hot
Just 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 going to Chomesh, and Ikea was having a summer solstice sale/fair, we decided to take our walk in Netanya, where we could find shade and cool drinks.
This part of the walk starts off at Kikar HaAtzmaut, at the intersection of the Midrachov/tourist area and the boardwalk.
You then turn towards the boardwalk, passing this plaza.
(Isn't it a great space? If it could be cordoned off effectively, it would be wonderful for a wedding.)
The first sign you're on the right trail:
A little bit of history to start your walk off right. Netanya was the primary port for the illegal immigration ships of 1937-1940.
Netanya also brings teh pr3tty:
After a few minutes' stroll the boardwalk ends. Follow the path the only way you can, leading you through an alley:
and out into Netanya, onto Rechov Gad Machnes. You'll continue down that street until Rechov Dankner, where you turn right.
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)
until it intersects with and becomes Baruch Ram.
(Three apartments for sale on the same side of the same building. Kind of sad...)
We stopped at the end of Baruch Ram because we were getting too hot. Nice art installation?
Just rocks on the end of metal poles. Some things look beter from a distance or from a passing car.
Tonight it's Dr Who time. David Tennant. John Barrowman. John Simm. Squee!
This part of the walk starts off at Kikar HaAtzmaut, at the intersection of the Midrachov/tourist area and the boardwalk.
You then turn towards the boardwalk, passing this plaza.
(Isn't it a great space? If it could be cordoned off effectively, it would be wonderful for a wedding.)
The first sign you're on the right trail:
A little bit of history to start your walk off right. Netanya was the primary port for the illegal immigration ships of 1937-1940.
Netanya also brings teh pr3tty:
After a few minutes' stroll the boardwalk ends. Follow the path the only way you can, leading you through an alley:
and out into Netanya, onto Rechov Gad Machnes. You'll continue down that street until Rechov Dankner, where you turn right.
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)
until it intersects with and becomes Baruch Ram.
(Three apartments for sale on the same side of the same building. Kind of sad...)
We stopped at the end of Baruch Ram because we were getting too hot. Nice art installation?
Just rocks on the end of metal poles. Some things look beter from a distance or from a passing car.
Tonight it's Dr Who time. David Tennant. John Barrowman. John Simm. Squee!
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