Today is Thanksgiving in America and quite a few of us Americans in Israel celebrate it as well. Rather like the Mamouna of the Moroccan Jews, it is viewed as an ethnic celebration here, but it isn't sectarian, so everyone can celebrate. In this case, eleven of us are coming together with a dish to pass at the home of native Israelis who simply like to eat good food, and they are doing the turkey (which was bought on the West Bank since it is pretty hard to get a whole one on the Jewish side). So, I'm taking a 3 day weekend as well.
Three and a half, actually. In a moment of foolishness, I went with a politically-involved friend to attend a meting which was supposed to discuss Jerusalem in the upcoming Annapolis talks (which look set to fizzle miserably). I waver between liberal and conservative. While I find conservatives rather Darwinian and rigid, at least they seem to know what they want. My own tendencies lie in the liberal direction (although I never make the assumption they do, that human nature is basically good. Nonsense.) So I thought I'd see what a liberal political meeting is like. Big mistake.
Maybe most public political meetings are like that; no idea since I never went to one before. Fuzzy minded, making a lot of noise but not sure of direction, more interested in being seen and heard than doing anything significant. More like a cross between a social event (see and be seen) and an office staff meeting (look at me, how bloody important I am, and let me blather as long as possible). AAARGH!
I fled quickly, leaving my friend to drink tea, nod expansively, and solve the world's problems, while I went to an automotive store to get gear for my car. For me, a much better use of my time.
Jeez, it's a whole subculture, these political meetings. People seem to do it instead of old fashioned quilting bees or cocktail parties. I remember reading Amos Oz's autobiogrphy of growing up in Jerusalem in the 1940's, where his educated but impoverished middle class Polish parents would gather friends in the garden and drink gallons of tea (they couldn't afford to serve anything else) and meanwhie talk politics all afternoon. "Salon communists", my boss calls them.
I never encountered it live before, but I instantly thought of salon communists yesterday afternoon. Oh well, I guess it gives them a measure of companionship, keeps them off the streets, and out of trouble. Not for me, though. It's not that I don't get involved; I just get involved when there is an immediate problem I can handle. Then I'm happy to uncover my broadaxe and wade into the fray. And then wipe off the blood and go back home when it's over. They don't want me in the preparation stage; I'd knock off too many people.
We've had two days of rain, which forecasters predict to dry up this afternoon. My cats sampled it and retreated to the house, and two "outdoor cats" decide to move in as well. Muddy pawprints everywhere that I have to keep wiping off. But so far nobody is sick. They are ravenous, eating like horses to keep up the body heat against the cold. I think tonight I start the winter ritual of setting out hot water bottles in the baskets.
My Mazda handles pretty well in the rain. At the bottom of the mountain before I climb it, there is a point on the road where a pool usually forms and there is real danger in heavy rain of sliding out of control. (On more that one occasion some dumb hotrod galloping down the mountain too fast did exactly that.) I notice the Mazda takes that spot fairly well, shimmies a little and pulls out. Makes me feel a lot safer. This mountain road is not very safe, not many people use it besides the army, and I've always worried about coming home at night on it. But now it is the only way home so I have no choice. I'm glad of the bigger, heavier car, which really I got for just such conditions.
As for me, health is pretty good now. I didn't hear anything about the biopsy samples that were take in my gastroscopy in October, so I finally called the gastro clinic to see what's up. Both samples were okay. If there are problems (like stomach cancer) they contact the family doctor, not the patient. I guess they got too many cases of hysterics, and didn't want to deal with it any more. Likewise they don't make the data available on the computer printouts of test results that all patients can access. Well, at least I can stop worrying, after a half year of testing we finally know the score. I can handle autoimmune gastrtitis and anemia, now that I have learned enough to make educated choices. I feel fine these days, although my arthritis (another autoimmune problem) is kicking up in this weather. I've scheduled a day at the spa to soak in the jacuzzi and get a massage, the best treatment for it in winter.
I guess that is about all for now.
shabbat shalom,
Linda
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