shabbat shalom 08.10.09

Hi everyone, Sukkot week is drawing to a close; next Sunday will be an ordinary working day.  It has gone too fast; or I have been in slow motion.  I had the holiday dinner in one sukka and visited another today; other than that I've not paid much attention to the holiday as such.  (For those who don't know Jewish custom, a temporary shelter of sticks and cloth is built at every home, where meals are taken.  This is called a "tabernacle" in English; not quite a tent but similar to it; more like a flimsy hut topped with palm brances.  To this day the Beduin in Sinai build these structures.) Mainly this was a time to rest, to get as much sleep as I want.  Not used to that and will need it with the international workshop coming up in two weeks.  The office was closed; I couldn't do much in the way of preparation during his week.  But I had a grant proposal to work on, and that kept me busy. Took one day off to travel to the north and visit a friend.  She is also a botanist, so we prowled around some new wetland ponds she discovered, fed by springs and unpolluted.  A rich diversity of plants and a lot of waterbirds to go with it, including spoonbills and herons.  In comparison, agricultural ponds were a desert. So much to do around the house, and so much I hoped to do, and so little got done.  I tidied up a bit, but didn't do any of the deep reorganization it needs.  The garden gets some attention.  The rains are coming back now and we got the first drops since April.  So it is time to put out plants for the winter, and prepare for the growing season.  (It is the exact opposite of a temperate cliimate with a dormant period in winter; here the summer is the dead period and things start sprouting now.) All Israel travels in these days.  Normally the religious Jews won't travel by vehicle on holidays, but the intermediate days of Sukkot and Passover permit it.  So the religious population joins everyone else in going on excursions.  I can sure tell it by the drivers, too.  Some are very unaccustomed to being on the road.....Kids are out of school and the kiddie entertainment places (zoos, theaters, fun parks) are simply stuffed to the top.  Adults hike, go on vaction overseas, stuff like that.  So I am happy to be at home puttering around, sleeping in, doing some cooking, and being a little bit lazy.  It will end all too soon; I could use another week like this! shabbat shalom, Linda