shabbat shalom 18.09.09

Hi everyone, Well, this time last Sunday I was in Prague, being "interviewed"  by the Quaker elders there.  I hope that was my last interview...it lasted two hours.  I applied for membership about a year ago but they take their time....we will see how this goes. Meanwhile back in Israel there is no way a Quaker meeting is going to get started anytime in the near future, so I was able to discuss with the Prague Quakers about my participation in the messianic community where I am a member today.  This is perfectly okay with them; Quakers are so thin on the ground that many have "dual allegiences".  In fact one of the Quaker elders in Prague is also churchwarden at the local Anglican church.  So they were familiar with how this goes.  I was able to leave Prague with some clearness about the way forward. So I am returning to more activity in the messianic congregation.  There will be some places we part company (notably on ritual) but fellowship is still important and there are places where my services are needed and appreciated.  So I can focus on the postive aspects now, and still use the Society of Friends as a frame of reference.  It's a little tricky, but it works. Homeward bound on Monday; a smooth passage and back to work on Tuesday.  After two weeks of the quiet, courteous Czechs, it was a bit hard to come to earth with Israeli behavior.  I got screamed at twice in one week, in both cases sideswiped when I wasn't expecting it.  Sigh.  That is simply part of life here.  I have to keep remembering that it is not a good idea for me to scream back because for some reason, when I cut loose it scares them.  Nearly blew it, however.  On Wednesday I got a phone call that one of my cats was "dying in the front garden of a neighbor", so of course I dropped everything and raced home in a panic.  Sure enough, it was my diabetic cat Hercules, in a coma on the sidewalk in front of my next door neighbor's house.  They hadn't touched him, just watching him die, peering out the window. I picked him up, muttered a few curses about "goddam stupid assholes", popped him in the car and raced to the vet.  He was close to death; glucometer reading was 11 when 100 is normal.  I was about to freak out completely.  IV injection of 70 cc of glucose and he began to snap out of it.  He's lying across my forearms now as I type; full recovery.  But two days ago he sure looked like a dead cat. I brought him home from the vet and went to the neighbors to tell them Hercules was going to be okay.  Last thing I expected was to get sideswiped but the wife lit into me about my dogs barking and my cats pooping in the garden.  (Like this is a recent problem?  Why not mention it earlier??)  I was still shaken  from the cat's insulin coma, and was within a whisker of blowing up.  I guess even thought I kept a grip on myself and was polite, there were enough underground rumbles to warn them Vesuvius was about to blow.   Wife beat a retreat, and I talked it over with the husband, who is more rational. Anyway, I bought the neighbors some jugs of cat and dog repellant and I hope that shuts them up for a while.  I think even they realize it was rather bad timing to come with a kvetch when I was already upset, but Israelis are usually totally oblivious of the other guy's state of mind.  Like children, they are totally self-absorbed.  Hence quarrels all the time.  Trouble is, I hit too hard and have to keep myself in check no matter how stupid the other guy might be..... Anyway, old Hercules seems profoundly grateful that I pulled his ass out of the fire.  He follows me around like a dog right now and is in my lap when I sit, and beside me when I go to sleep.  Whoever said cats only care about their supper dish doesn't know cats.  Hercules at the moment worships the ground I walk upon, although being a cat he won't keep that up for long. Yeah, I have a lot of cats and dogs.  It does drive my neighbors crazy sometimes, but the cats and dogs and I were here many years before any of the neighbors around me now.  We were here first, so folks just have to accept that.  I'll meet them halfway if problems arise that we can fix, but that's as far as I go.  When I look back on what my animals have given me and what I have gotten from my human neighbors, there just is no comparison.  The critters give me daily love and companionship, support me when I am depressed, and keep me from getting lonely.  Generally speaking, I hear from my neighbors only when there is a problem or a complaint to be solved, and otherwise they have no interest in me.  So anybody who thinks I'd sacrifice my animals for my neighbors is definitely nuts.  I wouldn't get anything back that would even come close to what I would give up. Well, in some dim way I expect they know that and don't press the issue.  That's fine.  It's not that I'm antisocial, it's just that I prefer the company of other species.  Anybody who looks at the human race with the least bit of objectivity would see why; it's a no-brainer..... Meanwhile, there is also good news.  My Dutch student landed himself in a Ph.D. program in Ben Gurion University of the Negev, so we will have him around for the next 2-3 years, working on subjects related to my European project.  This was an unexpected blessing.  He's very nice, for a human. Gotta get to work; I'm having a couple of other loners here for tonight's Rosh HaShana (Jewish New Year) dinner.  Turned down three invitations myself, a real rarity.  It's better this time to give a meal to a couple of people who need one; I'll catch up on those invitations later.... shabbat shalom, Linda