Anticipation of Spring

Since we don't really have a true winter here in Israel. And since there's little hope of seeing any true winter weather (i.e. snow) in my area, I'm definitely looking forward to springtime when things will be a little warmer, a littler drier and a lot more conducive to outside activity.

We usually take a trip to the south in spring time. I love the geography there and the chance to see wildlife and birdlife is simply irresistible. My all-time favorite bird-spotting was when I happened across a Little Green Bee-eater just north of Eilat. I hope - now that my littlest is big enough to go in the backpack - I'll be able to fit some more photography into our next trip. Here's dreaming...

Guacamole fresh from the garden

I was just sitting here thinking that despite all the troubles in the world, despite all of the sources of stress, despite all the dangers lurking around bends in the road - well, it's nice to be able to go to my kitchen and make guacamole for breakfast using only ingredients from my garden (with the avocados donated from my brother and sister-in-law's garden. The lemons and the garlic were from my garden. And if I'd wanted to add them, I could have put in tomatoes from my garden as well. In the summer, we have just about any herb you could want for tea or any other culinary purpose. I've got various lemon, lime, limquat, clemantine and (soon) pink grapefruit trees that produce more fruit than we can even come close to using up. And this creates a nice reason to reach out to neighbors so we can share all of the excess fruit. They in turn share apples, grapes and lichee fruit with us. I bring kumquat preserves to my mother-in-law a few times a year. We have artichoke plants scattered around the garden mixed among all of the flowers and trees and we've got forests of aloe vera in case we get burned in the kitchen using up all of the bounty we've collected in the garden. With all of the reasons to get worked up in life, it's my garden that always reminds me of the wonderful joy and simple pleasures just waiting for us if we only stop to see them.

Last year, our new neighborhood park finally got trees and plants. And I was thrilled to see a major portion of the park dedicated to edible plants that the community is free to enjoy. There are sage plants, thyme, basil, lemon balm, lemon verbena, mint, lavender, oregano, rosehip and likely other herbs I can't recall at the moment. There are olive and pomegranate trees, carob and fig trees. I'm so impressed that the city has decided to think beyond the box and do more than add play grounds and park benches. This year the city also instituted a program to distribute the yearly crop of dates and figs free of charge to the community. They also made the date palm branches and fruit "brooms" available to anyone who wanted them. All of these efforts can only improve our community spirit and bring us that much closer together as a community should be.

So if you've got a plot of dirt, plant something edible in it. Use it, enjoy it, share it and care for it.

Beaufort

Category:	Movies
Genre:	War, History, Action, Drama, Foreign Language
Director:	Joseph Cedar

The Israeli movie Beaufort, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, is a movie you don’t want to miss. Even if you don’t typically go for subtitled movies, I think you’ll have a hard time not appreciating this one. You won’t get a glossed over Hollywood version of war in this film. No matter what your feelings about the Mid-East conflict are, go into this one with your mind and heart open to the rich characters so wonderfully portrayed by the mostly very young Israeli cast. In particular, Oshri Cohen does a magnificent job in his role as the conflicted officer Liraz who feels torn between his orders to prepare for retreat and his feeling that the retreat itself is a betrayal to the very thing for which he and his men have been fighting - and dying. I give it a resounding 2 thumbs up!

Crosswalks and self-obsessed drivers

I live in a city that has various nicknames: the city of the future, the city of children, the green city. The vast majority of the families in our fair city have young children - children who go to school, children who walk home from school, children who go to friends houses to play, children who walk to after school activities, etc. In short, there are, at any given hour after sunrise and before sunset, children who need to use crosswalks to get to wherever they are headed. And all of these children have parents who live in this city. Or in reverse, nearly all of the adults driving around the city have young children.

So why is it that seemingly none of these parents has the ability to slow down or *gasp* god forbid STOP to let a child cross the street at a designated crosswalk?! It's as if the moment these adults (I will not call them grown-ups) enter their cars, they suddenly forget they even have children and that they'd like for their own children to arrive safely at their destinations just as the children they nearly ran down with their cars would like to arrive safely.

When I walk my kids to or from school or to or from their sports or dance classes, I have to risk life and limb forcing myself out into the street playing chicken with the cars whose drivers would likely spontaneously combust were they to yield to a pedestrian and risk getting home or to work 30 seconds later. More often than not, I find myself half way out into the street jumping up and down, waving my arms around like a maniac shouting and cursing at the drivers to go retake their road test - until finally 20 or 30 cars later eventually someone slows down. Likely they've done so, not out of concern for the children who need to cross, but rather the points that would be deducted from their license were they to actually splatter me across the pavement. So someone yields, the nervous children make their way across the street sighing with relief that they are still in one piece - only to have to go through the whole scenario again when they make their way back home again.

Drivers, wake up. You are NOT the center of the universe. Your life will NOT be less meaningful if you are forced to slow down a little to allow a kid to cross the street safely. Yours is NOT the most urgent of tasks and therefore you do NOT have priority over everyone else on the road (or sidewalk). Slow down. Be courteous. You won't be doing anyone any favors - it's the law.

The Book Thief

Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Markus Zusak

I recently read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and for the first time in a very long time I was forcing myself not to stay up all night in order to get to the end. Not because it wasn’t good. Quite the opposite. I was rationing the pages so that I could enjoy it that much longer. What a gorgeous tapestry of human emotion and the trials and tribulations that are so intricately interwoven with them. Bravo!

Holly, my jolly sweet dolly

Holly is in perpetual motion. She has a ready smile for just about anyone and she’s an irresistible little cling-on. She attacks everything with gusto, never approaching anything half-heartedly. My mischievous little sweetie! And for her, life just wouldn't be right if not for fruits and veggies. This little girl wrote the book on getting enough of this food group every day!

The life force that is Meged

Meged is the kind of child who can charm her way through a snake’s pit, come out skipping and giggling on the other side and then ask to go right back through again. She’s fearless, full of energy and never lets life’s big or small challenges stop her from singing and dancing. She’s a powerhouse and a blessing.

Zach, my angel

Zach has a sweet soul. His love and tenderness for his baby sister Holly is a joy to witness. Sure, he’s also a rough and tumble boy. But when he’s sweet, he’s truly angelic.

Brit's big brown smiling almond eyes

When Brit smiles her impish little smile, her whole face becomes this vision of innocence and fairies and love and energy all at once. And her eyes reflect it all. My lovely Brit. How your smiles light up my day!