I'm grateful for: surviving the long drive; wonderful houseguests; feeling loved

The last couple of days have been full, full, and very exciting. ;-/ I can't think of anyway to get a half-smile with a smiley. 'T's no big deal though.

Sunday morning, bright and early, which is to say around 9:30am I think, John woke me up to tell me he was making breakfast. I don't know, does that make any sense to anyone else? He's going to bring the breakfast up to my room, why can't he wait to wake me up then?

But given that I am crippled, and I can no longer get up dressed, eat and out the door in half an hour, it was in good time, I left the house probably just in time. Drove to Kfar Saba, where Darryl, Maxine, John and Adam were waiting right at the central bus station on the corner. I couldn't miss them. It's not like they stand out in a crowd, there was just something about the way they were waiting there. I still don't know any last names (Darryl has a different last name from the rest of them, that I DO know).

Maxine climbed in front and that began a day in which we literally talked non-stop until finally going to bed. I doubt I have ever met anyone who's ideas and beliefs mesh so well with mine. We don't agree on everything, and obviously we have different life experiences in a lot of ways. It is pretty amazing.

John is the eight-year-old. He is pretty cute. I've hardly seen him since they got here, though, since he and Eliyahu hit it off immediately, and for the last two days have been virtually inseperable. There hasn't been a single fight or fuss. It really is amazing. Again, I'm not saying it's perfect. They were on the computer and John was getting bored with whatever game they were playing together, and they had to negotiate something else, but they DID negotiate it. For six- and eight-year-old boys who've only known each other less than two days pretty incredible.

Apparently they have had a rather harrowing time of it. When the bombs first started falling, Adam (he's sixteen, as it turns out) was in Tzfat and after a large piece of rubble fell on the car he was riding in, two more bombs came down basically on either side of him. He's fine, Barukh Hashem, and he insists he isn't traumatized. He's sixteen, though, so we older people keep in mind that he may well be mistaken about that.

After Adam got home (they live on high land that looks down on Tsfat after a fashion), a couple of bombs landed in their community. No one hurt, but a lot of noise and scary. Then, while the bombs continued raining down on Tsfat and Mount Meron, (which they can also see from their home), a bus came by and the driver told the people in the bomb shelter there that he would drive them to a safe place - but they had to leave NOW. All they had with them were the clothes they were wearing and whatever they had taken into the shelter with them. In fact, Maxine has been wearing the same dress for more than a week now.

They were taken to a shelter near Netanya, but only allowed to stay for a week. It wasn't a particularly nice place, it seems there was one room for a family, and sound carried. Maxine's family was okay, but not all of them were, and they were kept awake by people screaming and crying throughout the week. Then they were told they had to get out by Sunday. No one expected the war to go on this long, or something. I dunno.

So they were lucky enough to get a ride to Kfar Saba instead of having to take a bus. And when they got here, we introduced them around the house (you know, the 50c tour as it were). We showed them the choices of beds and asked them to do whatever would work for them, and to please not fuss but make themselves at home. John had already run off with Eliyahu by this time.

Adam settled downstairs on the sofa and talked about the computer until someone brought him down the laptop, and then he was at the computer on and off all day. Maxine and Darryl went downstairs to the spare bedroom and tried to work out if they would be able to sleep on the one single bed in there. That was the last we heard of them for a while. Apparently Maxine commented that she didn't think they would be able to sleep there, and then they were out like two lights.

In the meantime, Tzvia showed up with Avraham (five) and Michal (11), Eliyahu's and Simcha's friends respectively. I was a bit worried about how it would work out with John, Eliyahu and Avraham, three can be a problem and it was possible either Avraham from being younger, or John from being the new kid would be left out. Apparently I worried for nothing. Other than when they ate, we didn't see them either. Legos mostly, but they did play something all together on the computer, and watch some vid, and play a 'Scooby' game together.

Tzvia and I talked. I talked more on Sunday than I probably had in the last three months. I'm actually kind of talked out. Pretty cool, that. When Maxine woke up from her nap, she joined us. Tzvia and the kids stayed for supper and a really wonderful time was had.

One of the things I did throughout this day is we had taken a bin from the den downstairs, and it was full of letters I've received for literally my whole life. So as everything else was happening, I was also sorting through this huge pile of correspondence, throwing out what was no longer relevant or that I didn't care to hang on to. It was a huge job, and provoked some of the conversations as I was reminded of things long forgotten, or read some really horrible thing my mother, or Lloyd, or Phillip had written to me whenever long ago. I have such delightful family.

Clearing out the bin was only the start. There are more bins, and boxes, full of letters and yarn, and fiber to be sorted through, cleared out, a job which has been basically waiting for long enough already. ;-) Some of this stuff if I'd gotten to it years ago I wouldn't have shlepped it all around with me through two moves and whatever. I suppose there's always a reason and it all works out, though.

I didn't get any of my regular work done, didn't help Zechy with the laundry, but for a first day with Maxine's family and with company it could be let go. We got to bed late, but not terribly late I guess.

Yesterday I woke up late, and rested in bed until I was able to face going downstairs. I stayed there, mostly resting, until John came home with the car (I made one trip down to the basement and back up - it was higher powered, I doubt I could have made it up the stairs otherwise). Maxine cooked a delicious soup using whatever there was in the house for supper. John put some of the soup in a thermos for me. I left just about immediately with Darryl and drove all the way to their home. They had had to leave their dog behind, and no one knew if he was okay or what.

It was a long, and not very pleasant drive. It would have been fine if there had been someone to share the driving with I think. There was very little traffic, and as always the north is so much more beautiful than this place. The air was cleaner and it was cooler, too. We'd been watching the news all day to see if there were any bombs coming down in their area. Miraculously it was a quiet day. As far as I am aware no missiles anywhere in the north (Kassams are still falling in the south). So we drove off hopeful of making it up there before sunset, collecting the dog and some clothes and papers, and heading back.

Five hours driving, and by the time I got home I was so dead tired I couldn't hold my head up. Their community is beautiful, I couldn't make it to their house, there were way too many stone stairs. But I fed a little calico kitten and a small dog some meat John had packed for me and read a book, and watched the helicopters circling overhead. There was one 'crump' while we were there. A bomb somewhere, very far off. They are far enough north it could have been in Lebanon, or it could have been one missile falling in Kiryat Shmona or someplace even further away. The sound really carries, if you've never heard bombs going off.

We finally heard from Tzvi (John had left several messages, presumably they were in the bomb shelter). They are all okay. Channel 2 was up to their old tricks. They had stationed someone on a hill up over Karmiel and as the missiles were coming down they were broadcasting live things like 'wow, that was a close one. Just a few degrees east and it would have hit the kiriyah (city hall)!' You can tell the arabs launching the missiles tune in to channel 2, as the aim gets more accurate throughout the broadcast. I'm not sure what channel 2 is thinking (maybe they are rooting for the other side?). This is the second time that I know of they've done exactly the same thing - helped the arabs hit their targets more exactly. Just what we need.

Some people think they (I don't know if 'they' is the people in charge, the reporters, or what) should be charged with treason. Not entirely unreasonable, but unlikely in the political climate that exists here in Israel. Channel two is our own New York Times - at least from the arab point of view.

Oy, but as I said, they are all okay there. I haven't checked the news this morning so I don't know if it's still quiet or if there have been more bombs. Now I want to check. I don't know if I already wrote it - the dog was fine, although hungry and thirsty. The house was fine, and although we only saw one other person there, it didn't seem too bad there.

The drive home was made harder because we had to share the road with a lot of very large (wide) army trucks, going back south empty after they had delivered whatever-it-was up north. Passing over-wide trucks on twisty roads in the dark was not the most fun I've ever had. Zechy had some with us, so it was Darryl, Zechy and I. We got home around 10:30pm. John brought the wheelchair out to the car to bring me in the house, and I just rested for a bit until I could even figure out what I needed, which was to not have to hold my head up any longer.

I went upstairs, lay down on the futon sofa, and watched about half of Playing G-d before crashing finally. I didn't even sleep eight hours. I hate that. I hope I will be able to take a nap, later on.

John took the car to work today, figuring I wasn't going to be up to driving anywhere. Eliyahu got up just before I started writing this. Dingo - their dog - spent the night out by the chickens, and apparently it was fine for everyone. I didn't hear the chickens making any more noise than usual. Dingo and Chamudah have met. She's not happy with him, he doesn't want to play with her. And he keeps sniffing her things. I think it will all work out, though, she still wags her tail and has her ears up whenever she sees him. Dingo is part wold, according to what Darryl told me. I'm not sure you could tell to look at him, though.

This is quite long enough, now. After writing all of this I'm too tired to answer any of my email - a problem, as people have been waiting to hear from me. Oh, well, they'll survive. It's nice to be loved, though.

I'm listening to chickens cawing and kids talking

:: Yesterdays : Tomorrows ::

~~~Last Five Entries~~~
Hi and goodbye - 2010-10-15
I'll be moving on - 2010-10-10
Gold membership and stuff - 2010-10-10
Decisions, decisions - 2010-10-07
Days to go - 2010-10-06