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Honey is Sweet

Ranting and rocking - 2007-05-18

I'm grateful for: Havva going on a date with a nice young man; bananas; a safe place to rant.

I didn't write anything last night because I couldn't. I was too angry. I'm less angry today but still feeling the flames in my chest if you know what I mean. I made the mistake of reading the 'regular' press. You know what I mean, the big papers, Washington Post, New York Times, and so forth. Smart enough to stay away from the International Herald Tribune at least. So I have some sanity left.

I KNOW better. It's not like this is anything new, or different, or exciting, or worth ranting about. And on any normal day or week I wouldn't look, or if I did it would barely bother me. I mean, it's just a part of life on life's terms, you know?

So what am I talking about. Last night, after the Kassam that scared Eliyahu so badly he decided not to stay home but to come shopping with us in Be'er Sheva, and after four straight days of a continuous on-again-off-again barrage of booms, I read the headlines: Israel attacks Gaza. Israeli tanks enter Gaza. X Palestinians killed/wounded/shot at. In one NYT article about nine paragraphs down they did happen to MENTION that there are rockets falling on an Israeli city. All sorts of concern that Palestinian civilians might be endangered, NOT ONE WORD about the rockets that are targeting our civilians, our cities.

I understand, I do. When someone attacks a Jew it is dog bites man, when the Jews fight back it is man bites dog. I understand that for reasons which are as unclear as they are deeply unconscious, many, or most, of the world is afraid of a competent Jewish military. They are terrified of Israel despite the fact that the ONE time since the formation of the state that we captured enemy territory (the Six Day War), we STOPPED while our enemies were totally routed and on the run, and even gave most of the land we had 'conquered' back. --I even do care about the innocent Palestinians who are killed occasionally by our soldiers, and rather more often by the factions fighting in the streets of Gaza.

So?

Today, last night, yesterday, Wednesday, Tuesday, the bombs are falling. Around my home. You know what? A bomb, far enough away, sounds like a door closing. You'll have to take my word for it as most of my readers have never been lucky enough to hear a bomb go off, leave alone repeatedly, leave alone to be able to analyze what it sounds like. But it does, it sounds like a door closing. A door closing on the world if it is at just the right distance. Last night, every time someone closed a door in my house, I jumped.

I am not really afraid. We live in a very safe place, basically. And Hashem is definitely looking out for us. He has to be given the incredible number of bombs that have fallen on Israel just in the last year, and how few people have actually been killed/injured. It is a miracle, a series of miracles, there is no doubt about it. Last night my daughter Havva went out on a date. We went grocery shopping. The dogs were walked and the goats taken out to graze. Life goes on as usual, for the most part, because this is normal. Israel is surrounded by enemies. Enemies who will do absolutely anything just in order to kill a Jew. They don't care which Jew, 2 years old or 92 years old, all they want us is dead.

So. I'm okay. Life goes on. I just need to stay away from the international press (and television news, and the BBC on the radio - oh Gd, the BBC!)

On to regular diary entry. I barely got any sleep night before last, but I'm not sad. I was very happy that Eliyahu was able to come and be with me, and he got up pretty early to bother John anyway.

I braided the rest of the garlic, the goats were hooked up so they can graze, and we all studied together. John, Zechy, Simcha and I did Hebrew, Eliyahu did multiplication. Pretty good for a 7yo, especially since he was doing the higher tables with almost no help at all from me. Smart kid.

I didn't rant here about the friend who said that you shouldn't praise kids because it sets them up to be disappointed in their achievements and not take risks for fear of failing to live up to expectations. See, there it all was, dehydrated rant. Anyway, now we all kind of stop, pause and laugh whenever Eliyahu does particularly well at something and we compliment him - with a quick (sarcastic) oh dear, mustn't praise him, praise is BAD. --Where do people get these ideas? We continue to praise. NOT to 'use' praise, you understand, but when someone does something that is worthy of comment, we comment. Hello?!?

John and Simcha and Eliyahu and I went to Be'er Sheva (the trip Eliyahu didn't want to come on, but decided he wanted to be away from the booms) and bought groceries. We had a bit of a circus clown moment when Simcha and I went into a shop looking for tent stakes, and then couldn't get out the door we had gone in. It was at the bus station, and we circled quite a bit before we figured out another way to exit, and then we had to call John on the celphone to let him know where to pick us up. I won't shop *there* again.

Havva was working in Netivot and phoned us as we were coming home. Apparently she had been waiting for over an hour for a ride and hadn't been able to get one. So of course she got a ride right after she phoned us, but we weren't to know that and were all prepared to pick up hordes of people needing lifts. When we got to Netivot they had all gone.

We did pick up a lady who lives in Shoqeda for the last bit of the trip, and we chatted (and I practiced my Hebrew a bit) which was very nice.

Back home again we let the chickens out to free range a bit. Then moved the hen house. I think the combination was maybe a bad idea. We had more circus exploits trying to catch the three chickens that were out and get them back into the coop. *sigh* Our neighbour Zion was over and he helped. I hope he enjoyed it - it was too silly.

He thinks that a scorpion got our chick. Which would be too sad, but makes sense. We need to think about a different sort of arrangement for the chickens I'm afraid. But that has to wait - too many other things that need doing first.

Havva and Simcha and El'yah all watched about 45 minutes of Bringing Down the House in my room, and I just fell asleep after a very little time. I slept from about 10pm to about 10am, with a few interruptions, to go pee, and once when a particular close 'boom' sounded between 1 and 2am.

So I'm feeling a lot less like I'm swimming through some kind of gel, but I'm still terribly dizzy. It worries me. It's just not going away. But for the moment I'll take the benefits of a night's sleep and not complain too much.

So far this morning we put the goats out ('we' *not* a euphemism, I was a part of it), and I've had breakfast. And looked at the news. I will learn, I hope.

Today was John's company picnic. We were all looking forward to it last week, but somehow forgot all about it until too late today. I don't understand how we all did that. *sigh* John will get to explain when he next goes in to work, but I don't even know when that will be. In Hashem's time, I guess. Anyway, we are all disappointed, and carrying on with things like laundry, and shopping, and writing diary entries.

BTW, I forgot to mention in my rant above, Israel has had quite a number of civilian casualties. The fact that in our little moshav we are reasonably safe doesn't mean that people aren't being hurt and killed. That doesn't show up in the news, either.

And what else? No one has phoned. My mother, my family, supposedly close friends in the states, no one has phoned to see if we are all right. Or emailed. Is it because they don't know we are being bombed? Or (in my mother's case most probably) they literally don't give a shit? Enquiring minds don't really want to know, do they? Well *I* don't. It confirms what I knew anyway - that I didn't really leave anyone behind when I left the states...

Drat! I forgot to phone Jessica again last night. Rather, I fell unconscious before I could. *Sigh* I'm not such great shakes at keeping up with people I care about either.

Well, I'm off to have another day. We are moving the goats to the other side of the yard (where there is shade) as soon as John gets back from shopping in Netivot. Hope all y'all are having a happy day. We are!

I'm listening to Bondo Do Role: Funk de Esfiha. Fun stuff!

0 bleats so far

:: 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