Jokes and Gags

Fake dog poop, squirting pens, invisible ink, switchblade comb - "stuff" you gotta have. A nail in the head is always funny, red ink on the white pants equally hilarious.

Medium rare, please

Walt and Lee - Grill Kings.

CJ, Debbie and Kelli

Anyone can smile and pose for a pretty picture - add a glass of wine and a fit of giggles and this is the result. After a few takes, we did manage a "nice" photo, but we liked this one best!

Steam Punk!

Dave and middle daughter, Hannah, made the trip to ComicCon all the way from Princeton, NJ. Hannah dressed as a Manga character and Dave as... Steam Punk? Think Charles Dickens on steam powered steroids. Funky goggles, portable steam pack laboratory, long coat and gloves...Dave was quite the picture. Lee couldn't wait to try on the goggles. Where's Drew?

Capistrano

Mission San Juan Capistrano - one of 21 missions that start in San Diego and stretch up to Sonoma. This one happens to also be the home of the famous swallows - birds that return home every year to nest by the thousands. Kathi and I like a little restaurant called "Ramos House" just across the way by the railroad tracks.

Laundry Cat

Darby loves a box - the smaller, the better, and he loves the laundry basket - especially when it's filled with clean laundry. I guess I'm glad this basket is filled with whites.

You can read the Hebrew, too!

Looked high and low in Israel for this shirt for Will. I had seen Dodgers and Yankees, but the smaller markets weren't really represented. When I finally spotted this, I "bolted" for it. Hope you love it, Will!

Unpacking War Zone

I hate the first few days after returning from a trip...the suitcases never seem to get put away, and what to do with all the accumulated "stuff"? For a week, it sits on the bed and when it's time to sleep, it gets moved to the floor. Eventually all the stuff gets put away - or at least out of sight.

Hot Cocoa Calling

Back after 3 weeks to the Tel Aviv airport. Big choices yet again - one last hot cocoa at Aroma or a trip to the synagogue? Of course, I went to Aroma. I can go into a synagogue in San Diego.

Shwarma!

At long last - here's what shwarma looks like. Lamb and spices going round and round and sliced off fresh and crispy. Pop the bits into a pita, add some hummus and cucumbers and top off with french fries and a Goldstar....delicious. And a meal at least a dozen times during my 3 week trip. I'll miss you most, Mr. Shwarma Man.

Staying cool with old pals

It's 34C at the beach and not a cloud or umbrella for shade. These hot ladies dragged their chairs to the water and cooled their feet for a long chat. You know they've been doing this for years.

Israeli Shabbat

More red plastic chairs, but this time we find ourselves further north in Tel Aviv near the marina. Davida had invited me to an Israeli sort of Shabbat service right on the beach at sunset. Peter, Paul and Mary types singing in Hebrew and very secular with only about half the men covering their heads. I understood quite a bit of the music, the prayers were familiar, and afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious meat free dinner with friends. No meat since it was approaching Tish B'Av on Tuesday.

Tel Aviv nights

Sitting on the beach at midnight - it's 28C, sand is warm, beer is cold, and the cones are red. Many of the beach bars set out cones or cubes or some other sort of glowing 3D polygon to convince customers to sit on their plastic chairs. This night I chose red to match my new weird flowing pants. Wonder if I can get the city of Encinitas to do this too?

Old World

It's 2010, but it could be 1910. Fashion hasn't changed much for the Orthodox men. This lovely shopkeeper is the cracker man and kindly explained the difference (in English that was somewhat understandable) between the many kinds of crackers he could sell to me.

So Easy!

Israel makes it really easy to recycle. No looking around for the blue containers for plastic - these big cages are located on most street corners. Sometimes they are decorated with metal flowers or animals, and even though they are emptied daily, they are always full. Great idea.

Baby Yeshiva boys

Seen going home for lunch one afternoon in the old city. The littlest guy is at least 3 years old since he's had a hair cut. These boys are pretty independent - walking home all alone and probably walking back later. I love the Thomas the Tank backpack.

Good Memories

New friends, David "Dou Dou" and Elana. Although our group was 46 strong and 9 of us were from SDJA, we all made new friends. Elana lives up in LA, so we can meet up. Dou Dou lives in Miami and is about to move back to Israel and it will be a little harder to see him. He helped me become more "Israeli" telling me to not be so polite - to push my way to the front. Mostly, I just pushed him.

Mountains Below Sea Level

After a very satisfying float in the Dead Sea, we wander back to the healing mud at Ein Gedi. As we are purposely getting dirty, we meet a human mountain named Soterio. Shelly dutifully obliges his request to mud up his back and suddenly we all become instant friends - taking funny pictures and exchanging emails with these gentle giants. Soterio happens to be the Minister of Sports for the Domican Republic and now Shelly and I are desperately trying to find a way to manage an educational trip. I wonder if they need SMART board training in the Dominican Republic?

First Time

Taken in the busy Machane Yehuda market place in Jerusalem, this boy is being shown how to wrap tefillin around his arm. Most likely, he is about to turn 13 and will have his bar mitzvah soon. Deuteronomy 6:5-8 commands Orthodox and some Conservative men wrap special prayer boxes called tefillin on their arms and heads as a reminder of their relationship with G-d. We saw these guys everywhere, especially at the Wall, asking men if they had fulfilled the mitzvah of tefillin that day.

Hall of Names

At the end of the historical and emotional exhibits at Yad Vashem, the “Hall of Names” forms the final, dramatic display space. We stood there for a very long time reflecting on the sheer numbers of binders on the wall. The ceiling is probably 30 feet tall and is open to the sky. It contains binders of the personal records of millions of Jewish Holocaust victims. A reciprocal cone, dug out of the stone bedrock, honors those victims whose names will never be known. Powerful and sobering.

Remember

The Ghetto Uprising Museum in the northern part of Israel is worthy of the 2 hour trip. For over 100 years, a Zionist movement existed throughout Europe and after WW2, a group of survivors moved to Israel and started a kibbutz and the first museum dedicated to the Holocaust. In the dark reflection room, we find an enormous screen with letters bubbling up from the bottom. The letters slowly form names of communitites that were wiped out druing the Shoah. The names hover in space for a moment and dissipate letter by letter. We were completely mesmerized and sat in silence for quite a while. Very somber and very moving.

Piles of Guns

The state of Israel takes very good care of her soldiers. They go to museums and other cultural outings, and take classes. Everywhere one goes, there are soldiers learning. Guns are left outside in neatly stacked squares with backpacks and one person in charge. Amazing.

Baby Jesus for sale

The perfect gift for the person who has everything. I'm sure the price is negotiable.

Waiting for the Rabbi

The rabbi's hat and coat wait patiently for the rabbi to come out of class. They don't seem lonely - they have each other and the occasional backpack to keep them company.

Hi Dalia!

Watching the World Cup on a busy street in Jerusalem with thousands of my closest friends, and up walks Dalia from San Diego. She is one of our co-workers and we had no idea she was in town. Somehow she spotted us and ran to give us quick hugs before dashing to her bus. It really is such a small world!

shtreimel

One sees a lot of head coverings while in Jerusalem. Kippot, tall black hats, white skullcaps, baseball caps, but the shtreimel were definitely the most interesting. I had to look on Wikipedia to find out exactly who might wear such a fur crown - despite 90 degree weather. Married men of certain ultra Orthodox groups from Galicia, Romania and Hungary get the privilege of the hat on Shabbat and other important holidays. I see them in their fur hats, long black coats, starchy white shirts, prayer garments underneath, long black or white stockings and leather shoes and I wonder how they don't die of heat exhaustion.

july1 Western Wall

Literally hit the wall at sundown. Quite the experience with hundreds of people, religious and otherwise, milling about. We people watched for a little while - wondering about the many reasons one might visit this holy place, and finally edged our way to the front of the women side. I put my hand out to touch and was surprised at the warmth that hit me back. The wall is alive - with prayers and emotion and power, and I was unprepared for the feelings that came up. I had to step back and reflect for a moment before putting my prayer in the the cracks. Unfortunately, my reverie was interrupted when I accidentally knocked out a few papers and they fell to the ground. New dilemma - do I pick them up and try to cram them back in the cracks? Do I leave them? I looked around for guidance and saw none, so I decided to try to fix my mess. Where's a rabbi when you need one?

Kelli and Shelly go international

After a long plane ride, we find ourselves in the melee known as the Tel Aviv airport. Should we pop into the synagogue to pray or rush into the Tel Aviv traffic? We opt for plan two.

June 29 Totonto!

Canada is serious about cigarette smoking and the warnings don't mess around. The package wording is very explicit and say "use of this product WILL kill you". No qualms either about showing pictures of oozing black sores in the mouth or 2 headed fetuses on the label. We decided the US should use this particular label - no man would ever smoke again!