My balcony
									My bedroom
		Kitchen
									Guest room
			Free-loading feline
										Pictures from near and far
	Shabbat Shalom

After weeks of roaming the earth like an international bag lady with three gigantic red suitcases and
two overstuffed carry-ons, I am finally settled in my new home. It was a huge task getting in here—I
had to hire a cab driver to drag my baggage up the steep stone steps in 95+ heat—he was soaked in
sweat by the time he finished. The tenant who moved out had been wonderfully helpful for days
making sure I had everything set up in advance—Internet, phones, instructions for the air
conditioning, etc. Organizationally, however, there was still much to be done. Once he and his
daughter left, I was left to put things in order according my own taste and convenience, which—to
put it mildly—didn't happen all that quickly. I sorted through stacks of varicolored and mostly
unmatched "linens" to find white or off-white sheets and towels, made the beds, moved furniture,
rearranged shelves, opened shutters, bought food, coffee, wine and a manageable corkscrew. I asked
the cleaning man Saman to sweep the layers of pine needles off the front balcony and to evict the
free-loading feline that was sleeping in the planter where I wanted to (and finally did) plant red
geraniums. In the intense heat, with my unfamiliarity with how to get things done efficiently, and
having to carry everything from the shops home and up the stairs, everything is more difficult—
besides having no car, no there's dishwasher, no garbage disposal, no clothes dryer. But with every
accomplishment comes a strange sense of satisfaction—a sense of going from strength to strength.
And now it is Shabbat, when, as one writer describes it, "... the first stars appear on Friday evening,
[and] a luminous blue covering of tranquility falls across  Jerusalem." The shops and restaurants
are shuttered, the busses stop running, few cars are on the streets and instead, families walk
together. It is a day for "being" instead of "doing." A great idea, the keep-the-Sabbath-holy
commandment, and strangely overlooked by many Christians. In any case, and for many reasons, I
am at rest. May you find peace today, too. Shabbat Shalom.

August 18, 2006