Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Friday, July 28, 2006
Tishmor al Atzmecha
July 28 Friday 14:00
We were up early to take Anjali to the airport. She is going to England to work with her editors on the book she works on. Good time to take a break. Within 5 miles of Haifa the world is normal, traffic, open shops, etc. The airport seemed quieter but still had lots of folks coming and going. The rocket activity is going down for Haifa, not so for nearer communities. We have been asked to save details for when the war is over so I will not "bore" you with any :-)
My week has been very hectic as we had many people in transition and hosted unexpectedly about 200 pilgrims who braved the rockets and excitement to come. We had to feed them each night, which is a chore in the best of times, but double so when you have to coordinate with companies who are still keeping things open, but are not terribly interested in expanding their business. I have been taking off in the afternoon to take a nap, it helped.
Today on our way home from the airport we stopped at Caesarea for breakfast. The setting I have described before, it was a welcome time to sit with a leasurely breakfast and med. surf coming in on ancient ruins.
Tricia is working on a quilt for a pregnant couple. She is likely to finish the project this weekend. Our diversion besides that is going to be watching the first season of "Northern Exposure". I will pull her sewing machine into the living room to make it easier on her and us.
all for now
I leaerned a new phrase in hebrew which means stay safe or take care of yourself
tishmor al atzmecha the delivery guys smile as they head out back to their delivery routes.
ZZ
We were up early to take Anjali to the airport. She is going to England to work with her editors on the book she works on. Good time to take a break. Within 5 miles of Haifa the world is normal, traffic, open shops, etc. The airport seemed quieter but still had lots of folks coming and going. The rocket activity is going down for Haifa, not so for nearer communities. We have been asked to save details for when the war is over so I will not "bore" you with any :-)
My week has been very hectic as we had many people in transition and hosted unexpectedly about 200 pilgrims who braved the rockets and excitement to come. We had to feed them each night, which is a chore in the best of times, but double so when you have to coordinate with companies who are still keeping things open, but are not terribly interested in expanding their business. I have been taking off in the afternoon to take a nap, it helped.
Today on our way home from the airport we stopped at Caesarea for breakfast. The setting I have described before, it was a welcome time to sit with a leasurely breakfast and med. surf coming in on ancient ruins.
Tricia is working on a quilt for a pregnant couple. She is likely to finish the project this weekend. Our diversion besides that is going to be watching the first season of "Northern Exposure". I will pull her sewing machine into the living room to make it easier on her and us.
all for now
I leaerned a new phrase in hebrew which means stay safe or take care of yourself
tishmor al atzmecha the delivery guys smile as they head out back to their delivery routes.
ZZ
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
the war in spreadsheet form
“Bored” students in Israel’s Technion University in Haifa plotted in Excel the times of each rocket attack emergency siren against the time of day.
The top graph is each individual day’s activity, the bottom one is an overall average.
The top graph is each individual day’s activity, the bottom one is an overall average.
Stir Crazy
Dear Family,
Sorry we have been slackers for email the last few days. We are well although getting a bit stir crazy. Eric has been busier than usual as he is pulling food for the 160 pilgrims that are here, some of the staff have been cooking for them every night. This is the last grp of pilgrims for the season—fortunately. We are still popping up and down especially in the afternoon when the sirens go off to head to safe spaces. People remain good humored about the whole thing. I am only moderately busy, which is a good thing. Anjali is still staying with us but as there are no rockets at night, she will likely go home in a day or two. She has had a virus and needed a bit of TLC. Her flat mates are staying with friends so she would have been alone in the flat—not good at this kind of time.
I have been continuing to work on the baby quilt for my friend, due to deliver in about 4 weeks. The center part is nearly done and the row of squares around the center piece is getting there. I need about 32 squares and have 25 at this point. Eric has been his unusual creative self and helped me with a few. Friends have helped with some and Eric and I have done most of them. It is a great project for a time like this. We are also watching movies in the evenings. The office of Personnel with which I am linked, has a small library of videos. Our video club is closed and so are the rental places around, so we are sharing with friends. One of our friends is loaning us the first season of Northern Exposure.
It looks like this could go on for a few more weeks. We will be presently surprised if it ends sooner.
Kay your big turtle sounds magnificent! Glad to hear you are enjoying the joys of nature around your cabin.
Love
Tricia and Eric
Sorry we have been slackers for email the last few days. We are well although getting a bit stir crazy. Eric has been busier than usual as he is pulling food for the 160 pilgrims that are here, some of the staff have been cooking for them every night. This is the last grp of pilgrims for the season—fortunately. We are still popping up and down especially in the afternoon when the sirens go off to head to safe spaces. People remain good humored about the whole thing. I am only moderately busy, which is a good thing. Anjali is still staying with us but as there are no rockets at night, she will likely go home in a day or two. She has had a virus and needed a bit of TLC. Her flat mates are staying with friends so she would have been alone in the flat—not good at this kind of time.
I have been continuing to work on the baby quilt for my friend, due to deliver in about 4 weeks. The center part is nearly done and the row of squares around the center piece is getting there. I need about 32 squares and have 25 at this point. Eric has been his unusual creative self and helped me with a few. Friends have helped with some and Eric and I have done most of them. It is a great project for a time like this. We are also watching movies in the evenings. The office of Personnel with which I am linked, has a small library of videos. Our video club is closed and so are the rental places around, so we are sharing with friends. One of our friends is loaning us the first season of Northern Exposure.
It looks like this could go on for a few more weeks. We will be presently surprised if it ends sooner.
Kay your big turtle sounds magnificent! Glad to hear you are enjoying the joys of nature around your cabin.
Love
Tricia and Eric
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Thursday Morning Update
Dear Family,
This AM we were up at 5:30 to the sound of the "get-to-the-shelter" sirens. There were apparently no hits in Haifa though. Life here is a bit surreal. Everywhere life is the same--you have laundry to do, food to cook, relationships to attend to and so on, so in some ways the differences are subtle. People don't go outside much unless they have to. There is a way that having things fall out of the sky keeps people off the streets. It is getting more clear what the facts are about the bombs--so when the sirens go off, we only need to stay in the shelters for about 20 min. then the threat is passed unless another siren goes. We are all getting so that when we hear a high pitched noise ie pigeons, it sounds like the beginning of a siren and we go "on alert" for a moment. Two days ago we had about 90 bombs here during the day. Since then it has been getting sparser. Many of the outposts in Lebanon have been hit and so are no longer shooting, and also many of the supplies from Iran have been intercepted so there are lots of bombs that won't be fired at us.
It seems that it is getting safer for us. We have great compassion for the Lebanese. I think that we do have the belief that it will end in about 10-15 days. There is a sense here that the Israelis are doing their best to hit strategically and to avoid hitting civilians when possible and not to overstep into aggression with another country. Naturally the world is watching to see what Iran and Syria will do.
We continue to go to work everyday and plug away at our tasks. Both Eric and I remain pretty busy in our various roles, caring for people. I have actually not had too many really freaked out people, and the ones that are really disturbed are going for a while. It is amazing how people adapt to things--even here. Generally, people are staying good-humored. Interestingly, there is a lot of bonding and unity developing amongst the staff, which is comforting and supportive. We are aware that as war goes, it could be much worse and many people here have been through things that are much worse--ie Iran/Iraq war. Most of the Moms and babies here (BWC) are leaving. It is hard having babies in bomb shelters and of course parents are concerned for their safety.
It seems that people following the Israeli guidelines for homeland safety are staying safe--we are. I think that we are as comfortable and safe as one can be during a war. As one young lady put it--"look, they are shooting these tiny bombs that are about 2 feet long and shooting from Lebanon, and their aim isn't very good. We are staying in buildings with thick walls with lots of rebar, and keep away from the windows. What are the odds that you will get hit? If you do, it is probably your time and it could happen in California on the freeway. We should just chill out." :)
Much love
Tricia
This AM we were up at 5:30 to the sound of the "get-to-the-shelter" sirens. There were apparently no hits in Haifa though. Life here is a bit surreal. Everywhere life is the same--you have laundry to do, food to cook, relationships to attend to and so on, so in some ways the differences are subtle. People don't go outside much unless they have to. There is a way that having things fall out of the sky keeps people off the streets. It is getting more clear what the facts are about the bombs--so when the sirens go off, we only need to stay in the shelters for about 20 min. then the threat is passed unless another siren goes. We are all getting so that when we hear a high pitched noise ie pigeons, it sounds like the beginning of a siren and we go "on alert" for a moment. Two days ago we had about 90 bombs here during the day. Since then it has been getting sparser. Many of the outposts in Lebanon have been hit and so are no longer shooting, and also many of the supplies from Iran have been intercepted so there are lots of bombs that won't be fired at us.
It seems that it is getting safer for us. We have great compassion for the Lebanese. I think that we do have the belief that it will end in about 10-15 days. There is a sense here that the Israelis are doing their best to hit strategically and to avoid hitting civilians when possible and not to overstep into aggression with another country. Naturally the world is watching to see what Iran and Syria will do.
We continue to go to work everyday and plug away at our tasks. Both Eric and I remain pretty busy in our various roles, caring for people. I have actually not had too many really freaked out people, and the ones that are really disturbed are going for a while. It is amazing how people adapt to things--even here. Generally, people are staying good-humored. Interestingly, there is a lot of bonding and unity developing amongst the staff, which is comforting and supportive. We are aware that as war goes, it could be much worse and many people here have been through things that are much worse--ie Iran/Iraq war. Most of the Moms and babies here (BWC) are leaving. It is hard having babies in bomb shelters and of course parents are concerned for their safety.
It seems that people following the Israeli guidelines for homeland safety are staying safe--we are. I think that we are as comfortable and safe as one can be during a war. As one young lady put it--"look, they are shooting these tiny bombs that are about 2 feet long and shooting from Lebanon, and their aim isn't very good. We are staying in buildings with thick walls with lots of rebar, and keep away from the windows. What are the odds that you will get hit? If you do, it is probably your time and it could happen in California on the freeway. We should just chill out." :)
Much love
Tricia
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Update from Haifa
Tricia just sent this...
I arrived back from Greece yesterday morning at about 2:00 AM to a very quiet airport. As you might expect there are fewer folks coming into Israel, although surprisingly the plane that I was on was about ¾ full.
We are working in places that do not face the bay/sea-the direction from which the bombs come. We are near bomb shelters as well and when the sirens go off, we usually have a minute to get to the shelters. People in general are in good spirits and most are handling it pretty well. Anjali is staying with us temporarily as it makes her feel safer. She and Alex are both doing well. Alex isn't in the Acca area as it is a bit more exposed, so they have brought in all of the staff from that area and they are working on the Arc, which is pretty safe. My office is also temporarily moving there as well as most of the people are there. The bombs themselves are a bit like throwing a big brick. They are heavy and carry some small pellets but do not carry any explosives or anything that ignites so actually do minimal damage. Thank God they are pretty low tech. They are also coming for the most part during the daylight hours so it makes it easier to stay safe.
In general, people are optimistic that this will be over soon. Your dad and I feel that now is when we are really needed and anticipate that it will not last long, so are not thinking of leaving. We will contact you often to try to keep you posted about our safety.
Hanging out in the bomb shelters is actually fun as people gather and play cards, pray, sing, watch the news, joke around-generally connecting with others which is pretty comforting. I wish that you could feel my hugs to you-at times like these when you are worried about someone, there is nothing better than a good hug. Know that we are fine and love you and send you hugs. Try not to worry.
Much love,
Mom
I arrived back from Greece yesterday morning at about 2:00 AM to a very quiet airport. As you might expect there are fewer folks coming into Israel, although surprisingly the plane that I was on was about ¾ full.
We are working in places that do not face the bay/sea-the direction from which the bombs come. We are near bomb shelters as well and when the sirens go off, we usually have a minute to get to the shelters. People in general are in good spirits and most are handling it pretty well. Anjali is staying with us temporarily as it makes her feel safer. She and Alex are both doing well. Alex isn't in the Acca area as it is a bit more exposed, so they have brought in all of the staff from that area and they are working on the Arc, which is pretty safe. My office is also temporarily moving there as well as most of the people are there. The bombs themselves are a bit like throwing a big brick. They are heavy and carry some small pellets but do not carry any explosives or anything that ignites so actually do minimal damage. Thank God they are pretty low tech. They are also coming for the most part during the daylight hours so it makes it easier to stay safe.
In general, people are optimistic that this will be over soon. Your dad and I feel that now is when we are really needed and anticipate that it will not last long, so are not thinking of leaving. We will contact you often to try to keep you posted about our safety.
Hanging out in the bomb shelters is actually fun as people gather and play cards, pray, sing, watch the news, joke around-generally connecting with others which is pretty comforting. I wish that you could feel my hugs to you-at times like these when you are worried about someone, there is nothing better than a good hug. Know that we are fine and love you and send you hugs. Try not to worry.
Much love,
Mom
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Super Hero Graduates!
Congratulations to Alex on his graduation! Now he can start protecting the earth full-time from evil corporate villans such as "The Sludge," "BioWastinator," and the most nefarious of them all "MTBE (aka Ground Water Destroyer)." The future just got a little less polluted. Seriously though, congratulations to Alex and here's to job security! Cheers!
Bree
Bree
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