Reflecting on The Visit

This has been a wonderful visit with family, just family, besides on Shabbatot.  It has given me much peace.

I'll write more when I'm home, G-d willing.

"Pet Swan"

My cousins told me that a swan lives in the pond in their back yard.  It took awhile until I actually caught a glimpse of her/him/it.  And then it was very dark, so I had to lighten the photo just a little.



This is my very first trip to Florida, and I can see why it's a very popular place.  No doubt I'd feel a bit differently in the summer, but then again, maybe not.  Heat no longer bothers me.

We've been trying out all sorts of kosher restaurants.  I'm reminded in many ways of Queens and Great Neck.  I could almost be on Long Island, NY.

Planning Another Trip

With my father still alive in Arizona, I'll be going there again in a few weeks.  There were years I didn't travel abroad at all.  But since my parents became too old to travel to Israel I started going there once, now twice a year. My mother passed away early summer, so now it's just my very elderly father who lives near my sister.

This year I'll combine the AZ trip with visiting cousins in Miami.  I've never been to Miami, FL before.  I've always wanted to go, ever since my mother's oldest and younger sisters moved there with their families when I was little. One cousin and his family are still in Florida, and they have always been telling me that I'm invited.  They were in Israel a few years ago, and we had a wonderful time together.  This year I'm taking them up on their offer.

I have my Arizona Shabbat plans set with the people I stayed with last January, and I still have to set up the Miami, Florida end. That's what happens when you're the only strictly Torah observant Shomer Shabbat person in a large Jewish family.  But I'm not worried. G-d willing, it will all work out.  (Invitations appreciated.)

And as for the blog carnivals I coordinate, we have a debut hostess lined up for the Adar Alef Kosher Cooking Carnival,  Food Discovery, and I'm looking for a few volunteers for Havel Havelim.  If you'd like to host, please let me know, thanks.