replying to Moze's comment, Like in the movies

Yes, it was Egged. I didn't know that the Dan drivers were of a different breed. Just another reason for people to move to Egged territory.

noticed

noticed
something cute
on other blogs
weatherpixie
logo with weather report
properly attired
as cute as could be

wondering
if I should
adopt one
and add her
to my sidebar
which
has been floating
rather than sinking
recently

can it take
such responsibility?

I almost added
but failed
a logo
proclaiming
proudly and colorfully
that I was nominated
for prizes
on israellycool

but computer-wise incompetant
couldn't copy
and paste it up

or whatever technique
obviously
not in my repetoire

just a computer klutz
am I

impressive to the
have-nots
but
a wash out
to those
in the know

but still
maybe
I'll try
to put that cute thing up

Happy 90th Birthday

a dear friend
turned 90
and seems
more mentally alert
than many of us
youngsters

miraculously
I got there
just as he got up
to speak

G-d is good

totally wasted

so far
day
totally wasted
must go offline
all my plans
fouled
but the
dishes are loyally waiting

nice to know
I can depend
on laundry
dishes
dust
the chores
never to desert me

Read previous two first. Just Like, Part 3 conclusion

The first thing the young woman did was to quiz the driver on when we'd be arriving in Jerusalem. He warned her that there were no guarantees, due to traffic, road repairs, accidents, check points, etc.

Of course he asked her why she was so anxious. Here's the story:

She and her husband had to make a 1:30 bus; the following bus was at 4:30, a long time to wait. As we pulled out of Shiloh, we started making good time, so the driver told her that there was a good chance that she'd make it to the central bus station in time to catch the bus. She cellphoned her husband to tell him the good news, that he should meet her at "arrivals" to take the bag off the bus and together they'd go to the departure gate.

Yes, just like in the movies, there were all sorts of delays, and the chance of the woman catching her bus got less and less.

The driver offered to drop her off across from a bus stop of the bus she needed. She told him that it wouldn't help, because her bag was too heavy. He even offered to get out of the bus and help her with the bag, but she insisted that it wouldn't be right.

All along she kept calling her husband. The driver called his supervisor to find out who was driving the other bus. Then he began calling the other driver, who didn't answer. The woman was told to tell her husband to check if the other bus was in departures already. The driver kept trying to contact the second driver. The second bus was due to leave, and we were a red light away from the bus station. The young woman kept updating her husband. Finally the drivers spoke.

The light turned green; the bus station entrance was just ahead. We got closer and stopped; the door opened and the young lady ran out. Her bag was pulled out of the storage compartment, and she and her husband ran to the bus waiting on the other side of the road.

I'm sure that it was against regulations, but it was wonderful to see how the bus drivers care about their passengers.

So, please don't let their bosses know....

Read previous first. Just Like in the Movies, Part 2

Well, Wendy, you guessed wrong.

It hadn't come yet, and it was one of those days when it came late. There's a forty minute time spread between earliest and latest, since we're towards the end of along route on that line, at that time of the day. And it seemed more and more likely that this was to be one of those time-wasters. So, we waited and waited.

The young woman was getting more and more nervous and started asking how long the trip took. "By when will we get to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station?" "No guaranteed time" was the answer.

Finally the bus came, and she pushed, lugged her bag into the baggage compartment under the bus. She sat in the front, near the driver. I was only a couple of seats behind her, close enough to hear.

continued in a little while, so you can guess further, if you wish....

part 1 Just Like In The Movies!

As you must know, I'm a bus traveler, at least when I can get a bus. If not, I'm not too fussy. One of the downsides about my modes of transport is that I wait around a lot. What can I say? Boring, but never dull.

One day, waiting at our bus stop exit, here in Shiloh, a young woman pulled up in a car. At first I thought that she was going to park just at the bus stop, which even here, where traffic police are rare, would be rather foolish. I'm learning to "count to ten" before saying anything. It keeps the foot out. Good thing. Soon she was heaving a heavy duffle bag out of the car and asking us if the bus to Jerusalem had already come (and gone.) She was happy at our negative reply. She told us that she'd be back in a minute to wait with her bag; she just had to park the car in our "commuter parking lot."

to be continued....
if you want to guess the ending or the middle, since this was just the introduction, just comment your guess.

Saturday night

Saturday night
real boring
just some dishes to wash
and competing for computer time

I set up
"creative commons"
a copyright
on my blogs

hope I'm not
being too paranoid
but
aren't my musings and meanderings
worth something
at least
people can ask permission
and maybe hire me
to write
something else

A Postcard, Personally Delivered

number one son
far away
after working
and trekking
mountains, rivers, valleys,
streams and glaciers

sites
that reminded him
of his favorite
opening scene
"The Last Mohigan"

but not in that
continent
well south

though started
in a cabin
by a lake
in Rhode Island

just before
a knock
on the door

a postcard
personally delivered
by a childhood friend
who hiked with him
for the last few weeks
and just came home

but we'll have to wait longer
for a hug

leaking

water leaking
from under the washing machine
service doesn't visit

maybe it's just the connection
must experiment
no patience
for fighting
with company

worse than
closing tap
when machine off

Prince Harry and the Nazis

seems like
everybody's scandalized
about Prince Harry's
poor taste
in costumes

but
don't forget
that
his mother
the teflon princess
who could do no wrong

was pregnant
with an Arab baby
when she
died from the car crash

so the motherless
young man
may have liked
his almost step-father
the father of his
almost half-brother or sister
much more
than we had ever imagined

that he doesn't have
his grandmother's
common sense
and good taste
and intelligence
to keep certain things
out of the public eye

and it also shows
that the staff
serving
and doing his errands
and keeping an eye
has no more brains
than Prince Harry

Kohelet, Ecclesiastes 11-1

Just a reminder, it helps understand what I've written if you have the books with you as reference.

Kohelet, 5, 1
"Al tivahel al picha" "Don't be rash with your mouth..." control what you say; don't speak before thinking; who's really guilty?
2- too much talk no good; too much searching for problems,too. Looking too close doesn't make things look good; they look better at a distance. There are all sorts of optical games/exercises like this. (I try never to look at my face in one of those magnifying mirrors; middle-aged eyes make everything look nicer.)
3-Do whatever you've promised (to G-d, all quick, loose talk is also a neder-vow); Don't be so fast to promise/vow. Keep lips sealed, or you'll be obligated. Words can be dangerous. Only G-d can/should promise, not us. We end up paying for hasty vows.
Classic examples are Yiftach and Yaakov. Yiftach wanted to G-d to help him be victorious, so he said that if he is the first thing to cross his path will be sacrificed to G-d, and his daughter was the one.
Yaakov had at least two examples. I immediately thought of the classic that when he promised his father-in-law that whoever stole the idols will die. Rachel died young; she had taken them from her father. Nissan was thinking of another the delay, procrastination of Yaakov in building a "Temple" in Beit El. When he fled his family and first got to Beit El (ladder dream) he vowed that if he gets through this ok and can return the first thing he'd do is build a place of worship to G-d in Beit El. Well, he didn't. He went to Shechem and stayed there for a couple of years. and his daughter (the only daughter mentioned when the tribes born) Dina was raped. Remember that Dina means "judgement" and she paid the price for her father's delaying keeping a neder.
There's a saying that the "evil" make vows and the ksharim (kosher good proper) don't. It's ok only if it's really possible to keep and better without neder.
2-dreams-most dreams are shtuyot rediculous. according to Rashi. Don't take them seriously. If they seem bad, "spin" them so they're really ok. It's up to us to make the dreams good.
3- Shlomo had no patience for idiots, who don't want to change/improve themselves, learn from their mistakes. k'sif is someone who doesn't want to learn, would rather stay ignorant. If you make a neder, don't delay in paying it off, no man~ana--or it makes a person a k'sif.
4-better not to promise, than to promise and not pay, or make a vow and pay, or don't promise yes pay. The last is the best, just do, without pledging, promising, etc. According to Nissan the custom of public pledging as a fundraising technique is forbidden.
5- don't make excuses
here Nissan told the story about Yaakov and the rape of Dina, his punishment to procrastinating.
Don't vow/swear.
Our job is to teach our body to "behave."
We must always strive to more, but to work systematicly, not to skip stages, or it'll be too hard, frustrating and the results will be negative. According to the proper order, realistic. The mitzvot/commandments of neder lists requirements.
There's power in a neder. See bamidbar Numbers 30, 2-3. shows the power from one's mouth, what one says. creates something. if you say a neder it's like making a new mitzvah for yourself. Shlomos says not to waste the power.
bereishit Genesis 2, 7 nefesh chaya, the power of speech. A neder must be in the realm of possiblilty, to bring you just a step higher.

6-The most important thing is to fear G-d, regardless of all other things. judge ourselves before we criticize others.

That's it for the week. I must try to watch my words, whether spoken or written. Hard assignment.

pop corn

pop corn cravings
suddenly
after
months without

I can
smell it
I want it

properly
traditionally
popped
in a pot
with
a few drops
of oil

then
peppered
with salt
--the only thing
I salt

off
to the kitchen
pop, pop

part 2 psalms and kohelet 11-1

In chapter 34, all of the sentences from the second are in Hebrew alphabetical order. Like the "ashrei" prayer which is said three times a day. It's the opening of mincha, the afternoon prayer, if you're not familiar with it, you can easily find it there in a traditional, Orthodox siddur, prayer book. It is said with every prayer session.
In the order of the "aleph," "bet," because G-d created the world with the letters in that order.

2- We must thank G-d for everything. even what seems bad. and we must pray to G-d.
3- like a child identifies with his parents, imitates them, we must imitate G-d and praise Him. anavim, the humble ones, those without egos. They can identify with , feel for others. If the ego's too large, one can't think of anyone else.
(I remember once reading an artilce in a woman/parenting magazine that claimed that there should be at least three years between children to "allow for full ego develpment." That's the most rediculous thing to encourage selfish children as an ideal.) It is important to be anav.
4- Here we get into an important part of Judaism, the community, minyan. Prayers are superiior in groups, not isolated. A group has more strength. We learned it in Kohelet, that the three-ply rope is stronger than the single. One should follow the shaliach tzibbur who leads the dovening and hear his brachot, blessings. There's a difference between t'filat hatzibbur and tfila b'tzibbur prayer of the group or prayer in a group. Best is when one prays and others say amen. Problem is that when people are supposed to be listening, they can't concetrate and their minds wander, so we pray along together.
yachdav with him. Who is the "him?" Is it G-d, the chazan or other people? There should be harmony; each doing his part, and together beautiful.

That's it for the day's t'hilim. Amazing an hour spent discussing only 4 lines.

Link2Blogs

was just about to
delete it

no action
and "bad company"
not my sort

but suddenly discovered
people did

link

t'hilim, psalms, kohelet, ecclesiastes 11-1

Sorry that it's taking me so long to update; Tuesday is a very busy day, and so is Wednesday.

T'hilim 34
David thanks G-d for everything but asks "Why foolishness and insanity?" Why did G-d make crazy people?
His answer is in First Shmuel 21, 11-16
The story of how Achish the King of Gath didn't recognize him. David feigned madness and he was freed.
The story is told slightly differently in T'hilim. It mentions Avimelech, not Achish. Could it be the same person? Could Avimelech be the "family name" of the kings there like Pharoah was in Egypt. Or could it be the same Avimelech of Abraham's time. See Bereishit 20 for that, how Avraham and Sara went to Egypt.
Avimelech was considered a righteous man.
David was considered an enemy of Gath, because he had killed Goliath. The actual killing was considered acceptable, because it was a time of war. But what worried the Gathians much more was the promise Goliath had made.
First Shmuel 17, 9 If anyone could destroy him, they would rule over his country. David was supposed to be given the rule. Read that whole chapter.

"shin-tet" means unbalanced, unstable. Problems between the inner and outer personalities. Sotah, Bamidbar 5, 11 impulsivity, unintentional.

I'm exhausted. I'll have to continue tomorrow. Sorry

strange sounds and important talents

short while
after I arrived home
heard a strange sound

it kept repeating itself
had never heard anything
like it

finally realized
it came from our new
cordless phone

the same
talented son
who made the
digital camera bark like a dog
programmed the phone
to sound like.....

getting ready

getting ready
to go
to swim, but not swim

while my baby
sleeps
home from the army

but I've develped a life
that doesn't keep me home

so he'll be alone
because
I learned to live
out of the empty house

like old times

today
one of my 9th graders
mentioned
"Daddy's taking me home, today."

my ears perked
hmmm
maybe a ride in
the right direction?

"And when is
he coming?"

"Oh, 7:15,
after the last class."

"Really?"

another one
whispered to his friend
"The teacher wants a ride."

Blank response

let it ride
(bad pun)

end of the day
preparing myself to hitch
but with eyes
alert
to a waiting father

suddenly
a familiar face
once my regular driver
in the good days
of taxi service

"Good to see you."

"How are you? Are you ______ father?"

"Yes. And you're the English teacher? Are you going home? How"

"Hitching"

"Join us!"

and so
for the first time
since Pinchas was almost murdered
by Arab terrorists
four years ago
he took me home

Copyright

they say
"imitation, finest form of flattery"
but
when the imitators
ignore the originator
it gets nasty

discovered that
various publications
print my musings
without even a thank you
or please

and don't reply
to my queries

in response
no choice
I've added:
"Copyright(C)BatyaMedad Contact me for publication permission, private accredited distribution encouraged."

to the masthead
crown of my site

not that I expect
riches
of material wealth

but just
to know
to where
my meanderings
and musings
have wandered

but
simple sending
to friends
needs
no permission
even encouraged