Tikkun Olam

Taking a day trip on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend to our favorite place: Estes Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park, planning on driving up Trail Ridge Road which just opened for the season on Friday (yesterday).  It is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, and it climbs to over 12,000 ft. We sort of have a tradition in the 29 years we've lived here, although we don't do it every year: going up Trail Ridge right after it opens, to get the thrill of driving up a road with 5 ft. high snowbanks on either side.  You sense the power of winter in this area, which, at above altitude of 11,000 ft.  is actually Tundra .  I can't imagine what it takes to clear the road.  Those long poles you see are markers to indicate where the road actually is .                                  ...

My friend Ethel is staying over by us for Shabbat.  We walked to shul today (a tad late...) in a blowing wind, that the meteorologists said could increase up to 40 mph.  Leaves were blowing in our faces, our heads were down, leaning into the wind.  Fun.  But the temperature was over 60 degrees, on November 12th.  Imagine.  And everyone gasps when I say I live in D-----.  "It's really cold there in the winter, right?", they ask. Our winters here are actually quite varied; sometimes they are extremely cold, for a period of time. And then, after a week or two--if that long--we suddenly have mild 45-65 degree days.  When it snows, generally in several days the snow is gone--not so much even melted, but sublimates into air.  Just plain evaporates.  It's really nice, living in a dry climate. Not like the East Coast where I grew up, where New York snow in biting cold, wet winters turns into muddy, filthy slush and lasts for weeks.  The...