Tikkun Olam

So the P.A. at Urgent Care asked me, "did you diagnose yourself?" Actually, I did. And I was right (-wish I had been wrong). Couldn't sleep last night because of the searing pain, and woke D.H. up around 3:45 a.m. to research "shingles" on the web. He had no idea what I was talking about, but I did, having read about it quite a while back (and knowing that my uncle had it, and he said it was...awful...). But I had a hunch about my symptoms, and (I'm really thrilled about this part) I was right: I have Shingles . Herpes Zoster. Dormant Varicella virus. Which just hybernated happily in my innocent, unsuspecting body from the time I had chicken pox as a wee child, waiting for the right moment to rear its ugly head--you know the moment--the one where you 1) have no income, and 2) have no medical insurance, and are 3) stressed to the gills --yes, that moment. All my initial symptoms, which at the time seemed totally unrelated and even nebulous, at that-...

Have been feeling lousy all week; throbbing pain in right upper back, thought it was shoulder blade, but maybe wasn't there. Erev Shabbat developed (in addition to this throbbing since Tuesday) a sharp pain in the region of my ear, every few seconds or so; and today, Shabbat, broke out in large blotches of a rash. Don't know if all of these are related. Took a Benedryl equivalent, and am going to the Yeshiva Melaveh Malkah. Now, that's an intelligent thing to do. *(nablopomo day#30)

I think this might be, uh, appropriate for Tu b'Shevat, (marginally). After all, just like wheat and barley, BEER is made from. . . grain. . . So let's hear it for beer, and Chutzpah (they're a little weird, but have a good sound).

The holiday of Tu b'Shevat (the 15th day of the month of Shevat), which is Israel's Arbor Day, has gained more popularity and acceptance over the years as one to be observed with more than a tree planting, even though that is extemely important. Did you know that Israel was the only country to finish the twentieth century with more trees than it started with? (From The Daily, University of Washington, 2002 ): Israel is a rebirth. It is the realization of the age-old dream of the Jewish people to return to the land of our origin, the land in which our nation was formed, the land from which we were exiled and kept out for 2,000 years. For 2,000 years, we did not forget - three times a day, observant Jews everywhere pray for rain in the right season in the land of Israel. Every major Jewish festival ends with the words: “… Next year in Jerusalem.” In this rebirth, the people of Israel resurrected the ancient Hebrew language. Once confined to prayer and holy texts alone, 5 mill...

Here is the 50th (Yovel, or "Jubilee" in English) Edition of the KCC, started by Batya when a recipe carnival rejected her post because it wasn't on the theme food, pork (who knew?). Go read it and check out the links at Me-Ander , Batya's blog (one of 'em. don't know how she does it). *(nablopomo day#28)

Since I had written much on the efficiency of the Israeli field hospital in Haiti and the great disaster relief and humanitarian work that they had been doing, I feel it is fitting to post this video of the closing ceremony: after two weeks, the Israelis are going home, halfway across the world (hat tip Rafi ). *(nablopomo day# 27)

Ok, after the highlight of the weekend with our extended Shabbaton, I was trying to figure out what to do for an encore, when I saw Batya's post on Ruby Tuesday , which originally was a Rolling Stones song but became a blogging theme to post something RED every Tuesday. So I decided I would post my first ever Ruby Tuesday pic, of two of my beautiful granddaughters, the daughters of my eldest, Mrs. Baby K'tan who live in that sunny-some-other-state-but-not-mine-place. This post now covers three subjects: 1) Ruby Tuesday, 2) Nablopomo, and 3) the January theme for Nablopomo, which is "Best." How about that for efficiency? The photo was shot at our younger son's wedding two-and-a-half years ago, ironically not in the state where they live, but in that other one --a smaller one, area-wise (but much, much bigger in so many other ways), right outside of Jerusalem at Chavat Aviv . Are those flowers red, or what? (Are those girls gorgeous [ bli ayin ra'ah ], or w...