Around The Island

The neighbor's porch light

2009-07-16T21:26:00.005+03:00

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Their patio does obstruct my view of the sunset, but occasionally it works in my favor. Tonight was one of those nights.
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Visit Skywatch Friday for glimpses of other skies around the world.
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Playing catch-up

2009-07-16T09:42:00.005+03:00

Hi! How are you? Great! Me too. I have a confession to make though. I've been a terrible slacker lately and have received a couple of awards that should have been passed on ages ago.

*hangs head in shame*

Are you still reading or have you stormed off in disgust at my utter contempt for basic social graces?

I know, I know. I can't believe it either. What would Miss Manners say, she'd probably revoke my blog license. Oh wait, I don't have a blog license. Whew, I guess I'm off the hook, at least as far as Miss Manners goes.

Okay, getting back on track again...

Where were we?

Oh yeah. It's time to thank the Academy.

First off, the ever-dashing and full of fun Thom from Hawaii (he actually lives in Hawaii, how cool is that!) bestowed this little gem on me:

Thom's blog always puts a smile on my face, he's always got something going on over there. I'm not sure exactly what this award means but it looks like all golden and happy so I'm going to pass it along to a few other bloggers who always make me smile as well:

Flea - I love a blogger who actively sets out to make you smile, and she does it in spades. Flea brightens my day whenever I see her blog pop up in my reader.

Daryl - I'm a diehard Darylizer all the way - love Daryl, love her blog. How I wish we'd had a chance to meet before my folks moved away from NY. Someday I WILL find the time to get down to the city during a visit back to the States.

Mojo - for his gorgeous photos, his way with words, and the way he never misses a chance to support or uplift his fellow bloggers. I'm proud to call him friend. Oh, and he's the most prolific blogger I've ever seen. Is there a single photo prompt out there that he doesn't do?

RivkA from Coffee and Chemo - who always seems to find something to smile about, no matter what life is throwing at her. Her strength and grace inspire me, and I hope I can become half the mother she is. RivkA is actually a real life friend turned blog friend and my life is immeasurably enriched by having her in it.

And next I want to thank Jientje from Heaven is in Belgium for awarding me this award for creativity. What an honor to be told that my photography inspires her because hers sure inspires me. If you don't know Jientje and her gorgeous images yet go over there now and enjoy a veritable feast for the eyes!

Shelly from This Eclectic Life gets this one, for her wonderfully creative words (and she's starting to take some pretty cool photos with that new camera of hers too!)

Jill from The Perlman Update gets this one too because if handling a new baby, two gorgeous and very active older girls and a posting to Chennai, India and all that entails doesn't require major creativity then I don't know what does! You don't even want to know what she just endured flying back to India from California alone with all three of her kids.

And to Mary the Teach from Work of the Poet, who somehow found the energy to host all three of her weekly photo projects this week, despite recovering from painful oral surgery. Now that's dedication!

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Thank you all for being part of my little corner of the blogosphere.
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Pink Hibiscus

2009-07-14T21:21:00.004+03:00

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week, and don't forget to come back this weekend for Summer Stock Sunday!
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre - side view

2009-07-13T21:04:00.006+03:00

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I could have sworn I'd posted this image months ago. It was sitting in my file ready to go, and the only reason I can think of that it hadn't actually been published is that I couldn't make up my mind whether I liked it better for Ruby Tuesday or Window Views, so it languished while I tried to decide and ended up forgotten. It did have some stiff competition there against my other window shots so it probably got postponed a few weeks in a row and then eventually set aside as my muse moved on.
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So in the spirit of better late than never, you're getting it now. Hope you enjoy, and while you're looking notice the way the different sections of the facade seem almost to compete with each other, graphically illustrating the ongoing conflict between the different sects of Christianity over who controls which parts of the Church. They can't agree on opening hours, let alone renovations, and as you can see from the walls the problem is not exactly a new one.
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Exposed Rebar

2009-07-12T21:42:00.000+03:00

Click to enlarge - there's a lot of detail hiding in there

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Exposed rebar on the underneath of a covered walkway. Looks a bit unseemly but I don't think it's likely to collapse any time soon. Hopefully not anyway because what it's shading is the store where I buy my kids' pajamas.
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Visit Monochrome Maniacs for more adventures in black and white.
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Summer Stock Sunday #7 - Summer in the City

2009-07-12T00:01:00.003+03:00

Summer has hit my little city full on.

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The gardeners are busy sprucing up the place.
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Click pictures to enlarge
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The old men are congregating on the benches along our (little) main shopping street
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And people are looking for novel ways to keep cool while running errands. This boy had apparently had too much of tagging along after his mother and persuaded one of the gardeners to give him a good soaking with his hose before they headed off to their next stop. His mother (the woman in the orange top) was cracking up as she looked on. Pretty ingenious I say, and he was certainly more comfortable than the rest of us, albeit a lot wetter.
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So what does summer look like for you this week?
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Put up your own Summer Stock post and then come here and sign the linkie so that we can all see it too. To make it easier for everyone to find your Summer Stock post please remember to sign the linkie with your permalink (the link to the actual post itself) rather than with your general blog link, and of course to sign only after your Summer Stock post is up. Your understanding and cooperation will make it a lot easier for all our busy bloghoppers to visit and share your summer fun, which after all is what Summer Stock is all about!
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Maya's proudest moment

2009-07-10T23:36:00.008+03:00

Click to enlarge photos

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Have you figured it out?
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No?
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I'll give you a clue - it's not the rollerskating.
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Now do you see it?
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How about now?

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Yessiree, our very own Divine Miss M (no, not that one) has lost her very first tooth and she couldn't be prouder. In fact, she's been showing it off to everyone she meets, and if they know enough about American kid culture to ask* she's also letting them know that the Tooth Fairy brought her a page of sparkly fish stickers** for her tooth!

* There is no tooth fairy here in Israel.

**In a fit of genius (if I do say so myself), just before my older child lost his first tooth I sat him down and told him about the tooth fairy (remember, Israeli kids don't know about the tooth fairy). I explained that she brings WHATEVER SHE WANTS. We don't get to pick what she brings, and it's always something small, because "teeth are small". See this way the tooth fairy avoids all those frantic late night searches through her purse looking for the right change (and I suspect she ends up saving a bit too).

From a distance, the world looks blue and green

2009-07-08T20:20:00.007+03:00

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I took this last summer out the window of my father's airplane as we traveled to visit my beloved and much missed aunt for what I knew would be the last time. She's been on my mind a great deal lately as the family prepares for both my cousin's wedding and the first anniversary of her death, with no small amount of accompanying drama.
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This photograph, together with the song, helped me to see beyond the current friction and emotion to the greater picture. My aunt would have loved this shot, I wish she could have seen it, though not nearly as much as I wish she were here to see her son walk down the aisle. Perhaps somehow, in some way, she will. From a distance.
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I'm offering this image for both this week's Window Views and Thematic Photographic's distance theme (as well as last week's aviation theme, which I was too distracted to get in on, so I might as well go for the trifecta now). It obviously struck a very deep chord in me, I hope it strikes one in you as well.
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As a minor aside, I would very much have liked to give credit where it is due and show you a clip of Julie Gold singing her wonderful song herself but I couldn't find one so I went with the much more well known Bette Midler cover. If you do ever get the chance to hear the original on the Four Bitchin' Babes' Buy Me Take Me Don't Mess My Hair album it's well worth the listen, she's got a gorgeous voice (you can hear a tiny clip on the page above, barely enough to whet your appetite).
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Spaghetti Race

2009-07-08T10:04:00.005+03:00

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Head over to Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.

Birthday Cake for Breakfast

2009-07-07T09:20:00.003+03:00

What? Doesn't everyone eat chocolate-frosted carrot cake for breakfast? No? Well too bad, it's my birthday and my kids can serve me cake for breakfast if ~~they~~ I want. It was good, too.

So.

Forty.

I've "changed area codes" as they say here in Israel. I'm now further away from my college years than it took to reach them in the first place. The music of my youth has become the stuff of nostalgia, the muzak you hear in an elevator.

So far forty feels pretty good. Better even than thirty-nine. This past year I learned, finally, to really accept myself and love myself for who I am, and ironically that gave me the impetus and strength to change a few things that needed changing, not the least of which were (are) physical. I'm committed now to a leaner, healthier me and am well on the way to getting there (20 pounds lost so far and still going). I'm not dieting, I'm implementing an overall lifestyle change - really internalizing those healthier eating habits, making exercise a part of my daily routine, making smarter choices and just as importantly not beating myself up on the occasions when I make an equally conscious choice to ignore the smart choice and do what I damn please - like eating a big piece of birthday cake for breakfast.

I feel good about myself, and good about life in general. It's had its bumps in the road, and some of them have been whoppers, but I'm not losing sight of how good things are overall. I've got an amazing husband who I still love now as much as I did when I married him eighteen years ago, two terrific kids, a comfortable, safe home. Heck, I even have a jacuzzi now. I sure didn't see that one actually coming to fruition. Life is good. (spits three times and throws salt over shoulder to appease any capricious fates that may be listening)

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have coffee to drink and a shopping trip to embark on - it is my birthday after all. (God help me, I'm going bathing suit shopping on my birthday - not sure it's smart, but the sale that's on now is too good to pass up so I'm risking my self-esteem and heading out to the land of the three-way mirrors).

Roar, sort of

2009-07-05T09:36:00.006+03:00

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Saw this on a nearby home a while back. Both the knocker and the door were painted the same flat boring shade of off-white, no contrast at all. Bar a tiny bit of rust it was a monochrome shot just the way it was, but I converted it to true black and white and upped the contrast a bit to give it some definition and keep the knocker from fading completely away into the background. I wish I could remove the ring from the lion's mouth though, the poor thing looks completely worn out from holding it there for all eternity.
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Summer Stock Sunday - Happiness is a Spongebob ice cream

2009-07-05T00:01:00.001+03:00

Whether it's yours

Or better yet if you've already finished yours and have now persuaded your little sister to share hers too

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Happy Fourth of July to all the Americans out there. I hope you're having a wonderful celebration - and that you're immortalizing it in photos!

Growing up the Fourth of July was one of my very favorite holidays - we always spent it with dear family friends at their lakehouse in the Finger Lakes of Upstate NY, having the kind of fun childhood is meant to be about. Those days are gone now but their memory returns with every jump into a freezing cold lake, sight of a boogie boarder, or taste of homemade strawberry ice cream.

What will your family's Fourth of July memories be made of?

Old City Window redux

2009-07-02T00:45:00.005+03:00

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Another window shot from Jerusalem's Old City this week. I'm leaving it to speak for itself because it's quarter to one in the morning and we've only just gotten home from a very special evening of wonderful music in memory of a dear friend, who left us much too soon but left the precious gift of his songs behind. My head is too full of his words to find any of my own tonight. I'd rather hold onto the magic just a little bit longer.
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Sometimes a photographer just gets lucky

2009-06-30T20:37:00.004+03:00

Click to enlarge and you'll see what I mean

Visit Wordless Wednesday to see who else got lucky this week.

Ball Pit

2009-06-29T19:58:00.005+03:00

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There is lots of red (and yellow and green and orange) to be found at the ball pit. At 5.5, Maya still loves to play in these, alternating between jumping in geronimo-style and pelting balls wildly in every direction. I love to watch her obvious delight in doing it, too, especially as it detracts me from wondering just why my sock was all wet after my last excursion into one about a year ago. Thankfully my kids are old enough that I no longer have to go in to rescue them (or drag them out when it's time to go!). After that last experience though, they should count themselves lucky that I let them go in at all, although they probably do wonder why their fairly laidback mom goes all psycho-germ-crazy whenever they get out.
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Eventually they'll be too old to want to play in ball pits, I don't want to rush that growing up any more than I have to, but in the meantime for the sake of my sanity I have chosen to firmly believe that the mystery liquid was simply water from someone's spilled sippy cup.
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That's my story and I'm sticking to it. If there's another version, I don't want to know about it!
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At least they still make good photo opps.
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Concentric circles

2009-06-28T22:15:00.005+03:00

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A natural monochrome from me this week - this is the top of a storage box currently residing under my daughter's (not at all black and white or geometric) bed. I like the way the circles almost seem to float off the black background. Sometimes they look like rows of bullseyes to me, other times like a cartoon-style alien invasion, or just a geometric progression. Either way, they make me smile.
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I hope they make you smile too.
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Summer Stock Sunday #5 - Park Nachshonit

2009-06-28T00:01:00.006+03:00

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I can't believe we're in our fifth week already, summer is really racing along.
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This past week Maya had her class trip to Park Nachshonit, a local motor/water park (link is Hebrew only, but it's pretty self-explanatory if you're curious). It's a fantastic place, chock full of water slides, go carts, bumper boats, full of the stuff of kids' dreams. It would be even better if they enforced any kind of maximum capacity regulations - crowded didn't even come close to describing the congestion. The main pool was like kid soup, with occasional drops of water between the bodies! As you can see the overcrowding didn't slow the kids down at all, though it did grate on the adults' nerves just a bit...
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You can barely make out Maya flying out of the slide on this next one, but I'm including it so you can see how completely insane the crowding really was (I won't even tell you how many shots of other people's kids I ended up with trying for this one). During June the park is open only to organized school groups, it won't open to the general public until next week. The day we were there there was a HUGE group, buses and buses worth, of children and parents from some nearby Muslim school - the women were mainly quite traditional, wearing headscarves and long dresses. That didn't stop some of them from getting right in the water with their kids though, dresses and all.
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We took a "break" from the madness of the pool for a bit to wait on long hot lines for a two minute spin in various boats and cars. Luckily it was soon too much for Maya (it had been too much for me after the first five minutes) and we quickly retreated back to the cool water of the pool.
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Quite unusually for Israel I even saw one young mother with her face veiled while we were there. The sight of this woman, completely covered in a black abaya with just her eyes showing, carrying a brightly colored plastic swim ring, struck me as so incongruous that I had to sneak a quick picture. It was well into the 90's the day we were at the park and even in a sleeveless cotton sundress I thought I was going to melt. I'm a bit claustrophobic too, so I cannot bear to imagine what it must be like to be be covered in so much dark, heavy fabric.
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As for me, I spent most of the day in the water with my daughter, and was just happy to have a cool place to pass the time, kid soup and all. (We won't mention the somewhat less than elegant entrance I made into the water, when I stepped off the edge not realizing I was standing by the deeper water. I went straight down, ass over teakettle, sunglasses and all. Just call me Grace.)

School's out for my two this Tuesday and then summer starts in earnest - we can't wait!

What's been on your summer agenda this week? Inquiring minds want to know...

Moonrise

2009-06-25T19:25:00.003+03:00

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I took this shot off of my rooftop patio a few weeks ago. It was amazing, the moon had just cleared the horizon when I went out. When I came back in about half an hour later it was already high in the sky and not nearly as orange looking.
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Visit Skywatch Friday for hundreds of other skies from around the world, and then see you back here at midnight Saturday (Israel time, that's 22:00 on the continent and 5:00pm EDT) for Summer Stock Sunday. The weather's really heating up and summer is in full swing, so keep those cameras out to capture all those special summer memories!
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Diversions

2009-06-24T22:44:00.007+03:00

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I'm having an immensely stressful day, and the promise of another one tomorrow. When things get really bad I tend to withdraw from human contact and look for something to occupy my brain while the rest of me goes on autopilot.
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Tonight it was post-processing.
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I screwed up the settings on a few photos from Maya's class trip yesterday (more on that to follow this weekend as this week's Summer Stock post) and decided to play around a bit and see if I could salvage anything. It will still never be an award-winning shot, but it's at least now you can actually see her face.
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From this:
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To this:
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And now I think it's time for a good long soak in the hot tub. Send a few good thoughts our way, would you? We got blindsided today and need a solution to a major problem. I won't rest until I've got the answer I demand, and that we are owed, but it's got the potential to get very stressful in the interim. Sorry to be cryptic, I just don't have the energy to get into it all again right now. I'll fill everyone in soon.
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Maya's new room!

2009-06-23T22:07:00.017+03:00

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All images this week are straight out of the camera and "unclickable" - I'm too tired to do anything more and a glass of wine is beckoning.

From this (cute when new but now completely destroyed, as was everything else in the room):

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To this:

(Maya's crap all piled up in the spare room)

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(repainting room without worrying about the disgustingly stained old carpet which was about to be ripped up anyway)

And then to this (pictures, etc. to be hung later):

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And then her parents took a nap.

Visit Wordless Wednesday for more (nearly) wordless images.

He flies through the air with the greatest of ease

2009-06-22T22:12:00.002+03:00

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He makes it look so easy, doesn't he?
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Look here for your weekly dose of ruby red, and here for more shots of paragliders and the amazing location they were flying over.
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I may be a bit late getting around to everyone this week. We're in peak "end of year insanity" mode. Itai's class had an end of the year pool party tonight, Maya's class trip (one parent per kid) is all day tomorrow, Wednesday I've got still more dental work (fun fun) and hopefully a few hours free to actually, I don't know, work for a living. Thursday Itai needs to be driven to and from a birthday party twenty minutes away and Maya's having a friend over for a playdate, and then Friday morning is Itai's end of year ceremony in school. Oh, and somehow in the middle of all this we decided that this was the perfect week to renovate Maya's room. (Hear that noise? That was my head exploding.) The worst of it is over now that it's been painted, carpeted and the furniture delivered and assembled, but that still leaves restocking all of the toys, books and clothing that are currently in piles all over my house. Oh, and getting rid of the old broken down dresser that's still standing in the living room. (Here that other noise? That was what was left of my head exploding again. Work out my stress you say? Gym you say? What is this gym of which you speak? I vaguely remember that I used to know of a place by that name. Forget the gym, it will probably be Thursday before I can even find the time to jump back on the elliptical machine I have right in my living room. Again with the living room. Doesn't this woman store anything anywhere else? Answer: nope, not really. Joys of city living...)
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Phew. No wonder I need a nap.
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Looking for me?

2009-06-22T10:26:00.004+03:00

I'm over at A Mother in Israel's today, guest posting about free and inexpensive day trips and staycation ideas in Israel. Go on over and share your ideas for ways to beat the summer heat.

While you're over there, I'll be over here learning how to use my very cool new toy - I just won a license for Unified Color's HDR PhotoStudio from Petapixel, a terrific new blog about all things digital photography. I am really excited to get started, I've been itching to try my hand at HDR (high dynamic range imaging) for a long time, and thanks to Michael Zhang over at Petapixel now I can!

Squeeeee!!! (or something else much more intelligent and a lot less squeeky sounding)
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Summer Stock Sunday #4 - It's not all fun and games

2009-06-21T00:01:00.007+03:00

Maya coming, Itai going

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... at the swimming pool that is.
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Both of my kids are taking swimming lessons this year - three times a week for four weeks, more if they need it.
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Itai probably won't need extra sessions, he already knows how to swim and is just working on technique and dabbling in the backstroke.
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Maya, who never had lessons before this year, is taking things a bit more slowly (now there's an understatement). While she loves (loves!) the water and jumps in like a regular little fish, putting everything she's learning together in a way that will keep her head above water is proving to be a bit more challenging. Ahem.
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Unlike in the US, where children are first taught the crawl, beginning swimmers here in Israel are taught the breaststroke first (since it's a "survival" stroke, rather than a "sport" stroke, according to their teacher), which drives me utterly crazy since it seems to me like a much harder stroke to teach a young child (and is also why many swimming teachers here won't take children younger than six). It certainly is harder for Maya, who at age 5 1/2 has been propelling herself around a pool with a swim ring just fine for years now thankyouverymuch - she's now got the idea of the frog kick down pat but she's working so hard on trying to really open up the kick and then close her feet quickly (forgive the awkward construction, I'm trying hard to avoid saying "open her legs wide and then slam them together" since that sounds unseemly for a five year old, but I'm failing miserably at finding an equally descriptive alternative) that she doesn't have any power behind her stroke. This means that she's constantly being pushed against the side of the pool without any room to do those wide kicks and the problem perpetuates itself. We're working on it. She's down to one little floatie now, but when the teacher tried to remove that one she basically sunk like a stone, her kicks insufficient to keep her head above water.
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Maya was also having trouble focusing in the (quite small) group lessons and the teacher wasn't sure she should stay, but she was so happy to be in the "big kid swimming lessons" that I really didn't want to pull her out, so I got him to agree to have me "shadow" her from the side of the pool to keep her on track. With me right next to her she's at least staying on plan, if not succeeding wildly at powering through the water (that's another one of those understatements). Now personally I don't care if she doesn't learn to swim without floaties by the end of the session and I'm certainly not looking for any Olympic records here, but I do care very much that she continues to enjoy both the lessons and being in the water in general and as long as that's the case it's all good. She'll learn at her own pace, if not this year then next. Anything beyond that is gravy, though given my choice I would prefer for her to realize that having your head sink below the water is not ideal and is in fact a damn good time to start kicking for the surface.
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So if you've been wondering why nearly all of my Summer Stock photos have been water-related, it's because that's pretty much been our theme so far this summer - all water, all the time. Well that and redoing Maya's room, but that's still a work-in-progress so you'll have to wait another week or two for those photos.
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What's on your summertime agenda this week? Sign the linkie and let us know, and as always, thanks for playing along here at Summer Stock. This project wouldn't be nearly as much fun without all of you.
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Me, in bullets

2009-06-19T01:29:00.002+03:00

Knees are getting better. The only unusual thing I did yesterday was about five minutes of reverse direction in the middle of my elliptical workout, so I'm betting it was that.
Mouth and teeth hurt from today's dental work, but I had them tweak the anesthesia so I didn't react as badly as last week
Had an early 40th birthday celebration with a bunch of close friends - girl-style picnic (heavy on the veggies, no meat), wine, bread and cheese, fruit, and a FABULOUS chocolate cake, a soak in the hot tub, AND they gave me a gorgeous black purse that I desperately needed and really really wanted - god I love my friends
It's 1:30am now, I have GOT to get to sleep
I have dozens of comments I want to respond to, but my eyes keep closing
Did I mention that the chocolate cake was amazing?
Have a great skywatch photo, but I'm too tired to post it so saving it for next week
God that cake was good
There's more but my eyes won't stay open. It was probably about cake.
Maybe I'll dream about cake
Oh yeah, we're also right in the middle of redoing Maya's room. She's camping on the floor in Itai's room for the next few nights.
It's a mess - her room is stripped and her old furniture is piled up in my living room.
It looks like I'm living in a warehouse
That cake was really, really good
I'm still way too tired to post coherently
I'm sure none of you are able to tell
Okay, okay, I'm getting the message
Goodnight everyone, and don't forget to stop by this weekend for Summer Stock!

Jerusalem's Cardo

2009-06-17T21:22:00.009+03:00

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My knees feel like they're on fire. I really don't think I overdid it today, I did work out in the gym but nothing beyond the usual, and the rest of the day was just the normal chaos that is my life, but right in the middle of the kids' swimming lesson I suddenly gasped in pain. Obviously I did something, since I can't walk, crouch, squat or heaven forbid climb stairs. On a good day I have the knees of a ninety year old and have been through more rounds of doctors visits, x-rays and physical therapy than I care to count, but this feels a bit different. First off it's both knees at the same time, which is unusual in and of itself, and the pain is in a slightly different place. Basically it feels like someone whacked me across the knees with a metal bar, but to the best of my knowledge that has not in fact happened (I'm not even running from the mob) so I have no freaking idea why I'm suddenly out of commission. I've taken a couple of ibuprofen and hopefully all will be well again in the morning.
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All this is a ~~short~~ ~~not so short~~ ridiculously long way of telling you that all you're going to get out of me today is a photo. No long-winded stories or fascinating anecdotes, I'm off to bed where I'm going to put my feet up and hope for the best.
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If you are curious, this naturally sepia (see, taking the easy way out again) photograph is of Jerusalem's Cardo - a 6th century Byzantine street - you can read more about it here and here.
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See you this weekend for Summer Stock Sunday!
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