RETURNING TO THE ANSWER, THE REST OF YOU CAN REMAIN WITH THE QUESTION.

My traveling companions to Jerusalem. The dog on the left is "Splat" from
Eli's racquetball days and the dog on the right was recently re-named "Bama" and whose origin we think is a prize won at the Marin Summer Faire, circa 2001.

I have returned to Jerusalem, hence the reference to “returning to the answer”; when recently asked, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten what the question was, damn, getting old sucks. Then, a friend asked if I was still going to keep blogging since her aging mother enjoyed reading it, so that is what it has come to, my targeted demographics; women over 80. Anyway, I’ll give a try and see how far I can go and remain interesting and insightful.

I want to use this first installment to review what it takes to leave a comfortable middle-class life in the states. After having disengaging myself from all the ties I had in Berkeley in May, 2008, I returned for a 4 month stay from October, 2008 to January, 2009. It’s amazing how quickly one can load up on “things” and thus have to start the disengagement process all over again. The U.S. cell phone gets reinstated and then gets returned, the Kaiser health plan gets reestablished and then gets cancelled, items that got thrown away never to be need again, like an alarm clock, have to be repurchased. The one thing I didn’t sign up for, an internet connection, was sorely missed and as a result I spent all my time wandering around my apartment and the neighborhood looking for unprotected WiFi. I eventually found “Tinkerbell” some poor unsuspecting internet user who I continually stole bandwidth from. I felt terribly guilty, especially when I must have slowed down her/his connection and then it suddenly came alive when I logged off. Is it illegal to steal bandwidth; if I go to prison for this is it a crime I can be proud of or will my cell mate “Bubba” think less of me.
One last thing, whenever I leave, everyone feels a need to take me for a good-bye dinner. There are lots of pledges of support, cries of missing you, hugs, etc. The first time I left, I even got cute little hand-written messages and gifts. The second time, there were no messages, fewer hugs, but still free dinner. I’m not sure how deep is this well of good-byes and how often one can go to it. I suspect we are getting close to the end. As always, because I was going to Jerusalem, I promised everyone that I would pray for them, but after awhile, even that gets old. I mean, face it, God (or if you prefer the goddess) does not really listen to me, as was obvious when UCLA, the team I prayed for, lost the national championship.

For Harry Potter fans, this is the exciting view at the King's Cross Station where one can board the Hogwart's Express. I took this picture on my layover in London and apparently some kids have thrown themselves at this wall trying to get on the train.

Two views of the huge apartment complex facing my friend Vardit's house in Jerusalem. On the top is the view when I left Jerusalem in the fall, on the bottom the view today. I present this picture to refute the believe that Jerusalem is a timeless city in which nothing changes.