I didn’t do anything for Ayyam-i-Ha last year…I am pretty sure I spent the Intercalary Days cleaning my house and reading. This year has been vastly different. On the first day, Tuesday, I spent the evening at my friend’s house…
Music in department stores is the same, no matter where in the world you are. As I wandered the one department store at one of the malls in Haifa last night with a friend, I realized that the piped-in music…
A Saturday unplanned became a Saturday of relaxation and time with friends. I went next door for brunch, and six lovely ladies and I cooked and ate a large meal…eggs, bacon, pancakes, potatoes, coffee, tea…yum. Then I hopped on a…
March 31 of this year will be 7 years that I have been blogging. Actually, a little longer, because for a while I had the rudimentary beginnings of a blog on my personal web site in 2000. I’ve seen some…
everything changed and is the same we left behind our shattered selves and started fresh but the stains and stars are trailing after. we can’t remember everyone that we know and I’ll come back to the same place where everything…
It was time. My old design was buckling under the weight of plug-ins, time, and over-use. I decided about a month ago that I needed something new for my blog. I treat it so badly sometimes. 🙂 It was like…
The last week has been full of technological misadventures. I don’t know what is going on in the universe…but really, I could use some help! *sigh* – I bought a memory card for my camera on Wednesday. After taking several…
4 months until I leave Haifa, Israel and go back to the United States. My departure date is June 7. 11 weeks until the event that I came here to work on occurs. 3 weeks until Ayyam-i-Ha. 19 Saturdays until…
sometimes I wish you could see me my subtle moments, my tired eyes, my smiles and my gestures. my million ways of laughing and the way I wash dishes, the way I stare up at the stars and off into…
I wore these earrings today, which I bought a year ago: They’re metal and quite heavy. I walked over to a table at lunch where several of my friends were sitting. The guys immediately noticed the earrings and starting discussing…
we felt the silence, in the way a child knows to be quiet when the room hushes suddenly. it wasn’t heavy…it lifted the heart, and around we went our shoes in varied sounds and rhythms. the city moved on, in…
Handwritten letters Outtakes at the end of movies Emails from my little sister Sing-alongs Laughing and not being able to stop Saturday morning brunches Hearing from you (I Like: #1,#2,#3, #4, #5)
Today I noticed that we have 99 days until a Very Important Event (I should have noticed 100, but it has been a little busy around here!). Last night I spent time with people I usually don’t see very often, and it was…
Sweet little lady, bare feet in the summer grass. Her eyes closed, face up to the sky, there is forever stretched around her. Perfect, perfect, and her heart just stops just one moment as she breathes in the universe…as the…
This morning was a little ridiculous. Lucia came over to eat breakfast with me before the Celebration of the Birth of the Bab (we’re on a lunar calendar for some Holy Days here). In the span of 20 minutes, I…
There were boxes of old books in the parking garage today, marked “FREE!”, with that musty smell and slick dust feeling. We dug through them, hugging the discoveries to our chests. The tip of my nose starting twitching, the usual…
My heart is in a wistful mood, my tiny little sorrows shake the dust from my soul. My laughter has strong intention behind it. Music with piano and soft whispered tones reaches inside me, perhaps in 43,200 minutes words will…
One year ago I had just arrived in the Holy Land to start 18 months of service. One year ago today I stood at the top of the mountain and watched fireworks. I have attended several weddings of dear friends,…
The last “Books” post was in July…and I have read a few books since then. 🙂 I am pretty sure that I’ve forgotten a few. Read: Freakonomics by Steven Levitt, Stephen J Dubner Tablets of the Divine Plan: revealed by…
Baha’i weddings are so unique…each couple’s style comes through in the ceremony. Two of my very dear friends got married this weekend, and I have to say it was one of the best weddings I’ve been to. There was the…
I miss watching Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes with my dad. My mother used to encourage us to set traps and build fortresses in the basement on cold Chicago days…or any other day. 1/3 of the times I climbed…
Every day. Crossing a street to sanctuary. Counting worn pebbles through thin soles of shoes. Trying not to step on snails (I have a horror of that crunch). Smiling in a general way, and then specifically. Spending nights staring at…
I feel like…there is a soundtrack to my walk these days, a sort of thump-boom-crash; walking with 3 inch heels and narrowed eyes. Dance in every movement. At yet, at the same time, I fade into wallflower silence, my secret…
there were little pieces of the remnants of my heart on the sidewalk last night mixed in with the fallen leaves and snails and we walked over unknowingly with laughter and slight sighs the closer to feeling, the more we…
As of December 8th (tomorrow), I will have been in Haifa, Israel for one year. I keep writing little pieces of some kind of summary, but my words have been failing for a while now. I know I’ve changed, and…
the door was open, and with the reflections of clouds I could see down the dark paths a fleeting glimpse of light from the sky and the rolling roar crashes to push my feet stumbling away from… toward home, the…
My last post regarding science and religion was touched on very lightly, so I thought I’d explain a bit of where I am coming from. The following excerpts explain much better than I ever could. “Among the ancient philosophers the infallible…
I read an article today alerting me to a slightly disturbing facet of Facebook’s new marketing campaign: your online purchases at external sites are being shared with your friends on Facebook. Not only would you possibly be endorsing products (and not getting…
I am frustrated. There used to be Baha’i songs, prayers, I was learning a new song every week in Chicago and there were people with rhythm around me. With no effort a voice would be raised in praise. Today someone…
It completely slipped my mind to write a blog post about this when it happened… A few weeks ago my flatmates and I were having a quiet evening at home, I was chatting with my dad on the phone. Suddenly…