All Quiet on the Western Front
Sitting around the living room now by myself it is hard to imagine this is the same place was a hive of activity on Friday night.
To celebrate my birthday, Mrs Coil had invited eight people to dinner and then made a special dessert to which more people would be invited. The dinner took on a life of its own and by the time the table was set we were setting 16 places!
By the time I got home on Friday afternoon from cricket the kitchen was a hive of activity. As we got hammered and finished quite early I was able to get home at a reasonable hour and help out. Washed up everything in the sink, washed the floors and brought up the extra chairs from downstairs.
The meal was great with Mrs Coil having cooked up a storm. It was also good as we finally got round to inviting a bunch of people we had been meaning to for some time. We ate quickly, benched, put away the tables and then had dessert where a few more people dropped by.
Said it around the table but I will say it again. For all of us who say goodbye to our homes, families and friends to come to Israel we leave behind our support network. We are lucky to have such a good group of friends who build a new one. We are there for each other like they are there for us. I guess being in the same boat creates that sense of empathy. You can get away with this in Katamon but our circle of friends is pretty much exclusively Anglo (American, English, Australian, Canadian,et al).
One thing I am doing more of in Israel since I made Aliyah is reading. I currently am in the midst of reading three books. Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes is my book on the bus from home to work and back. Tom Wolfe's I am Charllotte Simmons is my Shabbas book and Leon Uris' Mila 18 is my book for when I am in bed. I was lying in bed in the afternoon and wasn't sure if it being Shabbas overruled being in bed but Mila 18 was right next to me and Charlotte meant getting out of bed so Mila 18 prevailed and I duly read the 150 pages which were left.
Those people in the Ghetto were simply incredible and carried on despite it all. They didn't have anything other than hope. Not the hope they would live but the hope they would survive, get to Zion and start building a Jewish State. As much as we complain, moan, whinge and bitch about Israel we are guilty of taking alot of it for granted.
PS: I am interested in starting up a book club. If anyone wants to be part of it drop me a line.
To celebrate my birthday, Mrs Coil had invited eight people to dinner and then made a special dessert to which more people would be invited. The dinner took on a life of its own and by the time the table was set we were setting 16 places!
By the time I got home on Friday afternoon from cricket the kitchen was a hive of activity. As we got hammered and finished quite early I was able to get home at a reasonable hour and help out. Washed up everything in the sink, washed the floors and brought up the extra chairs from downstairs.
The meal was great with Mrs Coil having cooked up a storm. It was also good as we finally got round to inviting a bunch of people we had been meaning to for some time. We ate quickly, benched, put away the tables and then had dessert where a few more people dropped by.
Said it around the table but I will say it again. For all of us who say goodbye to our homes, families and friends to come to Israel we leave behind our support network. We are lucky to have such a good group of friends who build a new one. We are there for each other like they are there for us. I guess being in the same boat creates that sense of empathy. You can get away with this in Katamon but our circle of friends is pretty much exclusively Anglo (American, English, Australian, Canadian,et al).
One thing I am doing more of in Israel since I made Aliyah is reading. I currently am in the midst of reading three books. Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes is my book on the bus from home to work and back. Tom Wolfe's I am Charllotte Simmons is my Shabbas book and Leon Uris' Mila 18 is my book for when I am in bed. I was lying in bed in the afternoon and wasn't sure if it being Shabbas overruled being in bed but Mila 18 was right next to me and Charlotte meant getting out of bed so Mila 18 prevailed and I duly read the 150 pages which were left.
Those people in the Ghetto were simply incredible and carried on despite it all. They didn't have anything other than hope. Not the hope they would live but the hope they would survive, get to Zion and start building a Jewish State. As much as we complain, moan, whinge and bitch about Israel we are guilty of taking alot of it for granted.
PS: I am interested in starting up a book club. If anyone wants to be part of it drop me a line.
posted by Dot Co Dot Il at 9:12 AM
7 Comments:
wish i had more time to reaad novels. I started "By the Rivers of babylon" over the last day of Pessach and I still have 80 pages left. I only get a chance to read over shabbat and usually fall asleep. I can't imagine reading 150 pages in bed over shabbat.
Nice seeing you the other night and Happy birthday!!!!
J.
1- You guys know each other???
2-Please continue to clean up AFTER you have the ba-ba!
3- I loooooved Mila 18, it reminds me how spoiled I am and how people had to delve into their being just for the stregnth to survive.
4- I'd love to be part of a book club!!!!
happy birthday!!
bookclub is a good idea!
JCop- nice meeting you too :)
Kasamba - We met at Chaveleh's blog party. How will you join - aren't you in the Old Dart?
Sarah - Thanks :)
old dart?
guess kasamba wants to discuss books on-line, why not? it is the 21st century.
J.
also thought you may have meant online bookclub. or you could just post up the recommendations of a real-life bookclub. either way, i'm always looking for new authors.
Happy birthday! Sorry I couldn't be there.
Hmm...on-line book club? Not a bad idea!
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