Holy falafel, Batman

I need to stop using "holy" in my speech when referring to any other than God. It is a careless word that I will have to give account for in The Day. Three days in Greece: Athens, Corinth, and a day on the Aegean shore (if they call it that). Athens is dead in my opinion. Corinth was like Ephesus: far from new testament vibrancy. [The demise of 'great' civilizations that foreshadows America's decline? I am a pessimist when it comes to my country, 'tis not of thee I sing. There was an Australian man who sang a song about America at Times Square Church. He has the faith I don't.] Beach day with new friends Jasmine, Ayana, and Dan was a wonderful change of pace. One location reached by crowded city bus. Stayed put for four hours except for the twenty foot walk to the water from our towels. I have described the quality of the water as opalescent. Beautiful. And the gentle consistent waves provided a lullaby for our sightseeing-weary bodies.

Israel is shockingly similar in topography to eastern Washington. Much more humid but from the air-conditioned coach I snapped many shots of vistas that I hope to juxtapose with my Badger Mountain photos. Just as a fun exercise. I don't need to see another Roman city excavation my entire life. And it turns out (if I had researched just a smidgen I would have known this a long time ago) that my favorite cities Sychar (Sechem) and Bethany are both in the west bank Palestinian Authority controlled part of Israel. I guess I could try to go if I ever return on my own. You see, I was part of a big tour group so my itinerary was en masse. I love Jerusalem. Beautiful weather and history and people and hills. I definitely want to go back.

This is pretty alinear because I am jet lagged and killing time til it's an acceptable hour to be awake. Another proof of my irregular mood is that I have not said a word about food save for the title. :) More later.

More insomnia

Iced tea? Oy vey. Thank you to Esther and her family for a lovely day; no one made me drink the tea at dinner nor the one I got at Yokes before dinner. So it's three in the morning. I spent the last hour listening to John Stone's sermon from back in May. One of the things that I've come to see that I trust in are my connections. When just a few people don't respond to me within the time I want, I am nervous--which on the feelings chart is a lesser degree of fear. Again: oy vey.

Some fantastic things (to change the subject) during this Richland visit:
- spontaneous hug from my niece! The first one from her in the nearly six years of her life. After an afternoon of pretend school (and let me tell you pretend school is awesome: free play time alternating with snacks and naps), I was leaving the house and commented: that was fun! And she, who will not voluntarily say hi and who has never called my name to get my attention, turned and gave me a big enthusiastic hug. I teared up.
- on a hot walk from Howard Amon park, I happen to be in swim gear because I had been accompanying my neices in the wading pool, I took a cooling dip in the Columbia River at Leslie Groves. Love it. Though I was too vain to wear my dad's large-billed golf hat, apparently walking home looking like I lost bladder control in my jeans was tolerable.
- sunset with clouds
- full moon emerging from clouds