Glad to hear everyone's travels are going so well. Karen your entryway is gorgeous. Are you in the same place now? That's quite a space to have available. You can do a lot with it.
With all the snow we have everyone's holiday lights and decorations are all the more lovely up here.
Once again Richard, you've made the most of your travels. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Hi. Got back this morning at 6:30. I'm too tired to write much now, but I've been enjoying reading what all of you have written--and seeing the picture, too! Richard, my 15-hour flight seems like nothing compared to all your flights. I didn't have any stopovers this time. I prefer the direct flight. I hate the airport part of flying, but I like reading on planes.

some years ago, i said that i wanted to take mignon home with me. do y'all see why now? what a great dog! that is the closest any of us will come to looking into the face of a divine being. karen, the pic is fabulous and decorations are even more so. it is okay to not be having that same feeling at the moment. my experience is that when you come to this kind of place, it makes you first collapse in disgust and then move your ass forward toward new feelings of hope. that could just be me. maybe it makes other people do something different. hope is also good.

hi, bloggettes. the number who are sitting close to the campfire is dwindling, but the warmth of the flames and yarns being told remains quite warm. well i have a story to tell. have you ever had a really annoying experience at the grocery store where are checking out and your store clerk seems like they are in a different world? i think that is as close as you can come in everyday life to my recent time in airports, where i completed seven flights (not counting connecting flights during the last ten days) with little help from support staff. that is not the story that i am going to tell. . . . nine days ago, it was midnight. i laid down and fell asleep in the usual way. it was relaxing as i wish all things would be. it was just a natural kind of letting go. three and a half hours later the alarm goes off, my wake up call rings twice, i pull myself out of bed and i am into the shower, then i am on a shuttle bus, and then i am onto a plane. some hours later, i am near the rockies. biz goes fine and then the real story begins. i have a great date for lunch. no names, just the facts. she forgets her cell phone and mine is about dead. i have a voicemail from a cellphone that she borrowed and i am able to listen to it before mine gives up the ghost. now i know where to find her and i have already been wandering for some time. i am counting every minute cuz i don't have that many and i am psyched to see her. we find each other and, as expected, she still fits in her pants from high school (for the record, she left the bell bottoms at home). that is not a big issue with me- just the facts. the really special thing is that i was able to see just how great she is in so many ways during the next few hours. as classmates, i feel that we all have a way to let each other feel a sense of being at home as we interact and i really value that. in this particular case, we had never talked much or known each other very well. that was not much of a surprise to me and it sure was nice to talk now. we were in a great town. lots to see in its buildings and the sun shines quite bright there. we went to a very special teahouse for lunch. beautiful wood poles support a brightly colored ceiling of tile. all the tile patterns seem different and i have pictures to prove it. we made a plan on how to attack lunch- get strange things and share. the food was good and the main course was just being able to talk. it was perfect. how great is it when you can see so easily what a classmate has been up to for so many years? i know how alive and smart she used to be and i heard about the in-betweens. she is on fire now. she is smart, dedicated, passionate in the best possible way, and following something that feels so right to her. pretty sweet that i could have lunch with her, wouldn't you say? time went by too quickly, but, then again, we talked about so much. i have been told there is a special chance to grow if you can find people from the past, spend time with them, and remember what it is that made being with them so great. she and i had never really had that peice in the past, so this was extra special. i got to see what i missed and appreciate it now at a time when i can appreciate what it is all about. dinner in atlanta with karen and rich was like that and visits with lori have been like that, too. all are bright and special moments that are not lost in the smallest way upon me. thanks, thanks, thanks.

We only got 5-6 inches of snow here in P.I. but areas around us were really hammered. Dave had 15 in Bangor. It was a nice day off. I had the chance to do some decorating and relaxing. It was nice. I had dinner over at the home of some friends last night. It was good to get to get out. I have trouble going out at night. I get easily settled in here at home and I'm not crazy about going back out. We're having friends over to share a big pot of chili on Sat. I'm glad there will be someone here to see my decorations. The boys have never really cared too much and I like to show off my efforts. I'd just hope they (Kevin and Colin) are able to get time off to come home.
Christmas Day is a given but the restaurant is open Christmas evening I think and the store is open for sure the 26th. It's 4.5 hours to drive in good weather if they have to make a day trip of it. I've never been without them for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I don't want that to happen. I'm having a lot of empty nesting issues!!

All the snow and cold is making me COLD, too! lol.....Shoveling is such a treat....we had about 9 inches here in Springfield. Monday was a snowday for us. I didn't get as much done as I thought I would, kept getting sidetracked doing something else! Never ending. Kids could not go out for recess at noon today because the windchill was too low. Personally, I think 15 minutes of fresh air wouldn't have hurt them but you know you can't have those few children whos parents don't dress them appropiately go outside. They would be the first ones to be upset if their child was cold! Karen, you'll just have to invest in some new long underwear so your little body won't freeze! Think warm and happy thoughts...................

By 6 PM last evening school had been closed for today. High winds and continued snow make the roads very dangerous. Much less snow than was predicted though has actually landed. Fine by me. So today I'm going to work out for a while, and do some more Christmas decorating.

I had lovely fire in the fireplace last night but somehow it was anti climatic. Oh well.

I'd be thrilled to receive a copy Lori! I was telling a colleague of mine about you and your poems, we had an interesting talk about interpretations and reactions. Particularly how reading the same piece on a different day can give an entirely new meaning to that piece.

Sounds like you had a great experience again on this trip. I'm glad for you. Travel safely. I'm off to school.

Hi everyone. I have a few more days here in Israel. I leave Wednesday night and get back to L.A. on Thursday. I'm still running around from place to place to see family and friends as much as possible. No snow days here, but the high school teachers and some university teachers have been on strike for more than 40 days, which means the kids are home getting bored. Still no end in sight to the strike. Two of my sister's kids are affected by the strike. I hope they don't have to make up the semester in the summer.

Patti, I can mail you a copy of the book if you want. The reading went pretty well. They were a nice group of women (and one man) who seemed to like the poems and asked quite a few questions afterwards. My friend had the table set up nice with cheese and bread and wine, etc. My sister Katie came, too, and read a few of her Hebrew translations of my poems. I'm glad I did it.

Kathi, say hi from me to the Springfield gang next time you see them.