quick update

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This has been a busy/stressful couple weeks. At the same time, it has had its nice moments.

Last week my fiancee's grandmother passed away. She was a wonderful woman who I will always remember with love and fondness. She was always lovely to me, from our very first meeting at her great-grandson's birthday party. It was tremendously difficult to be in Jerusalem, knowing that I could not be with my love and her family in such a difficult time.
I think that may have been one of the triggers for some of my actions this week, going on an extra field trip with the Masorti Movement, visiting different parts of the country. Since I could not be where I wanted to be in America, I wanted to offer my support here, to those that needed it.

Thursday was a trip to Tel Aviv, seeing Van Gogh's impact upon artists here. If you click the link, it gets you to an article about the exhibit. The photo that is attached is a photo of Reuven Rubin's painting of Van Gogh's chair, with the tour guide holding up Van Gogh's chair. Rubin transformed the scene by bringing the chair to Tel Aviv, flipping it so it would read right to left, putting a window to a Tel Aviv street scene, and adding flowers to bring your focus out the window (at least according to my reading). You can decide for yourself. He added more color and life, while copying Van Gogh's brush stroke style.

Today was and will be a good day. I went to the nursing home, read through the entire parsha with one resident, met a 101 year old woman from New Zealand (so I actually could communicate with her), sang some Shabbat songs and had an overall nice time. I didn't sing on 2 of the floors this time, choosing instead to talk with individuals there. (I didn't really want to shut off a tv of pretty music to replace it with my voice, no matter if my voice teacher says it is a decent one!) This afternoon I went swimming and tried to swim very slowly. (I haven't gone in far too long, since my health has been up and down lately.) I managed to swim 1000m, which is a decent amount. It's far more than I've otherwise done recently. It also doesn't make my feet sore.

Anyway, time for Shabbat, so must conclude. Shabbat Shalom!