More days in Texas

Monday was a day for me to have some fee time.  Armand, Roger and I played golf early and did poorly as usual.  It was a hot humid but not breezy day.  This meant that there were plenty of mosquitoes around the course.  We covered ourselves with repellent and were fine until hole 7 when it a light rain began.  Things became muddy and the rain washed the repellent off.  We had 2 inches of mud on the wheels of our pull carts and plenty of mosquito action.  In short it was an unappealing experience.  We had a beer when we got home, and I took a shower.  We called Rosalie to sing happy birthday to her and watched TV. 

Tuesday Armand and I planned to play golf again at 1.  Roger came by and had to go earlier because he had to be back by 2.  Armand and I went to the course and began play at 12:30.  It was hot, humid and very breezy.  This meant that the mosquitoes were kept away from us.  I don’t know where they go but blew away to somewhere.  We played worse than yesterday despite the lack of mud.  As we were leaving Roger came asking for a ride home because he had accidently locked his keys in his car.  We brought him home, and I showered.  I also noted that there was a happy hour dance featuring Diego at the park next door.  We quickly dressed and went to enjoy his music.  We were home by 6, ate leftovers for supper and went to the CVS for some cosmetics for Evelyn.  It is amazing how expensive that stuff is.  We did have some coupons making the price more amenable.  We went to bed early.  I have noticed how much older I feel since our return from Israel.  I hope I recover soon.

Wednesday we went to the square dance at 10.  We are not much better than when we arrived in the Valley this fall because we have not been regular in our attendance.  The silver sneaker exercises cut into the time to dance.  The strange thing is that some of the people who have danced for years have some real problems similar to ours.  There is a woman who lives in the park where we dance that has been unable to dance this year.  She has something similar to fibromyalgia, so we went to visit her after the dance.  She and her husband are very devout Christians, and it was a blessing to us as much as to her.  We went to the post office for some post card stamps we want to use to mail some cards we bought in Israel.  We waited until we got home because our experience is that we usually beat the cards back to the states anyway.  We came home for lunch, went to the Lenten service at the WELS church at 3 and returned to a farewell party for Schwinghammers.  They are moving to another park.  We tried to make good friends of them for 3 years but his unreliability and avoiding keeping his word made me give up trying.  We tried to be Christian in our behavior and wished them well on their new venture.  We came home and Evelyn went to a Bible study with some of the ladies she has been studying with for more than 5 years.  I watched the final Purdue home basketball game of the season.  They will play more but not at home.  I spent some time writing this and watching some TV.  We have a very busy day planned for tomorrow and the rest of the week, but it felt good to have a couple of days to relax.

Some big days

Friday was back to the hospital.  Evelyn had exercised again while worked on the washing machine.  I gave it several spray coats of white Rustoleum.  We were busy most of the afternoon at the information desk while Evelyn stuffed bags for the hospital display for the Stock Show.  We left early so Evelyn could rest before going to the barbecue and beer bash given to the volunteer workers for the Stock Show.  It was great as usual and we went home to get some rest for tomorrow’s big day.

The big day turned out to be leisurely.  We had planned to go to Mexico to meet the student we sponsor in the Mexican Refuge project.  It was cold and rainy, causing Evelyn to not be interested in going.  For some reason rain causes a thin film of mud to coat the streets, making it difficult to do anything but shuffle along.  All of this cause her to be uninterested in going.  We sent some of the clothing items with another couple and stayed home.  John and Sue came to help me set up a sound system that allows me to hear the TV through some earphones.  This helps Evelyn to avoid excessive noises.  They stayed for lunch and then dominoes until Sue got so sleepy that she had to go home for a nap.  We welcomed the opportunity to take one ourselves.  We rested until time to go to our concert series.  We had Joe and Bonny’s tickets and gave them to a couple of widows.  One of them drove the 6 of us to a restaurant in McAllen called El Pastor.  It had moved from Reynosa, Mexico a couple of years ago because of threats from the drug cartel.  It was a wonderful restaurant and we used a coupon to pay for ourselves and the driver.  The concert, “American Spirit” was one of the best we have ever attended in all of the years we have been attending.  None of the ladies offered to pay for the tickets from Joe and Bonny.  They never really expect to be paid, but I like to give them the money anyway.  We were home late, but I wanted to watch the Purdue/Michigan basketball game I had DVRed earlier this evening.  Purdue won handily.

Sunday was a joyous return to preaching.  I began a series based on the beatitudes of Jesus.  I am excited about the series to come.  I have used it before but think it was very good and worth giving again.  We also were blessed with Holy Communion.  I didn’t say much about our trip to Israel but a few people did want to talk after worship.  We went to lunch at Denny’s with many others from our park that are here from east of the state of Illinois.  We enjoyed the lunch but really don’t have much in common with most of the people.  We have become so estranged from the activities in the park that we don’t know much about anyone any more.  Of course, they don’t know us either.  We spent the afternoon watching a strange movie based on a character in “The Catcher in the Rye”, but I couldn’t make much of the connection.  I worked on tweaking the sermon for next week, “Blessed on those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Ii made plans to play golf with Armand because they will returning to Canada next week and won’t play after this week.  We will miss them as neighbors.  We stayed at home all evening getting ready for next week.  We are going to try to do something for someone special each day during this Lenten season.

Still tired

Monday was back to somewhat usual.  We exercised, ate lunch and took a nap.  We didn’t do much in the evening but start on Sunday’s message.  Tuesday was Bible class.  I went after I took items to recycle.  Evelyn decided to invite Don and Donna to dinner.  We took another nap after Evelyn constructed a chicken casserole.  They came and we showed our pictures on the computer.  We enjoyed the reminiscence of our trips. (They had gone last year.)  We went to bed early after they left as we have since our return.  Our day Wednesday began with exercise again.  We spent the day at home and decided to call Janice to invite them for hors doerves before going with them to dinner.  They had invited us last week, but when I called, she said they had to cancel.  It would have been nice for her to have called us.  Don had to begin planting before the rain starts.  As a result we just ate at home and went to DQ for a blizzard of the month.  It was disappointing.  Evelyn has been waking during the night but going to bed early has kept her moving.  Thursday she went to yoga at the park while I tried to make sure I had a DVD player available for my DSP class.  The old one has been stolen—again.  The park has bought a new one.  I also went alone for some breakfast taco at Pimientos.  I really miss having them during the winter.  I returned and we began working on stripping the bubbled paint on the washing machine.  It is now ready to be spray painted with Rustoleum.  We napped again and then went with John and Sue to the Mustang Lounge.  We had intended to go to the Horseman but learned that they were dancing outside.  It was too hot for us to do that, so we went indoors.  We have a good time dancing with John and Sue.  We were home by 6 and had a small pita pocket sandwich and a piece of cake before Evelyn had to leave for the LWML meeting.  She had been assigned to lead the topic of the night.  She spoke a bit about our trip to the Holy Land. 

Down in the Valley

Sunday we wakened and went to worship with Jones at the AFV church.  The message was “Jesus Christ is Lord” and was inspirational but mostly directed toward the Law.  We went to the officer’s club at Lackland AFB for brunch before returning to change clothes, packing everything into the car, and driving to the Valley.  We had a very smooth trip and arrived around 5:30 to s 70 degree evening.  We unpacked, started several loads of laundry and enjoyed some popcorn.  There had been 4 people living here while we were gone, and the beds were remade plus a small house gift had been left.  We had also received 10 voicemails and returned them.  We also called the girls but got only Stacy.  We had to leave our own messages for the others.  We went to bed shortly after 9.  It felt really go to be at home. 

I don’t think I mentioned the severity of my illness while in Israel.  I had begun to feel somewhat bloated around Monday and by Wednesday I had shifted to diarrhea.  This is especially inconvenient while traveling on a bus with 40 others.  As a blessing, however, I had no attacks while on the bus.  In the hotel was a different story.  I was in the elevator headed to the 5th floor when the sharp cramps began.  I couldn’t go up or down fast enough and didn’t make the stool in our room in time.  What a mess!  If you have worked with babies, you may have a minor idea of what things were like for me.  I had a couple more situations but nothing like this one.  Unfortunately, we had no changing table nor a giant nurse for me to look up at and grin.  I was finally able to clean things up but lost some clothing that had to be discarded.  The real blessing was that there was no recurrence of the event while we were 16 hours in the air.  God is good, all the time. 

If anyone has read the previous entries, he or she will notice duplicate postings and various errors.  I have tried to edit the posts but can’t get it done.  If you can tell me how, please leave a comment.

We want to thank God for the friends we travelled with and stayed with in San Antonio.  He has no real inclination toward things Spiritual but she was raised Catholic and is sensitive to them.  Regardless, they are both the most gracious people one could be blessed with as friends.  We would have never been able to experience South America or Israel without them.  They are 10 years younger, and I always joke that they have adopted us as their grandparents because they are willing to tolerate our slowness and lack of energy.  We try to reciprocate but are not very successful. 

Back in the good ol’ USA

We were up even earlier Friday to finish packing, eat breakfast and catch our ride to the airport. We checked in at 11 to learn that the flight was delayed an hour. That never means much unless the traveler has a connection to make on the other end. We had one for 2 1/2 hours in Newark. Now we had 1 1/2 . That too is not important unless the gate of departure is far from the arrival. Throw in intense security and things can get tight. The Israeli security profiles the passengers and things went smoothly and effortlessly with us. I never had any questions about the plane’s being damaged by a passenger that had gone through Israeli security. The first leg of our flight was 12 hours. We were always in the daylight because we were flying east to west. We were surprised that we were served 4 meals during that 12 hours. We were able to sleep a bit but mostly watched movies again. We arrived in Newark but had to hit the ground running. We made the gate (which had been changed) about the time the boarding began. The time was 6:35 but the flight was again delayed about half an hour. This made our arrival in San Antonio after 11. We drove home in a pretty heavy rain and stopped for an ice cream sundae. It was after 1 when we went to bed.

Evelyn has reminded me of something we had learned in Israel. There are many sects but the most unusual is the druse group. They don’t believe in violence and are rejected by all other Muslim groups. They are pure Syrian and refuse to accept anyone who is not. No mixed marriages are allowed therefore excluding all offspring.

Last morning in Israel

We were up early again Friday morning ready for our final tour of Tel Aviv and Jaffa in the daylight. I had forgotten our camera last night but saw the same things but not at night. We drove back to Jaffa and walked to the top of a hill overlooking the city and the Mediterranean. It was windy again and had rained during the night. I guess it is always windy on the seashores. The stone streets are always rough but quaint to walk on. Someone had designed an olive tree to grow out of a fake olive seed that was an amusement but representative as to the importance of olives in the country. The sea was choppy because of several fronts bringing rain during the day and night. The only memorable feature was a squared off arch commemorate several OT events like the ram caught in the thicket provided to replace the sacrifice of Isaac. There was another Catholic church and sculptings in a fountain area. The harbor showed that the Sea was used for yachting recreation. We finished touring an area featuring Bauhaus style architecture used as some of the wealthy homeowner’s living quarters. These are some of the only homes privately owned. We walked to a small bakery/coffee shop where the rain began in earnest cutting our tour short. Evelyn wanted to touch the Mediterranean Sea so we walked to the beach near our hotel after we had napped. We struggled to get through the graded portions of the beach so we could touch the water. We returned to the hotel and checked out the free for guests bicycles. We rode them around near the beach. I struggled mightily, having been weakened by my diarrhea. Evelyn did much better going up the hills. We had a terrible time mastering the balance of the bikes but finally caught on. We rode along the board walk when one of the breakers sprayed me quite well. The Mediterranean had touched me. We returned to the hotel for the night even before dark. Our travelling companions went out for a light dinner without us.

Nazareth and goodbye gathering

Wednesday we drove past a United Nations compound between Jordan and Israel. We drove on past Mt. Hermon which was snow covered. That was where Moses experienced the burning bush. We continued to the Church of the Annunciation where Mary received her commission to give birth to the Savior. As we walked we saw a warning from Islam Qu’ran revealing that unbelief will result in our being “losers” in the end times. The church is now Catholic and is really a monument to Maryolatry displaying life sized mosaics of her in the cultural styles of various countries. The one from China had Chinese features, the Mexican in Mexican, etc. The US contribution was in a 3D metal sculpture and was ugly. Of course the church was in Nazareth where she lived. The old city was excavated under the church. We drove through some beautiful country because this area gets rain. We saw a beautiful tiered garden before coming to Hiafa for lunch. The guide called ahead so the restaurant had our lunch ready. We had a schawarma. Ours was chicken in a pita pocket. I was not eating much because I was still weak and exhausted but improving. We drove to Caesarea and saw another aqueduct built by King Herod the Great. He was a very busy builder of palaces in various places throughout the nation. This one was a port to rival Alexandria. We toured the ruins of this palace. Paul refused to be tried in this city, preferring to be sentenced in Rome. A historic site was the amphitheater where many Jews were fed to the lions and where the only known reference to Pontius Pilate was discovered on a stone inscribed with his name. There was also a large outdoor swimming pool at the ocean’s edge. We continued to our hotel in Tel Aviv. We were interested in going to bed but had registered for a tour of the city by night including a dinner. The guide took us to Jaffa, the original site of Tel Aviv, to see the modern city at night. I had forgotten the camera but the sight was impressive of this beautiful gem on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. As we drove, Anet’s husband and son joined us on the bus as we went to dinner. It was our farewell dinner and in a beautiful seaside restaurant named London. We had many servings of appetizers before getting our entrée’. The windows were closed because it was cold on this winter night. The room was heated by salamanders on posts. We had choices including kabobs or salmon which we chose. The dinner was elegant, and we all parted company in good spirits. We had to return to the hotel because we weren’t finished yet!

Mount of Olives

Monday we traveled to The Mount of Olives. This area is controlled by the Arabs but is open to Christians and Jews. This is so they can sell items. We bought a map of the area for $1 even though the price is $2. This is above the large Jewish graveyards where many Jews will be taken to Heaven. The Kidron valley is between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. Messiah will enter through the Golden gate, so the Muslims have made a cemetery in front of the gate. We continued Beit She’an, the city where Saul and Jonathon were decapitated and hung on the city wall. This city was in one of the main travel routes and served as a warning to travelers as to how strong the people of this area were. I believe they were Philistines. The ancient city has been excavated and the ruins were quite impressive. They were only found because the one unbroken pillar was sticking partly out of the ground. All the other pillars had been broken in an earthquake hundreds of years ago. Once again there were many bath houses because the Romans loved the baths. There are many models of what the city looked like centuries ago. That is really a help in understanding what things looked like. For example, there are no remaining roofs but had to be there. A special treat was to find a special place for baptisms and an amphitheater for athletic contests. We found 2 special places: the Roman bathroom and the vomitorium. The Romans loved to eat and had to vomit so they could continue. There was also an amphitheater where music was performed. One of our group sang Old Man River. And on the way out I thought I should have sung the 3^rd verse of It is Well with My Soul. We found a picnic table and ate the lunches we had brought from breakfast before continuing to The Jordan River. There were many people from foreign countries, especially Orientals and Latinos. It was thrilling to see so many receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit on their souls. We drove around the Sea of Galilee that is used for recreation to the town of Capernaum, Jesus’ home town. We looked at the reconstruction of the Synagogue where Jesus taught. We drove on to Tiberius where we spent the next 2 nights.

Shopping and a kibbutz

Tuesday, we left early for a small village named Safed. It had a very spiritual rabbi years ago who attracted several others to come to live there. It is at a very high elevation and has 5 spellings of the same name. We were there too early for many places to be open. Our tour guide was very good about making things happen, so we did visit a shop featuring metal sculptings. We left there and walked to the original Synagogue named in memory of Rabbi Yosef Caro Yeshiva. It is the home for the mystical Kabbala. After looking around, I was approached by the curator who sold me 2 Jewish “good luck” pieces that they put on their door jams to remember God’s protecting them when He told them to smear the blood of the lamb over their door jams. They are also used to hold a scripture verse. Our hotels had them on each room to protect against fire. I have to admire the Jewish faith to do things like this despite the imminent danger of attacks from every neighboring country they have. Evelyn and I found some art work we liked and bought some to have shipped back to the U.S. We drove on to the kibbutz Gadot nearby. A kibbutz is an area where people live together in a communal society. Everything is shared and everyone works normally in an agricultural job. There was, however, a factory that makes heavy plastic boxes used to hold milk jugs, etc. in the US and other places. They also make repair parts for John Deere in the US. We were given a very nice tour, first in our bus and then on foot, by a kindly old man who had moved there over 50 years ago from Reno, Nevada. He had many things both good and bad about life in the kibbutz and was very entertaining and gracious. The kibbutz had a swimming pool, athletic fields of all sports and provided individual homes for each family. It also had several underground bunkers as they have been shelled by rockets in the past and are still targets. They have a large laundry where everyone washes their own clothes. We went to the cafeteria where the people come to eat. They all pay for the food on their own. We drove on to the famous Golan Heights, a critical spot militarily. We saw many more bunkers left by the Syrians as well as mine fields they left behind. Our tour guide gave us a long lecture on the history of the place despite its being cold and windy. Then we went to 2 factories: one that made wine and one that made olive oil products. We were given wine samplings and the glasses we used. We also learned about the history of the olive factory. The owner was engaging albeit he received several phone calls interrupting his talk. Olives are used to make skin products as well as in cooking. We bought some of the spices. By this time I was beginning to feel very queasy and returned to the bus. I hadn’t eaten much at the kibbutz but suspect that something there had given me food poisoning. We went to our new hotel, unpacked and I went to bed exhausted.

Tuesday, we left early for a small village named Safed. It had a very spiritual rabbi years ago who attracted several others to come to live there. It is at a very high elevation and has 5 spellings of the same name. We were there too early for many places to be open. Our tour guide was very good about making things happen, so we did visit a shop featuring metal sculptings. We left there and walked to the original Synagogue named in memory of Rabbi Yosef Caro Yeshiva. It is the home for the mystical Kabbala. After looking around, I was approached by the curator who sold me 2 Jewish “good luck” pieces that they put on their door jams to remember God’s protecting them when He told them to smear the blood of the lamb over their door jams. They are also used to hold a scripture verse. Our hotels had them on each room to protect against fire. I have to admire the Jewish faith to do things like this despite the imminent danger of attacks from every neighboring country they have. Evelyn and I found some art work we liked and bought some to have shipped back to the U.S. We drove on to the kibbutz Gadot nearby. A kibbutz is an area where people live together in a communal society. Everything is shared and everyone works normally in an agricultural job. There was, however, a factory that makes heavy plastic boxes used to hold milk jugs, etc. in the US and other places. They also make repair parts for John Deere in the US. We were given a very nice tour, first in our bus and then on foot, by a kindly old man who had moved there over 50 years ago from Reno, Nevada. He had many things both good and bad about life in the kibbutz and was very entertaining and gracious. The kibbutz had a swimming pool, athletic fields of all sports and provided individual homes for each family. It also had several underground bunkers as they have been shelled by rockets in the past and are still targets. They have a large laundry where everyone washes their own clothes. We went to the cafeteria where the people come to eat. They all pay for the food on their own. We drove on to the famous Golan Heights, a critical spot militarily. We saw many more bunkers left by the Syrians as well as mine fields they left behind. Our tour guide gave us a long lecture on the history of the place despite its being cold and windy. Then we went to 2 factories: one that made wine and one that made olive oil products. We were given wine samplings and the glasses we used. We also learned about the history of the olive factory. The owner was engaging albeit he received several phone calls interrupting his talk. Olives are used to make skin products as well as in cooking. We bought some of the spices. By this time I was beginning to feel very queasy and returned to the bus. I hadn’t eaten much at the kibbutz but suspect that something there had given me food poisoning. We went to our new hotel, unpacked and I went to bed exhausted.v

Shopping and a kibbutz

Monday we traveled to The Mount of Olives. This area is controlled by the Arabs but is open to Christians and Jews. This is so they can sell items. We bought a map of the area for $1 even though the price is $2. This is above the large Jewish graveyards where many Jews will be taken to Heaven. The Kidron valley is between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. Messiah will enter through the Golden gate, so the Muslims have made a cemetery in front of the gate. We continued Beit She’an, the city where Saul and Jonathon were decapitated and hung on the city wall. This city was in one of the main travel routes and served as a warning to travelers as to how strong the people of this area were. I believe they were Philistines. The ancient city has been excavated and the ruins were quite impressive. They were only found because the one unbroken pillar was sticking partly out of the ground. All the other pillars had been broken in an earthquake hundreds of years ago. Once again there were many bath houses because the Romans loved the baths. There are many models of what the city looked like centuries ago. That is really a help in understanding what things looked like. For example, there are no remaining roofs but had to be there. A special treat was to find a special place for baptisms and an amphitheater for athletic contests. We found 2 special places: the Roman bathroom and the vomitorium. The Romans loved to eat and had to vomit so they could continue. There was also an amphitheater where music was performed. One of our group sang Old Man River. And on the way out I thought I should have sung the 3^rd verse of It is Well with My Soul. We found a picnic table and ate the lunches we had brought from breakfast before continuing to The Jordan River. There were many people from foreign countries, especially Orientals and Latinos. It was thrilling to see so many receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit on their souls. We drove around the Sea of Galilee that is used for recreation to the town of Capernaum, Jesus’ home town. We looked at the reconstruction of the Synagogue where Jesus taught. We drove on to Tiberius where we spent the next 2 nights.

More old Jerusalem and Dead Sea Scrolls

Sunday was a day we had hoped to find a church to worship in; however, we were scheduled to take another tour to the old city of Jerusalem. We ate breakfast, packed our lunch and boarded the bus. We began walking around seeing the pox marks where the city walls had been shot during the 1947 war for establishment of the state of Israel. The Israelis had only some Holocaust survivors and a few others from various countries as “soldiers” to fight. Through the grace of God, they did, and the UN established the state of Israel. It was small but in 1967 the country was expanded during the 6 day war. We walked through a school yard, wanting to see an ornate synagogue but couldn’t get in. We walked on through to tall pathways and learned there were families in the buildings that looked very old. It is not often we have visited historic sites that were active residences. The guide talked about menorahs on the doors of the homes and a symbol placed on the sides of the door frames to symbolize the smearing of blood during God’s passing over their houses in Egypt before the Exodus from Egypt. It is called a metusa It was cold and especially windy so we stopped in another pathway for warmth and shopping. We bought some expensive items and had one shipped home. We continued from there and toured a museum of excavation under some of the buildings. There were ancient rooms of houses from the time in which the Savior lived. There was also a cardo or main street of the city during the Byzantine era. From there to a small café for lunch, but we had left ours on the bus thinking we would return in time to eat it. Instead Evelyn bought a large meal of Kosher food that was good—at least most of it. Remember, throughout the old city, there is abundant life all around. We drove to a museum where there was a model showing the entire city of Jerusalem which made it easier to grasp the logistics. This was book outside but inside was a collection of archives of Jewish books and some original pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is called The Shrine of the Book and is displayed on a rotating platform. We saw actual pieces of the book of Isaiah written more than 3,000 years ago. We went back to the bus and drove on to the Holocaust Memorial where we spent an hour and a half reviewing the history of Jewish persecution from the time of Christ until 1948. They have always been hated as a people perhaps unjustly. Even Martin Luther had no use for them as a race. There were short videos of survivors telling of the tortures and deaths that occurred in Europe before and during WWII. Many of the graphic films of the liberation of the concentration camps were things that we have seen many times, being old enough to remember them. We went back to the hotel and began packing our suitcases for tomorrow’s trip to Tiberius, but we had only a few minutes before we went to our 3^rd tour of Jerusalem at night. It was short and ended with a prepaid meal at the “Olive and Fish” restaurant that was just a short walk from the Prima Royale Hotel where we stayed. Evelyn had a chicken dish and I had a kabob of beef and lamb balls. We enjoyed talking with some of the tour members before walking back to the hotel. I began to work on this blog but was so tired that I had to go to bed and finish it when I wakened at 2:00 AM.

Masada and the Dead Sea

We ate breakfast, made sandwiches, and left for Masada and the Dead Sea. The drive took almost 2 hours but contained many learning opportunities. We saw some Israeli mangoes, greenhouses containing vegetables, and glimpses of some animals rarely seen by anyone. We visited Masada, the center of Israeli pride for bravery and loyalty to the Jewish honor. We spent 2 hours looking at the ruins and reliving the grandeur of Herod’s castle. We left there, went to lunch and took a dip in the Dead Sea. The water was quite cool but not intolerable. As I tried to float on my back and tried to get up but rolled onto my face. It is quite difficult to right oneself in the 35% salt water that will not permit sinking. I got some salt in my eyes and a bit in my mouth. We returned to the hotel, but, on the way we stopped at a convenience store where a man was giving camel rides. Evelyn jumped at the chance and onto the camel. She loved the experience. We returned to the hotel and then went for pizza. We met Tom and LuAnn who were looking for a place to call his mother and use an internet connection. We enjoyed the meal and returned to watch a movie: The Emperor’s Club. It was quite good.

Israel Day 1

February 10

We arrived in Tel Aviv right on time. We had watched movies and slept all the way. It was 4:10 PM. We processed through security and found our receiving person who directed us to the van scheduled to take us to Jerusalem. We were all able to stay awake. We went to our rooms to unpack some things before meeting for a light snack. I slept off and on during the night, but Evelyn was awake most of the night. She was still groggy from the Ambien. We were both awake and dressing at 5 AM. We met Jones for breakfast at 7. We were somewhat surprised at the offerings. There were various types of soft cheeses and many unusual fruits such as dates. There were several types of breads, some rather tasteless cold cereals, pancakes and waffles, and some salad like offerings. We had decided to make sandwiches from the offerings. We did but the results were not like we expected. The ones with tuna salad fell apart in our sandwich bags. We had a meeting before our first tour event of visiting old Jerusalem. We viewed the old city wall and were impressed at its size and density. It was rainy, windy and in the 50s, making it very cold. The interior of the stone buildings and paths were not heated. We saw the traditional tomb site of King David, the Upper Room (recreated by the Crusaders) where Jesus ate the Last Supper and the church of the Holy Sepulcher. The church was very ornate containing remembrances of Jesus’ final hours including the Crucifixion and burial. I was blessed to pray at the foot of the site of the Cross and the spot where His Body lay. Both sites were crowded with curious people. We were also blessed to pray at the Western “wailing” wall. We placed written prayers into the cracks in the wall. We couldn’t do it together because men and women are separated at many sites in Jerusalem. The most powerful place for me was the Via Dolorosa. It is not only narrow but long and difficult. In fact the final 300 yards is uphill. We walked up steps that were difficult without a cross following a severe beating. The strength God gave our Savior on that last day was incredible. I was also blessed to go into a room that was an extension of the Western wall where more than a hundred Jews were praying. They were wearing prayer shawls, hats (everyone must wear a hat) and phylacteries. I took several pictures of them and talked with a few. Their first question to me was, “Who are you going to vote for?” That really surprised me, but they seemed to know they need the US alliance. The ones I spoke with were really anti Obama and his policies. It rained off and on all the time we were there, driving some of the devout prayers indoors. Tom and LuAnn left us around 1 to go to meet their friends who live here. We continued to Bethlehem. The Lord’s birthplace is controlled by Palestinians, forcing us to change from the Israeli bus to a Palestinian one. Our guide was a Muslim but carried on about the sites like a Christian would. He was a professional guide of 25 years experience. We first went to a restaurant for lunch. It was overpriced and not exceptional. The interior of the place was large and lovely, emphasizing the Nativity and visit by the Magi. We were driven to the oldest practicing Christian church—The Church of the Nativity. It touts the cave in which Jesus was born, the exact location where He lay, the Manger in which He lay and the location of the Magi’s visit. Of course these locations are suspicious as to their authenticity at best. The things we trusted most was that St. Jerome, who first translated the OT into many contemporary languages, is entombed there. Guide almost forced us to sing Silent Night next to the site of the Manger. We returned to the hotel just in time for Shabbat, the observance of preparation for the Sabbath. We were both still tired from the flight and took a nap, waking around 6. We ate the sandwiches we had planned for lunch and then watched some TV after getting some help from the maintenance crew. I need to get some help with the heating system tomorrow.

Day 1 of our tour

We wakened about 7:30 and went to the “mess hall” for breakfast about 8:30.  We were back home by 9:15 and greeted Tom and LuAnn who had taken their dogs to the kennel.  We made sandwiches for the day’s supper and finished our packing.  We drove Tom’s truck to the airport and parked it in long term parking.  We were shuttled to the airport where we waited from 11 until 2 when we left for Newark.  We had a very smooth flight, and I even caught an hour’s nap.  I always compliment the pilot if he has a good landing.  We went to a food court and ate our sandwiches and bought a drink.  We walked a mile from there to our waiting area.  We had to wait another 4 hours until our flight departed.  Airport living would be quite unexciting without a computer and the Internet.  We will have a meal when we are about an hour out of Newark and then plan to take a sleep aid to help us make it through the night.  We did take the opportunity to brush our teeth in the airport rest room.  That is a very great blessing compared to the one on the airplane.  I am already sleepy but may revive when we board and eat.  Hence the sleep aid.  Evelyn will definitely need one because she doesn’t sleep well even at home.  More soon.

On our way.

Monday was cold but dry.  I took Evelyn to exercise while I had a new battery installed at Auto Zone.  We picked up some more $1 bills by cashing a check at the bank.  When I got home, Armand and I went to play golf.  We had a terrible day playing in some mud.  The mud did not create the poor scores.  We didn’t finish until shortly before 5.  We found ourselves locked out of the entry gate and had to drag our clubs around it.  The pro, a Christian friend, almost refused to let us come into the clubhouse.  I should have told him how disappointed I was in his behavior.  After supper, we finished packing and went to bed before 9.

Monday we got up and finished our last minute packing.  We left around 10 and drove to Jones’ house.  We stopped at George West for lunch and arrived at 3.  We talked a while, ate cheese and crackers and drank wine.  We dressed for dinner at the “mess hall”.  The dinners are always delicious and Tom and Luann always treat.  They have to pay a flat amount each month and often don’t use all of their deposit.  They go on so many trips that they can’t use the money.  We came home and watched TV.  We had brought them a house gift of a nice ceramic urn for coffee from Gevalia.  The gift included a T spoon measure and some filters.  They have more room for it than we do.  We will meet them in the morning after they take their 2 dogs to a kennel.  We will leave for the airport after 10 even though the flight isn’t until 2.  There is a great deal of security to contend with.

Cold, but we’ll take rain any way we can get it.

Friday was pretty much usual.  It was very hot and humid but cool inside the hospital.  Evelyn  was very busy in the Foundation office stuffing bags to distribute at the Stock Show.  She also had to walk around the hospital.  I was busy too at the information desk.  But we also had the most fun we have had for a while.  I kept inviting Lionel to the Super Bowl party Sunday.  I doubt he and Fran will come.  We did plan to go to dinner with our wives at Chilis.  Evelyn was excited to go, but, when we got home, she was hit with a sudden attack of tired.  She gets tired quite easily, and I don’t want to push her.  I went anyway and had a good time but without her.  The other wives were disappointed but seemed to have a good time too.  I went home and joined Evelyn in preparing for the party.  She also had some ironing to do before our trip. 

Saturday we talked with Tom and LuAnn.  They want us to wait until Tuesday to come to their home.  They have many last minute errands to run.  We dressed and went to a mainstream square dance at Casa del Sol RV Resort in Donna.  I thought we did better than I expected us to.  Perhaps that was because we had watched the Saddlebrooke Squares on line.  They demonstrate all of the possible calls.  We had a few problems but got through them.  We came home to rest and ready ourselves for the 50s dance.  I also practiced the service for tomorrow.  We went to the dance dressed in some of the 50s type attire.  There was a juke box that was supposed to play only 50s music but didn’t.  The people who planned the dance had many nice prizes.  They also had several trivia questions.  I won a prize because I knew the answer to one: What town were the singers dreaming of in “California Dreamin?’”  Of course it is “LA” but, as I remember, that song came from the 60s, not the 50s.  The juke box was also hyped to know every 50s song but couldn’t play the first one challenging it: “Rose and a Baby Ruth”.  Most of the time was spent eating pizza and giving out prizes.  There was a costume contest and a twist contest but little dancing aside that.  The topper was that much of the music was not from the 50s that I remember.  Regardless, we had a pretty good time.  It was cold that night but rain came with the cold front.  It had rained much of the afternoon and evening.  We returned home and watched the 2nd half of the Purdue/IU game that I had recorded while we danced.  They just aren’t as good as had been hoped.

Sunday was still cold and rainy but wonderful.  We had 37 in attendance including a couple I thought would be attending elsewhere.  They were even the lay readers for this Sunday.  I like to get the congregation to  become involved in the worship.  They read the OT and NT selections each Sunday.  I always read the Gospel.  I didn’t think much of my message, but many people thought it worth hearing.  We also had a speaker from the Gideons International.  I was happy with his report.  The Pastor’s Appreciation Banquet is this coming Thursday, but we can’t go.  I asked 3 of our “elders” but none could go.  We came home and worked on party preparations after lunch.  I got things started for the message following our return from Israel.  At 5 the company began arriving.  First Waters, followed by Zopfi, then Okells and then Winstons.  We were blessed that they came because they all have many other things they could have done.  We had a full counter of snacks Evelyn had made, and I had put several beers into a cooler -- easily accessible.  They all stayed until the game was over and seemed to have a good time.  We certainly did.  We cleaned up the dishes afterward and then got ready to face tomorrow.  There is more rain predicted during the next week.  We will miss it but will benefit from the blessing if it actually occurs.

Welcomed surprise rain

We wakened a bit early but lay in bed for a while.  Evelyn was up and off to visit some shut ins from Immanuel while I went to perform with the kitchen band.  She had a long visit with 2 ladies,, and I was one of our smallest group for the season.  I am still singing Celito Lindo, at least the verses of it for the rest to sing the chorus.  We both got home about the same time and had lunch together.  We were both tired and took a nap.  We had a nice rain during the afternoon before we went to sleep.  More is predicted for tomorrow.  We waited for Joe and Bonny to go to Sadahi, a restaurant in McAllen. I had 2 coupons that were to expire before we returned from Israel.  We were home by 8:30 and visited for an hour.  We really enjoy being with them.  Evelyn went straight to bed while I worked on this entry.

This is half of 1 orange, not a grapefruit!

Here I am juicing that same orange.  I did a 5 gallon bucket full of oranges one morning.

This my wife’s new haircut.  She thinks it is “punky”.  I think it is cute and will be easy to manage on the trip to Israel.

Hot and Humid

We thank God that Evelyn had slept through the night for the first time in several days.  She was finally well rested.  We went to exercise Monday and then returned home.  We packed some more for the trip.  While looking for something else, Evelyn found the compression stockings we had lost after our trip to South America.  I drizzled for most of the day, so we were glad to go to our dance instructions at 3.  We did learn that the Monday afternoon classes have been disbanded.  We were short one couple.  We will have to find another place to learn.  During the evening we tried to make arrangements for our Super Bowl party.  We set up the room and called Don and Janice who agreed to come.  We have 2 confirmed couples.  Tuesday I had to work for the shuffle tournament.  I had volunteered to bus tables from 10:45 to 1.  That meant that I could only attend about 30 minutes.  It was quite humid but not in the hall.  My lunch was provided for the volunteers, and I brought it home to share with Evelyn.  She had made things for today, but we enjoyed some of it in the evening.  One of the winter Texans was a school janitor and brings a tool to the Valley to use in cleaning carpets.  He came to clean the Texas room as he has before.  Evelyn wants the room clean for the party.  We left the house and chose to go to Mexico for some treatments.  I went to the dentist to have 2 fillings in the crevices that my gums cause by receding.  The crevices are sensitive to hot and cold.  They also cause my false tooth to come out while I am eating.  This could be dangerous since I could swallow it.  I spent the entire afternoon having that work done while Evelyn got a pedicure and bought some small gifts for the Beeli girls to use in their play.  I had wanted a pedicure too but didn’t have time, so I just bought a case of Negra Modelo and a bottle of Bailey’s.  We came home for supper and made plans to go with Joe and Bonny to dinner Thursday night.  I have a coupon that will expire before we return.  We watched a movie we had started a couple of nights ago.  And we watched another one. 

Wednesday was disturbing.  Evelyn left for exercise and I began mopping the concrete floor of our screen porch.  I did that and the driveway portion.  I also sprayed the weeds that are coming up around the house.  I came into the house and heard the phone telling me I had missed a call.  Evelyn had called from the bank because the car wouldn’t start.  I rushed to ask Rose to borrow her car.  I went to the bank but she wasn’t there.  I was told she was advised to get a new battery.  I drove to every place I thought she might go.  Since she wasn’t at any of them, I came home to find her there.  A man at the bank had given her a jump start, so she continued her errands.  She had started the car at the CVS after driving for a while so she just came home.  I will go to have it checked tomorrow.  I had made plans earlier to play golf with Roger since Armand couldn’t go.  He was working the second day of the shuffle tournament.  We played 9 holes in extremely hot and humid weather.  I was concerned and drank a pint of water.  Roger lost his cell phone on one of the Tee boxes but someone turned it in and we recovered it.  We came home and I drank 3 beers before supper.  I was, naturally, tired but managed to stay awake until bedtime.