Wednesday. I woke up this morning with a "bad attitude." In Hebrew it would be "Nimas li cvar!" In English it's "I'm tired of this!" And believe me, we are. We had an 8:00 a.m. appointment with our physical therapist. She is unbelievably good; Frank went to see her a lot last year about his feet and she helped him more than anyone had up until then. This year I'm joining up too; Livna is a Pilates teacher and I've decided to work with her. So Frank had the 8:00 appointment and I was at 9:00. In addition to being an exceptionally talented physical therapist, she is a fabulous gardener and her garden is a haven to relax in. Shady and cool and full of pots of flowers. Three pictures below...
So we both had good sessions with her, but just before the end of mine, boom boom boom boom, no sirens or warning or anything. So Frank came inside and we sat there before going home for about 20 minutes until we were sure everything was quiet. On the way home we shopped at the vegetable guy and the mini-market. And then came home.
It was a quiet day, for the most part, until about 4:00 when the sirens went and the booms followed. Around 2:00 I called a co-counselor who lives way up north in the middle of the real action, and he told me to stop watching television, which I did. What a good thing. It is so addictive and it just brings you down. There is no point to watching it all day, though there is a terrific pull to do so. We didn't watch for the rest of the day until the 9:00 news.
But in the middle of the afternoon I was filled with such feelings of isolation and being cut off from everyone and everything. Haifa is a ghost town -- there is no traffic, most things are closed. Although you are free to go out and walk about, it just doesn't feel safe to do it so we don't. You never know when the sirens are going to start, and of course you never know where the missiles will hit. So we stay in our house, which is truly a very safe place, tucked into the mountain on the other side of where the missiles land. Most of you know that my two best friends here have died, and I miss them terribly in the midst of all this. So I know what to do when those awful feelings come up -- it was 3:30 in the afternoon and my regular Wednesday morning session probably was happening in Chapel Hill so I called Jan and Marcy and took some time with them! That was so good that I called Cherie Brown, my leader in Jewish liberation activities, and she gave me some time too. That was excellent. Then I called two of my counselors here, also good. By the end of all that I was restored to my rational self, which believe me, felt very good!
Feelings of isolation are a big part of what's going on for us. We can't just go around and visit as we usually can; we can't live our normal lives under these conditions. And of course we are not really isolated. There are neighbors and we can walk to the stores in the neighborhood (although many are closed). Not to mention the phone, cell phone and computer!!! And I know that I have nothing to complain about compared with the people in Nahariah, in Safed, and all those towns north. We're safe and we are not living in the miklat. It is very hard for me to even think about what is happening in Lebanon...
I'm sure that many of you are wondering why we don't just leave Haifa as many are doing. Well, it's because I have agreed to read Torah on Shabbat in our synagogue, and it's a double parasha and therefore a whole lot of reading, and I don't feel that I can just call someone up and say oh can you cover for me on Shabbat because I'm leaving town. I called the rabbi to find out if there would be services, and he said 99% yes, but we will have to find another place because our synagogue is basically all windows and we wouldn't be safe at all. So here we are. But we have an invitation from friends in Be'er Sheva to come and stay, and if things don't improve by Sunday we will definitely go to them for the duration.
We'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, keep those card and letters coming! (pzfisch@nc.rr.com; rabfisch@nc.rr.com)
Love,
Pat
So we both had good sessions with her, but just before the end of mine, boom boom boom boom, no sirens or warning or anything. So Frank came inside and we sat there before going home for about 20 minutes until we were sure everything was quiet. On the way home we shopped at the vegetable guy and the mini-market. And then came home.
It was a quiet day, for the most part, until about 4:00 when the sirens went and the booms followed. Around 2:00 I called a co-counselor who lives way up north in the middle of the real action, and he told me to stop watching television, which I did. What a good thing. It is so addictive and it just brings you down. There is no point to watching it all day, though there is a terrific pull to do so. We didn't watch for the rest of the day until the 9:00 news.
But in the middle of the afternoon I was filled with such feelings of isolation and being cut off from everyone and everything. Haifa is a ghost town -- there is no traffic, most things are closed. Although you are free to go out and walk about, it just doesn't feel safe to do it so we don't. You never know when the sirens are going to start, and of course you never know where the missiles will hit. So we stay in our house, which is truly a very safe place, tucked into the mountain on the other side of where the missiles land. Most of you know that my two best friends here have died, and I miss them terribly in the midst of all this. So I know what to do when those awful feelings come up -- it was 3:30 in the afternoon and my regular Wednesday morning session probably was happening in Chapel Hill so I called Jan and Marcy and took some time with them! That was so good that I called Cherie Brown, my leader in Jewish liberation activities, and she gave me some time too. That was excellent. Then I called two of my counselors here, also good. By the end of all that I was restored to my rational self, which believe me, felt very good!
Feelings of isolation are a big part of what's going on for us. We can't just go around and visit as we usually can; we can't live our normal lives under these conditions. And of course we are not really isolated. There are neighbors and we can walk to the stores in the neighborhood (although many are closed). Not to mention the phone, cell phone and computer!!! And I know that I have nothing to complain about compared with the people in Nahariah, in Safed, and all those towns north. We're safe and we are not living in the miklat. It is very hard for me to even think about what is happening in Lebanon...
I'm sure that many of you are wondering why we don't just leave Haifa as many are doing. Well, it's because I have agreed to read Torah on Shabbat in our synagogue, and it's a double parasha and therefore a whole lot of reading, and I don't feel that I can just call someone up and say oh can you cover for me on Shabbat because I'm leaving town. I called the rabbi to find out if there would be services, and he said 99% yes, but we will have to find another place because our synagogue is basically all windows and we wouldn't be safe at all. So here we are. But we have an invitation from friends in Be'er Sheva to come and stay, and if things don't improve by Sunday we will definitely go to them for the duration.
We'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, keep those card and letters coming! (pzfisch@nc.rr.com; rabfisch@nc.rr.com)
Love,
Pat
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at 12:42 PM
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