The rain and good friends

It rained last night! Or was it this morning? It had to be sometime after 2 am, because that's when Ari took our friends to the airport.

I jumped out of bed at 6:30 am to make sure NED was up and moving. She was, but just barely. I started opening the trissim (Israeli-type shutters), and saw that the ground was wet. Uh-oh! I left clothes out to dry last night! Guess that season is over, no more hanging our clothes out to dry unless I know for sure it's not going to rain! Everything will just have to re-dry.

The amazing thing is that when we as Jews begin the prayer for rain right after Simchat Torah, it rains! In Israel we REALLY pray for rain, for without it, our summer is very very dry! The power of prayer - a religious experience!

An exciting phenomenon...

Having our friends from Boston, the Goldbergs, here last night was great! They came for dinner and "slept" by us (they left at 2 am). It reminded me of the feeling I have with only a handful of old friends from high school. It was nice to experience it again. The feeling was this: When you haven't seen or spoken to friends in a long time and then you finally do, it's as if you have seen them every single day since the last time you saw them. The comfort of the friendship, the knowing of their likes and dislikes, the excitement to interact with their children, the commonalities in our lives. All the things that connect friends.
They say we inspire them, but we get such chizzuk (spiritual strength) from them. These friends are 10 years our junior, but the connection is still there.
Thank you Avi and Alanna for making the time to come see us in our home. When you visit Israel, living out of hotels isn't really visiting Israel! You have to see how people live here to really experience it! Your smiles and warmth will stay with Ari and I and the kids for a long time. And we hope to see you back here very soon!

OK, I must start my day.

My nephew Shauli took the bus from Jerusalem last night to spend the day hanging out with Dovie before they both go back to Yeshiva. So all the men are at shul. I need to get dressed. Ari asked me to proof read a report he wrote for work. (I've been thinking about going into the editing business!) I need to try once again to get NED's Bat Mitzvah invitations going. Start thinking about Shabbat and whether to invite guests. And make a couple phone calls for our future...

Another busy day, Thank G-d.