Okay, here's a couple more. The picture on the left is one of two in front of our building that look like this. Are we crazy or do we have a potato tree growing in our front yard?! I've attempted to grow potatoes before and I know good and well that they grow underground, but we (and others we've seen) are scratching our heads over this one.

The second picture is the view from our large mirpesset. Guess we should have moved the rag and the plastic gloves, huh? I had bought this spray of "Pigeon Away" and of course, couldn't read the directions. I may have been a little gung ho about spraying it all across the top of the railing. It turned out to be kind of like super SUPER glue, and David was not at all happy while he was hanging up the tarp and kept sticking to the railing (along with all the pigeon poo the pigeons left us as they flew overhead and knew enough not to land on). So I bought an entire bottle of vinegar to try to get it off, because we've tried other things (like brillo pads!) that didn't work. Haven't gotten out there since David tied on the tarp, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

By the way, if you double click on any of the pictures, they become full size.

Today we took a bus into Beit Shemesh and after we got off at the closest bus stop, we walked down a street to the "industrial" district. We found a store kind of like Partyland in St. Louis, a beauty supply store, and a couple of hardware stores. One hardware store sold Crocs, so I had to get a pair. Everybody else has some!

Well, I've been kind of avoiding the most serious issue(s) of the day. The cease fire yesterday, the horrific actions of our government, the repercussions of ending this war prematurely, the many mistakes that were made, the million people who have been homeless here in Israel and who may or may not have homes and jobs to go back to. Many people here are sure that it's so horrible because Moshiach is coming soon. There's no doubt in most peoples' minds that things are going to get a whole lot worse. All the Arab nations believe that they've won a great victory, and they're all banding together now with one goal in mind - wipe Israel off the face of the earth. And after Israel - the United States. Then the UK, and then France, and then everybody else one by one. Am I being pessimistic? No, just realistic. The editorials in all the papers here are saying the same thing. People here are angry, but they're just going on with their lives. After all, Olmert and Bush and Nasrallah are just pawns - and Hashem is the chess master. Whatever He has in mind, we have no control over. We should all just daven for mercy, for peace, for security. We need to just try to be the best people we know how to be; speak less gossip, help more people, be nicer to those we love. I've been frustrated because without a car, I wasn't able to help the "northerners" as much as I wanted to. Several people told me that the most important thing I could do was to pray, and that just by coming here, we were benefiting all Jews. When Hashem sends us troubles and challenges, it's because He wants to hear from us - He wants us to open up our hearts to Him. So let's do it!