Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Not seeing things

Yom revi'i, 16 Tamuz 5769.

Nothing says "too much time in front of the computer" like walking out your door and seeing this: 



...instead of this:

The Dearly Beloved and I were on one of our daily walks, enjoying a particularly lively Neve Daniel wind.

I couldn't quite bring myself to admit that I was just now noticing the flag painted on our water tower.  I mean, what if it had been there for WEEKS???  And when did it get there?  It must have taken days to paint.  I pride myself on being an observant Jew.  (Sorry.  I'm getting old enough to get away with being punny.)  Had I been so oblivious to the world outside of cyberspace that I totally missed guys with pulleys and platforms and buckets of paint crawling all over the water tower?  I decided to remain nonchalant.

"Hey," exclaimed the Dearly Beloved, "when did they put that up?"  (Whew.  I do not know how I would maintain my sense of mental balance without the old guy.)

We discussed it for a few minutes, reminding each other that we had spent the whole week moving Soldier Boy from one apartment to another.  We ran into one of our good neighbors, who invited us in for a home-brewed beer.  (We accepted, of course.  Beer may not be the cornerstone of most weight-loss plans, but it is "proof that G-d loves us, and wants us to be happy.")  He and his delightful wife explained to us that the painting had, in fact, gone up just this day!  Their sons earned a little arichat yomim by validating the parents.  "We saw the guys painting it!" they chorused.  One of the little geniuses elaborated.  "They had this big triangle, and they turned it this way --" he illustrated in the air -- "and then the other way."

Well.

We felt better, and it wasn't just the beer.

The old girl in me is grateful not yet to be losing her sense of reason.  The rebellious teenager that still dwells inside likes seeing a giant "we are here, and we aren't leaving" banner painted on the water tower.  Right on, Israel.  Right on.

Glossary:
Arichat yomim:  "lengthy days" -- one of the rewards, our Sages tell us, for respect for our parents
The beer quote was taken from Benjamin Franklin without permission.  He's dead.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ol' Ben is dead? Right on Ema right on. Your writing makes my day. Who is that handsome guy in the picture? Ol' Ben? We Jews need to have more pride in who we are. We are the nation of Israel. This is Jewish land because the One gave it to us.

Hasbara With Attitude said...

Oh good. I was starting to think that i was sitting in from to my computer for too long..

And I got the Ben Franklin thing right away :-)

Ye'he Sh'mey Raba Mevorach said...

Fabulous. Ya gotta love it. And the wind, too.

The Sussmans b'Aretz said...

Thanks for making me smile everyday...and I was wondering if I'd lost it as well. Deep sigh of relief - I'm not crazy either! Well, I'm not crazy for missing the painting of the water tower.

Arielle said...

I got the impression that it really did only take one day to paint. Hubby saw it in progress and the next day I think all paraphernalia was gone. My question always was how did the graffiti (that the enormous flag covers)got there in the first place. Did some right wing renegade teens steal a cherry picker and do a midnight graffiti run? and also, why DID the powers that be (which is who, in this case anyway?) decide to paint the flag?
anyone have any answers?

lisacat said...

Grabbed the binocs, went out on the merpeset, and, Great Zot! I can just make out the two side points of the Magen David on your water tower!
w00t!
When are you all going to paint one on the other side for the rest of us to look at?

Yarden said...

Strange world indeed when Arab painters paint huge Israeli flags on settlement water towers!

Sheyna Ariel said...

It was Arabs? That is a little bit strange.. But I guess in a place where Arabs build houses while gaurds with guns sit there and watch them it is not so strange..
Glad to see it there and can not wait to G-d willing see it in person!