The Nobel for Ada Yonath and other matters

I've been a research scientist for 25 years, and for most of them have known Ada Yonath, and have even worked with her occasionally.  So of course its very exciting to see her on theTV in Stockholm, on the brink of getting the Nobel Prize in Chemistry tomorrow.  I know her pretty well, and can see the strain of being constantly in the spotlight, constantly interviewed. But she's handling it with pretty good grace, and I was thrilled to see members of her lab, especially her long-time colleague Anat Bashan, in the background there. Apparently quite a crowd travelled over there!

  Here's to you, Ada, and your long-held vision of what could be possible. You've been a daring, hard working scientist. Creative, fearless and generous.  Tomorrow we'll be cheering you!  See you back at home!


Many other things have been adding up to a very calm state of mind,  one that is so surprising for me. To actually look at life and feel good and calm, and not want to change anything.  True grace (at least for now)...

Pelicans on the move

Today I drove with a colleague up the coast, towards Haifa.  Near the fish ponds of Ma'agan Michael, we saw hundreds and hundreds of pelicans flying in flocks, circling the ponds.  It was enchanting

With Udge in Ceaserea

I met Udge yesterday, at SavtaDotty's soup salon. He's on vacation here in Israel. Both Savta and Udge are people I knew exclusively from reading their blogs. First I got to know Savta through a mutual friend, and was invited to her soup salon (she makes soup on Friday afternoons and people drop by for a chat). Then I read on his blog that he's coming to Israel for vacation, so I checked in and found out he'd be at the salon, so I went yesterday and met him. He looks kinda like the picture, but of course different. But his gentle curiosity and intelligence were what I expected, and it was delightful.
I took Udge to Ceaserea, which was once the capital of the Roman Empire in the Eastern Meditteranean. The antiquities are wonderful, the view of the sea is stunning, but it was mostly fun just conversing with him, and hearing his wonderful knowledge and ideas in real time.

There are strange new worlds in cyberspace, and this blogging world is a wonderful one.

Sukkot 2009

Sukkot is a long holiday week for many in Israel. The roads are jammed - every venue you can think of is packed with people, especially religious families, because this week is a rare one when the families can go out all together.

So usually I STAY HOME or go to work. Especially now that the kids are big, and mostly not home, or busy with their own plans.

Today, however, I went with Husband to meet a new friend (thru Facebook) at a lovely restaurant on the Tel Aviv beach. Then we walked down to Jaffa, and what did we see? FLOATING TOURIST SUKKAHS... LOL!

Love it..........

Facebook is winning

I've pretty much abandoned trying to blog. For a number of years, I've read several select blogs intensively. All of them personal ones, not political or professional. Just people blogging about their lives. Then I stopped reading them a few months ago, and now only glance. Bored? Not really. But I do other stuff with my limited free time.

Also, blogging is difficult for me because I get too critical of the writing, and I usually try to start late at night when I'm sleepy. And I haven't really decided what I want to write about. Personal stuff too? Opinions of current affairs? Just to tap tap tap on the keyboard?

Still considering.

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Its the end of the summer...
In three days I'll be having abdominal surgery so I'm psyching up to get it over with and heal fast. 76-year old Mom is flying half-way around the world to nurse me in recovery, and "make chicken soup", as she says. The only problem is its still too bloody hot for chicken soup. But no mind..

See you after the surgery!

begin at the beginning

First post. No reason than that for years now I've been reading other's posts, and tried a few times to start. Always gave it up, and even totally erased all my entries. So instead of trying to introduce myself all at once, I'll just write down what I felt like saying when the urge hit me.

However, I keep looking at the entries and then deleting them. Not a great way to run a blog, hmm?