Up half the night after Yom Kippur trying to finish up an editing job, I eventually fell into bed only to toss and turn. At some point, I got up and put ear plugs in. On Yom Kippur in Israel, there is no car traffic and I embraced the calm, imagining life after peak oil. I live on a four lane street - the main drag through the neighborhood - and not a single car passed by during the 25 hours of the holiday. There were bicycles galore, of course, but bikes are deliciously quiet. When the cars started up again, they drowned out all the children's voices and everybody's blood pressure when back up. With earls plugged, I remember thinking about John Cage and one of his "happenings." The ear plugs kept out the external noise, but there was the whosh of my blood pumping around (in D + overtones). When, in my dream, my friend, Ray Elliott, trying to conduct a men's choir rehearsing Francis Poulenc's lovely
Ave verum corpus, gave up in dispair, I finally gave up, too, and got up to start the day. Oi! ~ It was only 7 a.m.
Ray!
I found a handful of photos from my Peace Corps service in Jordan that I thought I'd share.
I spent the year following 9/11 on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.
This is the view eastward out of my room in the village towards the
Mountains of Moab.
My village shares the red square with Sodom and Gommorah. Hmm.
I taught 5th grade English and taught Aids education to the young men.
Fifth graders are amazing!
Such a serious lot! What a shame we never had any fun in the classroom!
When we were learning some prepositions, I created this little story about a snake and,
with paste, scissors and construction paper, added some color to the classroom walls.
"In" was my hommage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Petra is a Nabatean city carved from the rock. Every few minutes,
the light changes and the sandstone is another color.
This is the token camel picture. When our Jordanian
students were on their winter break, Ruth and I headed
south to Egypt.
This is Farzan in my flat in Portland. The connection is
the poster, complete with pyramids, for an exhibit at
the Israel Museum on "Orientalism in the Arts."
I wonder if Edward Said would somehow approve.
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adidi ~ I had you in mind with this one.
Poulenc - Ave verum corpus
Tags: al-mazra'a, blood, my man ray, poulenc, sleep
Current Mood: 
sleepy
Current Music: Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon & Piano
