Growth

Last night I took a long cab ride back from the Cotel (Western Wall). Since I'm in Yeshiva all day, it's rare that I get to converse with someone new in Hebrew. My growth in Hebrew may be stunted, but I'm still climbing. These days I am able to understand a lot of what they are saying, although I usually respond with ambiguous but apropos responses on the general topic of conversation. I relish the new dialogue with a stranger especially when I steer the conversation toward vocabulary words I want to implement.

"Have you calculated your taxes yet? I calculated my taxes last month, while I was home. And I jumped in the air when I finished the calculation."

He told me he had once lived in Milwaukee for two years. I told him that I also had family in Wisconsin, and asked him how he liked the winter. He told me that he had never seen so much snow in the winter. I told him he was not alone; that's what everyone says when they come to Wisconsin.

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Real growth is difficult to quanitfy. It is hard to articulate a feeling of change when it is often so subtle you don't notice yourself.

Here are some pictures I've taken around the Yeshiva.

Learning Hebrew, means breaking the teeth.

Learning to be a Sofer requires time and patience, and a good teacher.




The second stage of a rough draft that I first posted a couple months ago. Some of the ideas I'd like to express in a final project will hopefully grow organically out of the ones here.

My etrog sprouts are beginning to bloom. This summer I hope to start a compost pile and perhaps even cultivate some of these plants outside the Yeshiva.


The sky was completely overcast, except for this strip on the horizon. It looked like the sky had been ripped open.

None of this would be possible without Rikki's food. Here is one of her soups in making: