80th Birthday Party for Dad

We celebrated my father's 80th birthday in October with a big party in Portsmouth. My brother and his family came in from California and my sister and her family came in from Virginia. A fun time was had by all. See the links and photos below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT9fnMFKq0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkGH03gRac8

Dad and The Bodacious Babes

 Ross, Joy, Mom, Dad, Seth

 The Grandkids

Zoning Practice Article

In November 2011, I had an article published in a publication called Zoning Practice. The article is based on my presentation at the National Conference of the American Planning Association in Boston in April 2011. You can see the article at the link below. 

http://salemnhprojects.org/uploads/planning/Design_Guidelines_Article/zoning%20practice%20article-nov%202011.pdf

Hiking Mount Washington - July 31, 2011

On Sunday, I climbed Mount Washington with 3 friends, Marty, Gary, and Stel. We drove up on Saturday night and stayed at a hotel in Lincoln, NH. In the morning, we drove about 30 minutes to the Cog Railway parking lot and went up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. It was a great route, with modest slopes until the Gem Pool and big waterfall. After that, it was very steep, but with great views and numerous brook crossings and smal waterfalls and cascades. It took us about 3 hours to get to Lake of the Clouds hut, where we ate lunch. Then we hiked another 1 1/2 hours to the top of Mount Washington. It was fairly crowded on top with hikers, Cog Railway riders, and Auto Road visitors. In fact, we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes just to take a photo at the summit marker!

We stayed on the summit about an hour then hiked down to the hut, where we had a family-style dinner with 95 other people and later enjoyed watching a beautiful sunset.  The kids who work at the hut introduced themselves during dinner and I was surprised to find that 3 of them were students from Colby College, my alma mater, and that we had some of the same professors. It was a real experience sleeping (or trying to sleep) in a cramped bunkbed with 15 other people in the room and total darkness in the hut due to limited electricity! In the morning, we had breakfast, then came back down the same trail in about 2 1/2 hours. My legs are pretty sore but I'm happy I was able to climb the highest peak in the Northeast and enjoyed doing it with friends.

I assume I am one of the only people on the planet who has climbed Masada in Israel and Mount Washington in NH in the same month!

Here's a link to an interesting article about the Lake of the Clouds hut:

http://www.onenewengland.com/article.php?id=55

photos

Amy at Damascus Gate

Elisse at Via Dolorosa

Church in Old City of Jerusalem

At Western Wall

Wellesley bumper sticker in Jerusalem

Cemetery in Tel Aviv

Menu at Arabic restaurant in Jaffa

Family at restaurant in Jaffa

Menu from Arab restaurant near Afula

Ross and Meir Haber

Water feature at Ben Gurion airport

Ross and Sam after hiking up Masada...we took the cable car down!!

Israel- Day 14

One of the worst aspects of travelling is the actual travelling part! We left our relatives' house in Tel Aviv around 8 am and got home around 3 am (their time). Most of us were not able to sleep on the plane (sleeping on planes with lots of people and babies isn't easy), but we'll catch up over the next few days. We are home safe and sound, and that's the important thing. Taking a trip like this helps us appreciate what the rest of the world is like. But it also allows us to appreciate all the little things we take for granted in our daily lives, like living in our own homes, sleeping in our own beds, walking the dog in the morning, etc. It's good to be home.

Israel - Days 12 and 13

Yesterday we came back from Jerusalem to our relatives' house in Tel Aviv. We visited a famous cemetery in the city were some of Amy's distant relatives are buried. We ate lunch in downtown Tel Aviv, shopped a little at the crafts fair, then went out for a huge dinner in Jaffa with all the relatives. Allison came back from Binyamina at night.

Today Amy and I rode to Afula, a city in the north-central part of the country. We saw beautiful agricultural scenary along the way. In Afula, we met my friends Meir and Dacci Haber. Meir taught me Hebrew in Columbus, Ohio, when I was ten or twelve years old! I last saw him over 20 years ago, so it was good to catch up. We went to an Arabic restaurant for lunch then drove around an Arab village with huge houses and had dessert at the Haber's house. Our return to Tel Aviv was a little exciting because the van driver did not speak English but several other people helped to make sure we got off at the right spot.

Tonight we will have a final dinner with our relatives and just relax and pack. Tomorrow we head back home.

This has been a fabulous trip with lots of incredible sights. Highlights include hiking up Masada, seeing the Western Wall and the tunnels below it, touring great museums, experiencing our Israeli relatives' unsurpassed hospitality, and doing all this with our children and Amy's parents.

Misc. Stories

In the parking lot of our apartment in Jerusalem, we saw a car that had a Wellesley bumper sticker on it. This was quite a coincidence because Amy grew up in Wellesley and her parents still live there. It turns out the car owner went to Wellesley College and lived in the apartment above us. She told us there were about 20 other Wellesley College graduates who live in the Jerusalem area and stay in touch.

Our cab driver last night was a beduoin Arab, an Israeli citizen, from Tiberias, one of 14 children, whose mother gave birth to 3 sets of twins, whose marriage was arranged. We met a few interesting cab drivers who liked to talk.

Derek Beit Lehem, the 2-lane street where our apartment is located, contains lots of shops, cafes and restaurants (where most of the seating is outside), many small apartment buildings, a college, a convenience store, a pharmacy, a supermarket, small parks, all mixed together, all easily walkable, with public buses, too. Just like we talk about creating in city planning!

All plastic bottles are recycled in public recycling bins located at various spots on the sides of streets. You take your bottles out of your apartment or house and bring them to the nearest bin.

Jack Puts On Tefillin

On our last night in Jerusalem, we walked to the Western Wall from the Damascus Gate.  Women are not allowed to mingle with men at the Wall, so Amy and Elisse went to the women's section, and Jack and I went into the men's section. As we were leaving the Wall,  several Hasidic Jews asked us if we wanted to put on tefillin and pray with them. We politely refused. Then a Hasid who spoke perfect English started talking to us. He asked where we were from (he came from New York City), asked Jack how old he was, asked how long ago Jack had put on tefillin (Jack said about 30 years) and again asked Jack if he would put on tefillin. Jack said no, and then the Hasid said, "Jack, you are at the holiest place on Earth. Prayers that are said here are heard by God faster than anywhere else. If you won't put on tefillin and say a prayer for yourself, please do it for the Jewish people and the Jewish soldiers who protect Israel." What a sales pitch! Jack agreed to put on tefillin. The Hasid put the leather straps around his head and arm, led him in the prayer, then finished putting the straps around his fingers, and gave Jack a prayer to read. Jack finished reading the prayer, then the Hasid say, "Jack, close your eyes, think about all the people you love. Imagine them with smiles on their faces and being surrounded by light. Say a silent prayer for their health and well-being and thank God for all the blessings he has given you in your long life." It was a moving moment for me and, I'm sure, for Jack.
See the link below for information on tefillin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin

Israel - Day 11

We visited Me'a She'arim, a neighborhood of ultra-orthodox Jews who warn visitors to dress appropriately (no uncovered arms and skirts or pants for the women). We walked down a few streets and stopped in a few stores, but it was not very interesting. We then walked down King George Street to Ben Yehuda Street, a pedestrian shopping area, where we were able to help the Israeli economy by purchasing all sorts of things we don't need at prices only tourists would pay. Just kidding!

I also put on tefillin there (actually, someone put it on for me). This is a tradition done by orthodox Jews while praying. It involves wrapping leather straps around your arm and finger and putting boxes containing prayers on your head and arm. I hadn't done it in many years and was happy to have someone to help me.

Emily took off on her own to visit the Hadassah hospital and learn something about emergency medical services in Israel.

Tonight we go back to the Old City for a last look at some sights and a night-time visit to the Western Wall. Tomorrow we return to our relatives in Tel Aviv to get ready for the flight home on Thursday.

Warning sign in Me'a She'arim

Store in Me'a She'arim

Building on Ben Yehuda Street

Ross putting on tefillin

Doorway on Ben Yehuda Street

Mural on building

Street sign and flowering trees

Israel - Day 10

Today, Leo and Vivy came from Tel Aviv and toured Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Museum, with us. The museum is in a building that looks like a long wedge with open ends, very striking architecture. The displays were moving, similar to the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  The children's memorial was especially dramatic...you walk around a dark room guided only by a railing, while the names of children who were killed in the Holocaust are read.

Then we went to the Mount Herzl Museum and Park. I had very little knowledge of Theodore Herzl, who founded Zionism and gave birth to the idea of a Jewish country, but the museum did a wonderful job of telling the story of his life and message.  We walked around the park, which includes a military cemetery similar to Arlington National Cemetery, and the saw the graves of Golda Meir and Yitzak Rabin, former Prime Ministers of Israel.

Tonight we visited with Martin Ingall, a friend of Amy's family from Wellesley, who moved to Israel (he lives just a few blocks from where we are staying) and married a local woman.

Martin called just after he left to tell us about a parade down the street from our apartment. It was a celebration of a new Torah scroll being brought to a local synagogue. The parade included a decorated van, a canopy similar to a wedding huppah, and men holding the Torah, dancing in the street and throwing candy. Traffic was blocked by local police so the parade could proceed. People came out of their shops and apartments to watch this scene. We walked in the parade for awhile and took photos. We just don't see stuff like this at home!

Entrance to Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) in Jerusalem

 Entering Yad Vashem

 View of inside of Yad Vashem

 View from end of Yad Vashem

Parade for new Torah scroll

Parade for new Torah scroll



Golda Meir's grave at Mount Herzl cemetery

Israel- Day 9

Sam Price and I climbed up Masada today. It was not a bad hike, just about an hour, but a big elevation gain and the heat (over 100 degrees) and lack of shade made it more difficult than normal. The others rode up in a cable car. It was interesting to see the ruins of a Roman palace on top of the mountain. Sam and I walked down into a huge Roman cistern that was carved out of stone.  After Masada, we drove to a beach at the Dead Sea and floated in the water. It's impossible to sink due to the high salinity.  We smeared mud from the beach all over our bodies. The mud is supposed to have healing qualities. I think the photo of Amy and me and the kids with mud all over us will probably be our holiday photo this year!  Then we drove to the Ahava Dead Sea products visitor center. This is where they make body creams and lotions with minerals from the Sea that are sold in many stores and malls across the world. We also stopped at Qumran and saw the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. On the way home to Jerusalem, we stopped by the side of the road and Amy, Allison, and Emily rode a camel!

View of Masada

Roman ruins on top of Masada

The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth!

Emily, Amy, and Allison with mud on their faces (and bodies) at the Dead Sea

Amy and a soldier friend at a security checkpoint

Elisse with a camel on the way back to Jerusalem!

Panoramic view from top of Masada to the west (Judean desert)

View of Snake Path hiking trail from close to top of Masada, cable car, and Dead Sea in the background