V'ha-*sheleg* lahem chomah miminam u-mi-s'molam

Here's the original, from Parshat B'shalach, this morning's Torah reading:

כט  וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָלְכוּ בַיַּבָּשָׁה, בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם; וְהַמַּיִם לָהֶם חֹמָה, מִימִינָם וּמִשְּׂמֹאלָם.	29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Here's my version, seen in this post's title:

. . .  and the snow was for them a wall on their right hand, and on their left.

Did I happen to mention that New York City is in mid-blizzard, along with much of the east coast of the United States?

When I finally got to shul (synagogue), delayed by the need to bundle up against 50-mile-per-hour (80.47-kilometer-per-hour) wind gusts and to plow through the snow (which was accumulating too rapidly to remove) on the sidewalks and streets, I found that the only folks who'd beaten me there were the cantor and the "acting rabbi," better known as my husband.  We ended up with a grand total of six people, and read the Torah and haftarah readings from a chumash, holding the Minchah/Afternoon Service right after kiddush, and cancelling Maariv/Evening Service at the synagogue for safety reasons.  I don't expect to leave our apartment building again before Monday.  Yep, it's cabin-fever time.

More election politics

The NY Daily News on Palin's endorsement of Trump, courtesy of Daily Kos.

Stephen Colbert on Palin's endorsement of Trump (also courtesy of Daily Kos).  Note:  There's a link to Trevor Norah's "take" in the comments section--keep scrolling.

Going over to the "Dark Side"? :(

Muslims attack Muslims.

Books burned in Russia.

Whatever happened to social progress?

We don't need ISIS--we're killing *ourselves* :(

Have you heard about the massive methane gas leak in Porter Ranch, California?  Or the lead-poisoned tap water in Flint, Michigan?  Our own utilities are killing us.  :(

I really like this video of "HaKel"

It's kinda neat, how this video of Mark (Moshe) Skier's song "HaKel" keeps changing locations and instruments--the home shots show Mark playing an acoustic guitar and bass, whereas the concert shots show him playing an electric bass.  Not to mention that the music is way cool.

My review of the Moshe Skier Band's "Jews Keep Rockin " album (on which "HaKel" appears) is here.

Put a lid on it :)

What a contraption they taped to my face to protect my right eye after my retinal-detachment repair surgery two days ago!  It was about 2" (5.08 cm) in diameter, with a white (rubber?) border and a curved metal center with plenty of holes for air circulation.  I thought it made my eye look like an oregano shaker at a pizza parlor.  :)

The good news is that prying off the "lid" hurt more than my eye hurts.  The bad news is that my surgeon can't guarantee that I won't pop open another hole in the macula.  :(  I'm such a holey person.  :) (Oy.)

My least favorite subject,especially lately:Politics :(

I really didn't want to blog about this, but one of the few folks from real life who knows that I blog couldn't understand how I could avoid writing about.  Sigh.

I was really hoping that Donald Trump would just go away, but, apparently, enough voters approve of xenophobia and sexism to keep his campaign to become the Republican Party's candidate for president of the United States alive.  Mr. Trump wants to build a wall across the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration of Mexican "rapists," and, noch besser (better yet), he expects the Mexicans to pay for it.  He also wants to put a halt to all Muslim immigration, as if the thousands who are fleeing from Middle-Eastern terrorism are terrorists themselves.  And he complains when female presidential hopefuls have the nerve to go to the ladies' room.  What has my country come to, that such a person is currently leading the polls regarding those seeking nomination as the presidential candidate of a major political party?

There will be a short delay . . . in my recovery: Surgery, round 3, coming up

After November's cataract surgery and December's vitrectomy surgery, the news from my vitrectomy surgeon this morning was both good and bad.  On one hand, the vitrectomy was successful, and I'm back to about 20/30 (30/20?) vision in that portion of my right eye to which vision has returned--I was really amazed by how much of the eye chart I could read.  On the other hand, I now have a detached retina in the same eye.  I'm on sick leave again beginning today and lasting until about two weeks after this coming Thursday's surgery.  Looks like keeping my surgeon in business is my new hobby.  :) 

I'm glad I was able to sneak in a day at the office yesterday, as I really wanted to catch up and also to get a break from post-op boredom.  :)  Now, I'm back to keeping my head in a face-down position, per opthalmologist's orders.  It's a literal pain in the neck, but it could be worse.  Many thanks to our son for tipping my computer monitor into a face-up position again--I'll be back to typing standing up and looking down for at least the next couple of weeks.  It'll probably be a while before I'm allowed to sleep on my back again.  And I guess I'll be spending some extra time in the no-fly zone--no plane rides for me.  Oh, well, I'm not fond of airport security checks anyway.  :)

For the beginning of this saga, start here.

Winter has finally arrived in NYC

It's now 23 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius) in New York City, going down to 16 (-8.8) later tonight.  I hope the crocuses and crops survive the sudden drop in temperature.
In other news, I returned to work today and am up to my ears in catch-up.  Hope to be able to come up for air by tomorrow.