Good Evening;
So yesterday morning came much earlier than I would have liked......lol. I was at Jenn's and falling asleep at the keyboard Saturday night but as soon as I turned off the TV and the laptop and the lights and lay down.........BING!, wide awake. I was about 3:45 am. when I finally crashed out on the recliner after trying to sleep on the couch and the chair. My cell phone's alarm went off at 7:00 am. and I staggered into the bathroom to shower with a mug of coffee in my hand, which I have no memory of stopping in the kitchen and not just pouring, but brewing also!.........lol.
Rachel and her mother came by at 8:35 am. to pick me up, (20 minutes late, but within the 30 minute 'JST' buffer I built into her ETA...........lol.) We were dropped off in Owings Mills at Beth Israel Congregation's annual Mitvah Day.
After meeting our host Sheri K., the woman who asked me to come and speak to the 5th grade Hebrew School class, both this year and last, about homelessness and some of my experiences, and most relevant to the day...what they can do to to help.
I talked with them about the differing faces of homelessness today, and how a simple thing such as not turning away and making believe they didn't see someone could matter. Keeping my vocabulary at their level and bringing in the Jewish ideals of 'mitzvot', 'tikkun olam', and 'tzedakah' I tried to open their eyes to the concepts of shared humanity and individual dignity, and religious and cultural obligations, duties, and tradition. These were a group of savvy and already developing a social conscience kids, having parents who encouraged them to be involved.....(who were elsewhere in the shul on other projects). I also touched on some of the things that would be good to have in a 'care package' Rachel had decided she wanted to stay with me so when I had finished answering the questions, and listening to the comments the kids had all of us made a dozen or so brightly colored, double layer, knotted fringe edged, fleece blankets to be distributed to children in the Hannah More women and children's shelter.
Rachel kept all the larger pieces of scrap fleece, (7 inch squares cut from the corners), to take home and use as quilts for her dolls, and 'saddles' for her 2 cats and 2 dogs................lol.
We got a ride to Jenn's from a member of the congregation who lives nearby about 11:30 am. and hung out there until 4:30 pm. After lunch the kids played and watched a movie....one of the Disney Princess movies, "Tangled", what else. With Rachel there it was 2 to 1 against Ed..........lol. I made shrimp pasta salad that was supposed to be for our dinner, (Ed and Devin not willing to try a damn thing new), but.... between Ed's pain in the ass behavior on Sunday and the upstairs neighbor coming home at 4:30 pm., turning up the stereo full blast and kicking in the sub-woofer...making normal conversation impossible and my last nerve, stretched and frazzled......finally snapped and I had to get out of there asap! Rachel and I packed up and started to head over to the bus to the coffee shop, but when I called her mother and found out she had not even left for Frederick Md. yet...plans changed and we walked up to Reisterstown Road Plaza and she met us there and Rachel left.....WITH! the container of shrimp salad I had packed for US!......the little stinker....LOL. So it was back over to the subway station where my plans and the MTA refused to equalize, one bus never showing, the other reeking of vomit and having to be returned to base to be cleaned because of the 'HazMat' laws regarding 'bodily fluids, and it's replacement also never showing.
It was after 6:00 pm. when I got to the coffee shop and I ended up in an hour conversation with John Erby about 'Moore's Law' and the pace of discovery and advancement in the chip and computer industry, coming up with some wild ass dreams and devices.......lol. I left there at closing, after the tremendous thunderstorm was over and walked over to the bus stop and caught the 8:50 pm. bus back to the Plaza subway station, and 30 minute after that the bus up here to the shed.
Where I passed out 20 minutes later, about 10:30 pm. I woke up at 6:00 am. to pee and took my morning meds and crashed out again until 11:00 am. when I thought I was getting up and going out....next thing I knew it was 1:30 pm.! Damn was I tired! By the time I got moving and made it over to the Giant to wash up and grab somthing to eat,...I knew I wasn't going anywhere today, so it was back here to the shed and just kickin' back with the portable digital TV and the laptop.
And it's 3:20 am. on Tuesday now and I've fallen asleep a half a dozen times waking up as my face interfaces with the keyboard.....like now!!!!
Later......................Dave
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