Staying Regulated

 it is 7:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed. we had another quiet day, here in the north.  i don't remember hearing our planes today.  it was rainy and it was sunny.  it was warm and now it is cold. i wanted to return my 50 plastic bottles.  i collect bottles now.  it is my way of taking care of the environment and bringing in a bit of cash.  it sounds pretty silly but i make almost $5 each time i go to the supermarket.  the plastic bottles are pretty light and i can hop on a bus and return them at a supermarket about 10 minutes away.  

the neighborhood supermarket makes you pull out each bottle while a clerk keeps the count.  you have to place them in certain bags that she pulls out.  at the large supermarket they have large bins to toss the bottles in.  no one watches you and they give you a receipt and you wait on line with the shoppers and you receive cash.  at the neighborhood supermarket;  you only get a credit.  it is actually fun.  the glass bottles are a lot harder to return.  i need to schlepp them in a shopping cart.  25 of these bottles is very heavy; while the plastic bottles are seemingly weightless. the cans are not hard, either. 

the point is;  i wanted to do a normal task today.  i wanted to walk to the supermarket, which is a 20 minute stroll but you do not see people walking in the streets.  people are keeping a low profile.  people are in their houses.  i guess the front command has told people to stay close by.  you do catch a glimpse of neighbors getting in and out of their cars; usuallly carrying groceries.  i do occasionally; see other dog walkers, besides myself.  otherwise, it is pretty quiet.  my neighbors do offer their help and keep in touch with me.  i am the only single lady on the street.  there are quite a few adult children; temporaily at their family home these days.  everyone wants to be together with their familes.  and there are some parents who have travelled to the south to help their kids out.

i try to stay regulated as best as i can.  i am doing tons of laundry and washing my dishes.  i am constantly sweeping the floors.  i take the dogs out several times a day for short walks.  yesterday, i cooked up a large pot of chicken soup with barley and green lentils.  i froze two containers and i have plenty left for shabbat.  i also baked a dozen : unsweetened non gluten banana/cherry muffins.  i use graham flour these days; also known as chickpea flour.  it has a particular taste but i am used to it.  i make up these recipes by myself.  sometimes, the recipe only makes 8 or 9 muffins.  i seldom get a baker's dozen but i used 3 eggs yesterday.  i grated in fresh nutmeg.  i haven't used it in a long time.  i was actuallly craving cinnamon but i took out the nutmeg instead.

i usually make banana/ blueberry muffins but my local supermarket was all out of blueberries.  i am not a big fan of frozen cherries but that's all i had.  the muffins came out okay.  i was looking forward this morning to bringing my plastic bottles to the large supermarket and buying a bag of frozen blueberries.  oh well...  i ended up with the mutt and jeff repairman, in my house, instead.  i noticed that the water meter was spinning yesterday and i wasn't using any water.  i figured that one of the toilets might be running but we couldn't find the culprit.  later on,  i shut off the water valves ton two toilets but the water meter kept on spinning.  hopefully,  the repair guy can come back on sunday.  if not; i will have to get a plumber to check it out.

i managed to fold up the material of the sukkah and actuallly; got it back into its plastic zippered bag this morning.  it made me,  kind of nuts; every time i saw it all squished together on the dining room chair.  i simply couldn't focus on this task after simchat torah and the massacre of our citizens.  my gardener came on that sunday morning after the carnage on shabbat.  he took my sukkah down and brought all of the parts downstairs to my shed.  he needed a task to focus on.  he needed to help an old lady out.  i left the material on a table outside for a couple of days.  i then threw it on a dining room chair.  i wanted to wash it but it didn't fit in my american toploader washing machine. it was a great relief putting it back in my closet today.

i felt like i had accomplished something.  i am keeping regulated by staying clear of the news.  i quickly glanced at headlines of breaking news but i no longer listen to the news.  i am traumatized. i do not watch much television any more.  i take my phone into bed with me and watch reruns of 'everyone loves raymond'.  it tickles my fancy.  i find myself chuckling out load.  it is theraputic to laugh. i read that it is the actual rememdy to combat the horrific videos that we watched on the news.  who knew?