Who knew? Nearly a month into my new life and it turns out I am cutest country girl!
I love my new big house and my back yard. Every morning I drink my coffee in the sun, and in the evenings I enjoy the breeze while I watch the dog curiously sniff the little trees in the yard. Jersey doesn’t get it. He’s a city dog- he goes out onto the patio and just sits there and only goes into the yard when prompted. He prefers to pee on the garbage cans instead of on the grass. We’re working on it.
But me- I’m a natural. I take walks to collect dry leaves in my bucket for my little backyard compost. I can’t wait to plant a garden. I love all the space and all the nature. I don’t mind that I don’t have a mall nearby, because I have tractors that drive by my house! I don’t miss the city smells (hot garbage mixed w/ homeless urine) because I have a new smell: cows! My new home sits in an agricultural village (moshav) and as it turns out, aside from the fields in the great view from my backyard, we have at least 4 cow sheds/dairy farms! The smell is not as bad as you might think. Don’t get me wrong, every now and then, when the cows have an extremely big lunch and the wind blows in just the right direction, the noxious fumes reach my windows, but you really get used to the usual, daily aromas. Usually, you don’t smell anything at all except nature. But the cow smells that are around, they blend into the nature smells. Yum!
No traffic, no horns honking, no yelling. The small price I pay: occasional ants and flies. I’ll take it.
Working part-time from home and looking for work in my spare time has been awesome for my while I get to know my new surroundings. I have time to explore. I have found these great outdoor exercise machines in the main area of the moshav. Anyone can use them and they are built two by two, so they make for a fun date- being outside, getting a work out, me and boo together, with Jersey, chillin in the grass next to us. Perfect family fun. We have a small general store on the moshav. It sells everything you could need- just enough. No horns honking, no traffic.
Here, I have the space to explore new parts of me- I have started to compost, and you wouldn’t believe how excited I get about garbage! It’s made me more aware of the food I put in my body and the waste I put in the bin. A good friend in a nearby city introduced me to a community-organized recycling center, garden and coffee shop that has classes on gardening and environmental issues. Unfortunately, I drive more than I used to, since I cannot walk to do any of my major errands, but I hope that once I get used to this lifestyle and save some money, I can see how I can be smarter about my fuel use. Being out here has connected me more to my surroundings, the earth, the environment. I’m sure I can’t do everything right, off the bat, but I am so much more conscious and open than I was before and that is a great start.
Mostly, I love the quiet. That is what I loved about Thailand, the quiet that allows you to think, relax, breath. The stress of life has a chance to subside for the time that I am staring out into the fields behind my house. On the moshav, the priorities are different- family, friends, nature, calm. I love these priorities- they make room for the good things in life like walking the dog, playing the guitar, dancing in your living room and having friends over for dinner.
So, when are you coming over for dinner?













Hilary has 5 sons and a husband. That’s right, the woman has 6 kids in her house! I mean her oldest son helps a lot and her husband is a champ, but then she had
triplets and God Bless Her, she then had one more just for fun. She is a nurse full time and over time, so she cares for people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Her outlets, her music and her art are so expressive of her fun-loving personality, her kindness, her creativity, her open, adventurous side and her sensitive, feminine side.
Her latest installment of work is based on images of bamboo- the original piece was on request from a friend but as soon as friends and neighbors saw it, and the others- variations in size, color, negatives, neons, black and white- they began selling and going up in homes all over Israel, the US and Europe! Now, painting for fun is one thing, and it’s great- but on top of all of the other things to do in your life, to dream and act on a business concept, now that’s just fierce. But I understand her- I mean these pieces are good and they should be sold. I think that in the right markets, they could have serious mass appeal, which implies that her future work could have the same effect. I really believe in Hilary’s art and I love it. If you want to see more or get in touch with Hilary, contact me!


at least the second I open my big mouth, there is always a fair chance that I will say something stupid. In my family, we call this Foot In Mouth Syndrome, FIMS for short.
My usual FIMS flub is an unintended indirect insult in the form of

feeling of a women’s march against violence and rape. But we can’t always be lucky enough to be surrounded by hundreds of dykes while walking home from work (we should only be so lucky!). So I have taken two steps towards feeling stronger and more confident on the streets at night:

Jersey and takes a step near me in the dark, invading my personal space and asking me if I live in this building. I can’t see the man’s face and I am feeling vulnerable to this potential threat. So I start yelling at him, like a crazy person. Using my IMPACT skills of telling the person violating my space that I want them to stop and walk away… but a bit loonier that they taught is in class. It’s my personal spin on the defense tactic.
Moral of the story: the roles are reversed now. I am the creepy neighborhood stalker now. I am the one who is freaking out the boys on the streets, late at night, skulking in the shadows. I love it.