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Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! I am on my mobile version of the door-to-door, going town-to-town holding readings/gatherings/discussions of my book "But What Can I Do?" This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels since 9/11 as I engage in dialogue and actions. It is steaming with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society we want ALL to thrive in

Thursday, January 27, 2005

distant israeli cousin & off to d.c.

so i've picked up orit at the train station. she has gotten herself from lilo's apartment on 52nd & lexington aves to penn station & then onto new jersey transit & sheree's stop at princeton junction. she is 21 years old, from israel, has served her 2 years in the army, & is travelling in south america and the u.s. until april. this is her first time in the u.s.! she's been in nyc for about 2 months & is ready to go w/me to california. she wants to see places & people in the u.s. that she's seen on tv! what she knows about the u.s. is what she's seen on tv & in the movies - my truck did not appear in her viewing, nor have i.
we are distantly related - which is such a joy for me. i grow up not having cousins or 'real' relatives on my mother's side - only survivors of the holocaust who came & went; and whom my mother could not explain to me how they were related, just this is "taunta truda' and 'taunta elsie'. but my grandfather had a sister who immigrated to israel in the early 30's, before war started - she was the smart one, the one who read the writing on the wall, the one who found a stranger to marry so she could migrate to israel. her daughter rute (ruth) is orit's grandmother - making her my 5th cousin maybe? never in my life have i been able to introduce anyone as my cousin until today! i'm just re-adjusting to being able to introduce my sister & now i have a cousin also.
she seems practical, down-to-earth, and so very young, altho mature enuff to travel by herself in big, bad nyc. she is waiting outside in the frigid cold, bundled in a red down jacket she's purchased in the states - she doesn't need a coat in israel she tells me later. she gives the truck no more than cursory glances as she waits for me to load everything up & take care of the last minute details.
we head off to d.c. after saying bye to rae & sheree! tears!
it is a cold but clear day, a great time to head back to the scene of the criminal inauguration. i have secured another load to bring to california - both pick-ups are within 3 miles of each other - talk about lucky! the second one i'm delivering to albany, a few blocks from my shop; the first will go to l.a.
it takes most of the afternoon and part of the evening to load both customers. my last customer has soooooo much stuff, i have to repack the whole truck & i'm nervous about fitting everything on. as i pack, the load gets bigger & bigger as well. finally, we are done. orit has been a trooper - first she helped & then she went inside, napped & read as she patiently waited.
finally, by 8:00 we're ready to pull outta d.c. & head to richmond, virginia. then i want to swing by atlanta & regroup for a day or so before heading to the west coast. orit is busy looking for movie stars and places she's read about in her romance & sci fi novels!@ okay! peace, sam