Jewish Musings, Friday 4/5

[lee058]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.


Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:


Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy




And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Today's topic: Spring as a symbol of renewal.

What do you think of this? To me, Spring is definitely a symbol of renewal. I love to see the grass turn green, the leaves sprouting on the trees, and --- of course --- the flowers and blossoming trees. It seems to me that after Winter's dead grasses and bare trees and ground, Spring says that all good things are possible. It feels like we are getting another chance at changing our lives.

When the birds come back and sing, it makes me so happy! I love watching them and listening to them.

Our fig trees won't have fruit until this summer, but yesterday I noticed new little green shoots on the branches. This fills me with anticipation.

Even the blue skies make me happier. Actually, even the cloudy skies and rain make me happy, because it means that there will be more growth.

Spring fills me with optimism. I feel happy and ready for good things to happen.

How about you? I hope you've enjoyed this week; I tried to fill it with positive images. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

Thank you for a lovely week, Lee! Your description this morning sounds particularly delightful to me, since we have thunderstorms today and it's chilly and yukky. I'm looking forward to a more spring-like experience soon.

I didn't sleep well last night and am groggy this morning, but today is my WI day and I'm down 0.6 pound. Yay!

Shabbat shalom!

[gazelle18]

I feel the same way about spring; for me it is always a time of renewal. Thanks for the positive images, Lee. Shabbat shalom all!

[hollygail]

I didn't get back here yesterday. As for spring, if I turn my attention to food, I'd have to say the fruits and veggies that become ripe. I look forward to corn on the cob; last year's season seemed really short to me. I'm hoping for better luck this year.

Today's renewal topic: yes, I've been watching the trees begin to return to green from near-naked branches. Some of the flowers planted in the medians in the middle of roads are in bloom; mostly yellow and orange colors. Pretty. The wild flowers around the lake where I walk on Wednesdays seem to be behind schedule, or at least behind the flowers on the medians... I'm looking forward to the many wild flowers at the lake in the very near future.

We had blue skies for numerous days lately! Today we are having thundershowers and rain with dark skies most of the day. A little while ago I saw some blue up there (as I gaze out of my office window) but now it's darker skies again and I'm sure it's gonna start raining again within minutes... (So much for the "sunny southern California" myths...)

I agree with the others, Lee. Very interesting week. Thank you!

Gut Shabbes / Shabbat Shalom, all.

[louise]

Yes, spring and renewal go hand in hand. Feeing pretty close to cosmic happenings - we had a 4.8 earthquake in NJ this morning. No damage anywhere that I have heard about but I was sitting in my friend's house having coffee when we felt the house shake and the windows rattle. Very unusual out here! And then Monday we have the solar eclipse.