It's A Big World Out There

                                                                                          Gordon Studer

Now that my son is out there somewhere in the West Bank, I'm sorry I haven't paid more attention to Israeli politics--actually, any attention at all--since I have no idea if he's in a haven or a hotbed; depending on who's talking, it's both. When I asked if he would be safe there, Zack replied that his beard is pretty big now and that he sort of looks like an Israeli but he also looks like he might be a Palestinian. He tried to make it sound like that would help, and I guess if I knew more about the situation I could see that. But being clueless, I was not comforted.

Traveling around the world these days is scary, even though "normal" people do it all the time with nary a second thought. Not me, though, since I am seemingly addicted to second thoughts. I'm having some concerning the fact that in less than a month I'll be leaving the security of Maine for points unknown. Well, unknown to me. And while going to Barcelona seems less threatening than going to Haiti as I did last March, requiring no inoculations or preventive measures of any kind, it's a whole lot farther away. Maybe while there's still time I should see what's going on over there. Like who's in charge, are there any coups planned, what's the deal with bullfights, and exactly what is paella.

At any rate, I hope I can get back.