ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

Managing a wander up Oxford Street early this morning.. well, early apparently for Berkeley. Not even joggers out and about at 0730 on a Saturday morning, just homeless blockaded into doorways by their laden carts.

I was looking for Beth-El and the 0830 Minyan. Having the address was good, the building is not signed. Held in their smaller Beit Am, the group and folding chairs felt more welcoming than many of the formal, decades established Shabbas services, complemented by a locally produced prayer book designed for all levels of Hebrew ability and vision.

Sliding out before the Torah study, the walk back to the hotel is downhill. Hill direction can be terribly important when you are on the edge of the foothills. Having a house seven blocks from Shul is good. Would be much better if those seven blocks were not straight up hill…

Friends

Feeling truly fortunate, I spent a lovely afternoon with Ruth (aka the Scrabblequeen). I also met her husband, one of those great guys willing to take a Saturday afternoon and wander a section of Solano so that we could visit.

Part of the plan had been to visit Stash. Well, it seems that they had moved. No sign in the window of the old location. We wandered through other shops and books stores, totally missing looking up the street from where we had lunch. Stash, as it turns out, was just around the corner.

Tea, Chai and knitting were also in order for the afternoon. Ruth’s current sweater project has a lovely look and feel and she is such a warm and welcoming person. There are those times when you can feel awkward meeting someone who you know only through email. Both yesterday with Alison and today with Ruth it was sitting down with old friends, picking up threads of conversation like no time had passed at all.

Flashback Challenge

Wanting to read old science fiction/fantasy classics, I was facing a dilemma. Few of the books I will be re-reading are currently in publication and rarely in hardback, eliminating the library as a source for the books. I probably have most of them, somewhere in a book box.

But then there are used books stores and I found:

I still have to track down:

• Strange in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
• Way Station – Clifford Simak
• Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M Miller

What is on your reading list?