These are happy umbrellas.
Designs and color give them life!
Not sure how good they are for shielding from the soaking rain.
But they do add some shade in the blazing hot sun.
Florida tends to be hot, hot, hot. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So yesterday, there was a huge pouring thunderstorm and lightening.
After a bolt or two that must have hit our power line, ALL the power went out.
That was not fun when sitting in an La-Z-Boy electric recliner chair.
Where the f*** is the safety release on this thing when there is no power? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Beautiful flowers.
G-d made them for us.
Soft petals.
Magnificent colors.
Fresh sweet smells.
The sound of rustling in the wind.
Absorbing the rays of sunshine.
Drinking the rain water.
Planted in the soil of the earth.
Magical flowers of life, love, and peace.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel, Sukkot: A Time of Man and Earth.
“In celebrating Sukkot, we compare Adam and Adamah. Just like a man is dependent on seeding his teachings and good deeds which then leads to reaping his personal life harvest, so too the earth is dependent on seeding and watering which leads to harvesting its produce.”
Hope you enjoy and Chag Sameach. 😉
(Inspired by a movie of a farmer in Bishvil-Haivrit)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was an interesting picture to take.
It’s an upside-down pink flower bent over a concrete stair.
And the stem is sticking straight up and out.
The contrast of the live soft pink flower and the cold hard grey of the concrete stairs is astounding to me.
Life can so easily be bent over, squished out, and left for dead in the cold harsh realities of this world
We are alive, but life can be hard.
We fight to go on, but life is sometimes unforgiving.
The bright spark of life seeks to illuminate the hard grey block.
Breath, beat, live…good health is unbelievably precious.
Arise flower and once again stand tall in the glowing sunshine and the pouring rain.
Nourish yourself in the soil of the Earth, give praise to the L-rd as only life can do. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So it’s been raining so much here in the DC area lately.
The result is that the hot Summer July temperatures are down in the cool 70’s and the rain is flooding everywhere.
When I got in the elevator this morning, someone goes to me:
“Did you see the leak in the hallway? They are watering the tree with it.”
And sure enough, there it was!
When all this rain finally stops, there is going to be a lot of cleanup and repairs to do.
The other thing was yesterday, we were on the way to a board meeting in our synagogue.
In the elevator, are two other people–a man and women–carrying binders.
They say to us:
“Are you going to the board meeting?”
Surprised, because I didn’t recognize them from our synagogue, I respond affirmatively and ask to clarify:
“Oh, you’re going to the board meeting too? I don’t recall seeing you there before.”
Then the elevator stops and they start to get off–but it’s to a different board meeting for the building.
When they see that we’re going to a different floor, they start laughing:
“I guess we’re going to different board meetings!”
I say:
“Yeah that’s right, different board meetings, but we’ll all probably be bored!
Another laugh by everyone, and we we’re all off to the races. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Took this photo yesterday in the courtyard during a thunderstorm.
It is the first time that I was actually able to see the rain almost in a slow motion.
They weren’t drops, but literally streaks of water zipping down from the sky.
The feeling was so pure and refreshing to clean the air and the ground.
To replenish our reservoirs, ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans.
To nourish the fruit of the Earth and make it grow.
We use up and make dirty, but G-d replenishes and makes clean! 😉
(Source photo: Andy Blumenthal)
With gratitude to my beautiful daughter, Minna Blumenthal, for sharing this song by Idan Raichel with me.
Shabbat Shalom!
Just thought this was a really interesting photo.
The way the rain splattered down the side of this building.
The water hitting only on top and then trickling down the side like a big spill.
“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain,” but in Washington, D.C., it falls down the side of the buildings in these weird artistic patterns.
When I was a kid, I remember when it rained, my father would tell me positively and jokingly, “Ah, we’re getting a free car wash today!”
Isn’t it amazing how G-d made the world where it rains, and provides us not only the water to drink and sustain ourselves, but literally a shower to clean our cities and wash away the dirty excesses.
The ecosystem is just an amazing array of literally everything we need and with checks and balances to keep the goings-on of the world suitable for His children. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
What a wonderful way to make the oy veys go away…
This amazing beautiful flower.
Made by G-d Almighty.
See the perfection of the geometry and the shape that springs forth from mother earth.
Open your eyes to the magnificence and brightness of the colors.
Feel in your mind’s eye the soft texture of the petals and droplets.
Breath in the smell of freshness and new air into your expanding lungs.
Yes, whatever ails you…
Make this for yourself a renewal of spirit and of flesh. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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