Tales from the Towers: Swimming, Women's day and currencies

Spring is here and I renew my flirtation with the swimming pool. I did not step into it during our last, unusually cold winter: it's not that the pool is not heated, it is very well heated, but getting out of it, and running to the shower, I always shiver so badly that the short swim is hardly worth it. So no pool until now that spring is here. I sat a bit with our lifeguard. He is a big man, and wears his trunks and T-shirt all throughout the year, December as well as August. Incidentally, I have never seen him in the pool, I've never even seen him slightly wet. So we talked a bit.

"Listen, Yoram" I told him, "you know that I am really not a good swimmer. There was that swimming instructor who watched me once and said: Lady you can't sink - but you can't swim either!

So my question is what happens if I feel that I am drowning? Will you jump in and save me?"

"No", he said, "but I'd drain the pool!"

I wonder if any other lifeguard ever thought of such a simple solution!

While out on the street a few days ago, I was approached by a young man who handed me a beautiful red rose wrapped in cellophane.

Quite baffled I asked:

"What's going on? Do I know you?"

"No", he replied smiling, "but it's International Woman's Day today, don't you know about it? We honor all women in the world!"

Admiring the pretty, long-stemmed rose a sudden thought occurred to me. How come, really- how come, the men in this world keep their silence? I remember that most years of my life we celebrated mother's day and then thanks to some complaint from unknown sources, suddenly a father's day came into being to the great delight of my late husband who sat there on the sofa full of anticipation with a wide grin on his face, reminding us that after years of trying to figure out what to buy me for mother's day, it is now our turn, mine and the children's to figure out what he would like to receive for father's day.

As everybody knows, it is so much easier to buy a present for a mother than for a father. But then, quite mercifully, mother's day and father's day joined forces and became family day. Now mothers and fathers broke their heads over presents to give to each other which resulted in a lot of stuff being taken back to the shops to be exchanged. Now I will not be surprised if quite suddenly a Celebration of International Man Day pops up, and I really don't know why this idea strikes me as unspeakably funny! Does this make me a chauvinist?

But what the heck,  in the meantime I enjoyed placing my long red rose in a slim vase and watching it smile at me full of understanding. Flowers, I think, have a soul of their own and as long as they get their water changed and a proper amount of admiration, they certainly know how to smile.

Looking at our entertainment program, I was puzzled to find that on Tuesday someone would come and hold a lecture about the connection between the water level of our Lake Kinnereth and ... the Tel-Aviv stock exchange. Am I interested enough in this subject to get dressed, comb my hair and put on lipstick? I decided not to attend but rather stay home and try to figure out the connection myself. Does this mean that when the Kinnereth rises, so does the dollar? Both of them did not do so well in the last time...

This reminds me to wish you all a week which will bring you  dollars, shekels, or whatever currency we can rely on, in addition to good health and cheer.

Lucca