Israel: tourism no matter what....

OLGS went to Israel. I talked him out of it last summer, when things were pretty bad, but once he was in Scotland, and out of my clutches, he answered the call of Hebrew University to do a book talk. Based on the reports, the book talk took about an hour. The rest of the time he spent being a tourist.

We forget, amid the Middle East disaster the US has helped create, that there is a thriving tourist industry in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, and other places. Interestingly, a lot of the tourists are evangelical Christians, following the Bible through archaelogy.

OLGS visited sites featuring King Herod, a hero to left wing Israelis. He floated in the Dead Sea. And he made a new friend.

Swimming Sectionals

Joe High School is off to the second round of Twin Cities section swim meet, the purpose of which is to identify the swimmers who will proceed to the state meet. Joe will not make it to state--there are several powerhouse swimmers from Cretin-Durham Hall, a few from St. Paul Sibley, and a couple from Southwest. But he acquitted himself well--coming in 5th in the 500 yard freestyle, and 9th in the 200 yard freestyle, placement that qualifies him for the second round. And in both, he swam his personal best--at 5:26:83 in the 500 free, and a 2:02:xx in the 200.

I never thought that I would become one of these obsessive parents who cares about 100ths of a second. But he is pleased, although, as always, he said, "I could have gone faster." I no longer ask him why he didn't--it adds nothing.