The End of Winter

Winter is my term for teaching at Dartmouth. For me, teaching crowds out blogging in two ways. The first is time. Teaching pushes everything else aside, blogging included. The second is that teaching and blogging scratch the same itch--the desire for two-way communication of ideas. After today's exam, I expect the frequency of posting to pick up. In the meantime, here's the funniest idea that was communicated to me this Winter:

In Jerusalem, a journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, everyday, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out. She went to the Wailing Wall and there he was!

She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, she approached him for an interview. "I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN. Sir, how long have you been coming to the Wall and praying?"

"For about 60 years."

"60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"

"I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the hatred to stop and I pray for all our children to grow up in safety and friendship."

"How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?"

"Like I'm talking to a fucking wall."

Tell me about it.