Monthly Archives: July 2012
A Very Small Atheist Does the Holy Land
“You know, I think the least workable argument for the existence of God is the ontological argument,” spouts my spawn from the back seat. (He has abandoned all the kids’ books on various religions I bought him in favour of The God Delusion, which he borrowed from his grandparents, and has now read several times.) [...]
The Dead Sea – Not Just a BSD
“Why do we need to go to the Dead Sea, anyway?” quoth my spawn. “We swam in a salt lake in Siwa, and we were buoyant there, so what’s the difference with the Dead Sea?” “Well,” I say, feebly. “It’s the Dead Sea! We’re in the area! We should go.” “I suppose,” he says, grudgingly. [...]
Gelato in Jerusalem
“Ooh,” Zac says. “Now I need to make a decision. Waffle or gelato. Waffle or gelato?” “No, you don’t,” I say. “This place does both!” We’ve been randoming around downtown Jerusalem, a place, at least in the wealthy Jewish West, that’s not short on gelato parlours (apart from anything else, it allows the kosher restaurants [...]
Welcome to Israel!
Baggy of eye and saggy of face, I drag myself out of bed, still feeling the impact of farewell drinks the night before, and gear myself to begin the godawful process that is getting my spawn out of bed, and packing. Our possessions seem to have multiplied, like replicating amoebas, into every nook and cranny [...]
Kittens, Egypt
As we gear up to move on from Egypt, a country that alternates between inducing utter rage and intense affection, I thought I’d get around to bringing you that picture post I’ve been promising you. You cannot get away from cats in Egypt. They breed like, well, like rabbits, I guess, with kittens at every [...]
It’s Just a Tummy Bug, Right?
I’m not quite sure why going to the doctor is such a big deal for me. Part of it, I guess, is a product of only having one child, and those embarrassing trips to casualty with a mildly snotty infant, and weary doctors uttering the immortal phrase, “Is it your FIRST baby?” (Yes, of course [...]
What Do You Do About School?
“So… what do you do about school?” Home education while travelling is a topic most people are curious about, and this is generally one of the first questions I get asked whenever we meet new people. And, as a few of you have asked this on my Facebook page as well, I thought it was [...]
My Son Is The Wrong Shape To Dive
“Take him into the shower,” says the dive guy. It is not easy to find kids dive gear in Dahab and we’re onto the third wetsuit of the day for Z, who is on the long, thin side for his age, and, at approximately 30 kilos (65 pounds), on the light side for a diver. [...]
If there’s one thing that’s typical of a Dahab evening, it’s this. Sitting on cushions, looking out over the Red Sea… At least one cat under the low table… A cold beer on it… And the mountains of Saudi glowing pink with heat across a millpond sea. I finally took the step of upgrading from [...]
I’m a huge fan of personal ads, particularly in print. Actually, I love small ads of any kind: I spent a very happy half-hour perusing the rifles, ammo and spinning wheels on offer in Woomera, South Australia, while I adore the ads in Ubud library (“Yoga studio share! Suit single female! Must LOVE cats!!!”… “Native [...]
