Weather It Is (Men Must Rest)

Good Afternoon:

It is a tad warm out there.  However, temperatures will be dropping  several digits from this afternoon through tomorrow afternoon.  In fact, Shabbat should be one of those beautiful weather days one wishes would come around more often.

Speaking of Shabbat, I was accused on committing a "grave" sin sometime ago.  I was hesitant to write about it, being quite a bit embarrassed.

To appreciate the context, one has to understand that when it comes to completing a task, women have the tenacity of a bull-dog,  the persistence of a cat, and the steadfastness of an ant.  Men, in comparison, are like hares. They engage in frenetic activity, but must rest often.

It happened that after a night with too few hours of sleep, an arduous morning of davening, and a long walk around Efrat, I set it my task to set the Shabbat table.  It was hard work: the table is not close to the kitchen, and moving a fork or two, a plate or two, or even some condiment or other was not an easy task.  I rested often, stopping to read the newspaper.

After one of my breaks, I happen to get up (I had more energy because I had almost completed my efforts), when my wife appeared.  And then it happened: I was "accused" of getting up to "work" because I had heard her coming down the stairs.

Of course, none of these accusations would have flown had my wife truly understood (or it is appreciated?) the crucial differences between men and women when it comes to finishing even such a simple task as setting the Shabbat table.

Since then, I have managed to surpass these difficulties, helped out by a rather stagnant weather pattern that brings neither too hot nor cool weather -- nothing to raise the ire.  Looking ahead, we see a slight increase in instability over the next two weeks, but nothing to get bent out of shape about.

Barry Lynn