Taking it to the streets!

I have noticed an alarming trend on Calgary roads. Fewer people are giving the wave.

People, don't give up the wave! It's a friendly necessity of the road. I make sure to wave extra enthusiastically whenever someone lets me in front of them. I even give a wave when the person might not have intended to let me in.

The sinster side of my love of the wave is that it makes me smoulder with anger when I let someone in and they don't acknolwedge me. I have a friend who used to honk at people, tailgate them, and give them the finger when they didn't wave after being let in. It sounds crazy but I can totally understand that reaction.

Fiscal management

Yesterday I was cleaning our room. Behind my dresser I happened upon a grocery bag filled with about a hundred receipts from several years ago.

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There are lots of things to love about Kyle but one thing that drives me crazy is his habit of squirreling away EVERY RECEIPT HE'S EVER GOTTEN. (Conversely, it drives Kyle crazy that I never keep my receipts and have no idea what happens to them.)

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Kyle's receipt collection is not just limited to the grocery bag behind my dresser. There are surprise receipt stashes all over the house - stuffed into bowls, hiding in envelopes, crammed into cupboards.

In his defense, that grocery bag of receipts could come in handy should we ever decide to return those bananas we bought in April 2003.

Hasidic Rain

On my way home from work, I drive past the Calgary Jewish Centre. Twice now, I have been very excited to see an Orthodox Jewish man standing at the corner waiting to cross the street. That's right. It's not just about nuns anymore. I have expanded my sectarian excitement.

When Kyle and I went to New York in the spring, I was really interested in the Orthodox Jews we saw. On our flight back from Rome to New York, our plane was filled with Orthodox Jews returning home from Jerusalem for Passover. I sat beside one young Jewish guy on the plane and wanted to ask him a million questions. He, however, just wanted to sit with his lap top and read a million of his old emails so I left him alone. Okay - truthfully, I also read his old emails.

Orthodox Judaism is unlike many cultures and faiths in which women bear the burden of maintaining culture with their appearance. In Orthodox Judaism, it is men whose appearance is more distinctive. Women are expected to dress modestly and married women often cover their heads for modesty. Many women wear a scarf to cover their hair. However, less conservative married women cover their heads with a sheitel, or a wig. I was delighted to learn that there is such a thing as a kosher wig - one that is guaranteed to not be made with hair originating from idolatrous rituals.

On the plane and in the airport, I was looking all around me to spot women wearing sheitels. It wasn't an easy game because their wigs were such good quality. I have to admit that as I played my sheitel spotting game, I felt a bit puzzled by the use of a wig as a head covering. The women's sheitels were often very stylish and looked just like natural hair. Actually, after two days in transit their sheitels looked much better than my dirty mop. I was eventually informed that the purpose of covering a married Jewish woman's hair is to keep her natural hair private and reserved for her husband's eyes only.

So there you have it - some info about Orthodox Judaism inspired by my commute in Calgary.