More about Puerto Vallarta

Photo: Herb Hahn

The story about Puerto Vallarta in the latest issue (ESRA Magazine #205, July 2020) brought back many fond memories for Lenore and me. We were there in the early 1990s. We stayed at a lovely hotel on the beach, walking distance to the Malecon, better known to gringos like us as the boardwalk. One day we took a rickety old bus in to the old town where the locals did their marketing. We found a gift shop selling native artwork. I fell in love with and bought a numbered bronze sculpture of a rooster by Sergio Bustamente. Hahn, my surname, means rooster in German and I collect roosters. I brought some of them with me to Israel, including the Bustamente. You can Google Bustamente to see more of his unique work.

Herb Hahn

Raanana 

Let's all support ESRA Magazine advertizers 

Nine years ago I needed a repair man for my refrigerator. ESRA magazine had an advert from Yo Revach, whom I called. He came immediately and did the repair very well. This morning I again needed a repairman for the refrigerator, checked ESRA Magazine where Yossi is still advertising, so I called him. Two hours later he was here and after one hour he had sorted the problem and at a reasonable price. Nice, clean, courteous repair man, whom I can strongly recommend.

Let's all support ESRA Magazine advertisers, who support ESRA.

Werner Bachmann
Herzliya Pituach

Thank you Leslie Rose for online support 

I want to thank ESRA Magazine #205 page 96 for ESRA's "You're Not Alone" list of services where I found Online Technical Support from Leslie Rose who lives in Raanana. Leslie solved a problem I was having in sending an article to the editor of the magazine. Thanks to his patience and expertise, and time he expended, the article was sent successfully.

Adele Rubin
Sderot

An appreciation of poet Lea Goldberg 

A woman of note: An appreciation by Honey Stollman. I loved the poem "Toward Myself" by Lea Goldberg. I read it again and again just to savor the beautiful wording.

Bernard Goodman
Ashkelon 

Masticating one's food 

Mike Porter's letter in ESRA Magazine about masticating one's food to help indigestion is very important.

Having frequented The High Rustenberg Hydro in Stellenbosch, South Africa, run by Dr Boris Chaitow, I was reminded that one of Dr Chaitow's main issues of good health was to chew slowly and masticate your food very well. He was the first guru to open a health farm in South Africa.

The beginning of each week we had to detoxify by drinking a lot of water and eating three fruits during the day. Breakfast a grapefruit, lunch an apple and supper an orange. We took slow walks and rested for the first day to cleanse our bodies. The rest of the week we ate lunches of salads, and a fruit both in the morning and evening. It was a testament to good health. After spending two to three weeks at the Health Farm, I felt reborn. I learnt to eat an apple over a period of an hour, by slicing the apple very thinly and chewing it extremely well. It took a lot of practice but certainly helped me digest it very well. I'd lost weight and was glowing with good health.

Thank you Mike Porter for reminding me of the vital issue of masticating one's food.

Fonda Dubb
Eilat 

An idea for a gift 

We're not running around as we're used to, not socializing as we used to and not volunteering as we used to. Not having the energy to go looking for a gift for a friend's birthday, especially in Eilat's heat. I thought I would instead invite her to a couple of ESRA's events on Zoom. She chose a few programs that would interest her and was really appreciative and thrilled with the gift. The ESRA office sent her the link and everything was duly taken care of. The gift benefits ESRA'S coffers too. As Corona is here to stay for quite a while, I would like to suggest to other ESRA members an easy way to buy a gift and at the same time support ESRA.

Fonda Dubb
Eilat 

Pandemic poem written by Kitty O'Meara 

I have just received my first ESRA Magazine after my mother gifted me an ESRA membership. Please note that as far as I am aware, having checked several sources online, the poem which appears on page 65 of the July issue "And people stayed at home" was not written in 1869, it was written in March 2020 by Kitty O'Meara.

Miri Greidi

Raanana

Cynthia Barmor responds

Thank you Miri Greidi for the correction.

The poem has attracted attention for its timely reflections on social distancing during the current coronavirus pandemic. It describes people adapting to isolation through reading, art, exercise, meditation and other activities. The poem was not written in 1869, as I erroneously wrote in my article, but in March 2020, by Catherine (Kitty) O'Meara, a retired teacher from Madison, Wisconsin. After receiving Miri Greidi's letter, I too checked on five reliable sites on the Internet. The original poem can be found on O'Meara's blog, "The Daily Round", dated March 16, 2020. Nevertheless, its sentiment and message are just as profound as if it had serendipitously re-emerged from more than a century ago.