Masada

Thursday, January 17, 2008

It was back to the normal living, but with the new perspective that always came from having once again been out of the country with new people.

Puck had grown so big, now able to pull himself up to stand next to the couch. His appetite was still insatiable. He smile still as charming.

In news of the home front, Rose had purchased, finally, her long-awaited laptop. Joe was crazy about high-def Podcasts. OLeif had come up with all sorts of ideas and had been Super Dad. Dad was leaving for Iowa the following week for several days on business and doing excellently in his masters classes (which surprised them little). Frances and Linnea had begun their basketball season. Everything was going well.

Carrie and Collette spent most of their days recounting events from the trip, Awesome-isms, looking through pictures and film. Carrie was also preparing for her comprehensive final before officially wrapping up her masters. Collette was revising her travel journal in preparation to send to Polley, as requested.

Life was good.

Collette looked forward to seeing if the trip documentary would actually be submitted to the History Channel. They had all signed release forms at the end of their stay at the dig.

Collette had decided by the end of the tour that she did like Israel. Oddly, one of the best parts had been the fighter jets screaming over the desert where their camp lay just in sight of Jordan, no matter what time of day – nine in the morning, or eleven at night. It was amazing.

Masada had been the masterpiece of the trip. The crown of it all – viewing the vastness of the valley and the Dead Sea from the top of the world, as it seemed. It was one of the saddest stories of all time. The ancient fortress in the sun and the wind where, according to Josephus, when the zealots took their last stand:

“Then, having chosen by lot ten of their number to dispatch the rest, they

laid themselves down each beside his prostrate wife and children, and

flinging their arms around them, offered their throats in readiness for the

executants of the melancholy office. These, having unswervingly

slaughtered all, ordained the same rule of the lot for one another, that he

on whom it fell should slay first the nine and then himself last of all;…

They had died in the belief that they had left not a soul of them alive to fall

into Roman hands; The Romans advanced to the assault… seeing none of

the enemy but on all sides an awful solitude, and flames within and

silence, they were at a loss to conjecture what had happened. Here

encountering the mass of slain, instead of exulting as over enemies, they

admired the nobility of their resolve and contempt of death display by

so many in carrying it, unwavering, into execution.”

But still nothing beat sitting around at night after a day of work or sightseeing, just listening to the group enjoy conversation with one another.

Things were more quiet in St. Louis. Much of the time back had been spent watching Puck have fun in his walker, which took him easily from one end of the house to the other as he followed everyone around and giggled at them.

Collette had also been pleased on Tuesday afternoon, when she and Carrie-Bri had once again joined Mom on their usual Costco run, that Mom had picked up a belated birthday cake for her. Naturally, all chocolate. She had been taking a slice here and a slice there since its purchase.

And it was just good to get back to her boys. They had been a good team together while Collette had been overseas.