GRANDMOTHER WOULD BE SORRY THERE IS NO PALESTINE

GRANDMOTHER'S FONDEST WISH WAS TO SEE THE HOLY LAND SOMEDAY BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY. BORN IN THE 1880S, HER VIEW OF THE LAND EVERYONE CALLED PALESTINE WAS QUITE A CONTRAST TO WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE SINCE THE DAY SHE DIED IN 1963. OLD SUNDAY SCHOOL PICTURES OF A HOLY AND PEACEFUL PLACE WERE IMAGES SHE CONSIDERED SACRED IN HER DAY AND LIKE THOSE OF HER GENERATION, SHE NEVER REALLY KNEW THERE WAS NO PLACE CALLED PALESTINE, EVEN AFTER BALFOUR AND A FEW OTHERS SIGNED SOME PAPERS THAT CHANGED OPINIONS AND WORLD HISTORY IN A MOST FATALISTIC AND UNREALISTIC WAY.

HOW MANY IMAGES OF MT FUJI ARE STILL IN OLD SEA TRUNKS?

IT WAS A BRAND NEW SET OF MT FUJI POSTCARDS, I RECALL. WHO GOT THE ONE IN SUMMER, SPRING OR FALL, I CAN'T RECALL; I HAVE THE ONE WITH THE WINTER SCENES, FOR SURE. THIS ONE, DESPITE THE CREASES, IS STILL VIVID, STILL NOT FADED, NOT TOO TORN OR TATTERED. WHAT ELSE WAS IN THAT TRUNK WAS A LARGE SAKE BOTTLE. IT HAD A FEW DROPS OF THAT RICE ALCOHOL INSIDE UNTIL SOMETIME IN THE WINTER OF TWO DECADES AGO...