11 On a bench in Kupat Holim

I spent a morning in Kupat Holim (Health Clinic). Like the Prime Minister, I too go for periodic check-ups. And I am also in good shape, thank you. Since the examination required a stay of about two hours, I took a seat on a bench midway between a lab and a dental hygienist's room (at one corner a circular mirror had been installed) and carefully took out the morning newspaper. Immediately a thick colored leaflet entitled "Cream" fell out. I picked it up and threw it into a nearby waste basket. (Never mind what happened when I got home.) I started to read the paper but trying to hold it by my fingertips in order not to get my fingers dirty, soon got on my nerves. I put down the paper and took out the biography of Charlemagne: a strange, capricious and enthusiastic acquisition from the recent "book fair". This book, like so many others before it, is on its way to my shelf of much loved books that I have not and will not read. I took it with me primarily because it is a thin volume that fits nicely into my bag, unlike "A Suitable Boy" which is waiting on my night table. Tired of that I switched to something much more to my liking – Garrison Keillor.

Ah, Garrison Keillor. My cell phone, which is now also my camera as well as my walkman, has been loaded these past two weeks with 4 disks on which Keillor reads in his charming, sensitive, intelligent and ironic voice the stories of Lake Wobegon, his imaginary home town in Minnesota, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children above average. Recently Keillor's story has been turned into a film directed by Robert Altman. I can hardly wait to see it.