Saturday, August 12, 2006

Cease Fire!


For the last few days we've been waking up in Jerusalem and asking each other: "Is the war over?"
I had started to get tired of following the news. Yesterday's news was so totally grim that I feared going back to Haifa on Sunday in a way I hadn't felt before, not even when we were there last week. Rockets hit an open area near my office (see picture) and it is highly likely that I do not at this moment have an office to go back to. The walls of my building on three sides (the three you don't see in this photo) are all floor-to-ceiling glass. They are now undoubtedly shattered from the boom and or the shrapnel of the rocket hits.

Anyway, I just woke up from a deeper, more delightful nap than I've had in weeks. I believe my sub-conscious understands that something has changed for the better. Let's hope it's right and that we'll be able to give Adi's grandmother the proper burial she desreves.

To those who asked: Savta Gila was ~85. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years and lived in a home near us in Haifa. She was lucky enough to go peacefully in the night. I had the honor of meeting her before our wedding. She had gorgeous white hair and sparkling blue eyes. She smiled and laughed when Adi practiced his German with her. It was her native tongue and he'd never heard her speak it before.

Time to get ready to go back home now. I have developed an appreciation for Jerusalem and am very glad that we had the chance to spend some time here. I never
got it before: Jeru always seemed tense, dirty, and chaotic to me. Funny how everything is relative.

This week I got to taste a world-class cultural capital. It is a city for walkers, full of pleasant surprises, alleys and tunnels, arches, and views. The gardens of ancient white-stoned homes overflow with pomegranite trees, flowering bushes, and vines.
Last night walking home from shabbat dinner, we were struck by a sweet, magnificent smell. "Figs!" proclaimed Tobie with delight.

The days are sunny but dry. Birds sing happily. Wild cats play in the shade.

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